Collegiate Times

Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — The headline of this story has been changed to correct the spelling of Michael Uslan's name. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

MU: I think we've achieved the perfect batman and the perfect Bruce Wayne with Christian Bale coupled with the genius of Christopher Nolan, who deserves all the credit in the world. The key question in all the films, though, isn't what actor is playing Batman, but who's playing Bruce Wayne. The complete interpretation of the character comes through Bruce Wayne. Tim Burton saw how, back then, there has never been a serious, dark, comic book movie, and he had the enviable mission of being the first one to try and get the audience to believe that a guy could get dressed up in a bat suit and fight crime. There are two bits of genius that people needed to understand. First is that Gotham City was the third most important character. With the 20th anniversary of the first film coming up in June, if the audience couldn't believe in Gotham City, they would never believe in the character. When Tim wanted to bring on Michael Keaton, I thought he was crazy. I had spent 10 years trying to get this going, and now a director wants Mr. Mom to play Batman. It's all about the character and what makes him tick. Keaton portrayed a Bruce Wayne so driven that he knew he could get the audience to believe in the character. With Val Kilmer, it was a darker, aloof and coolly romantic Batman, which likened back to Dracula for me, bringing this dark romanticism to the role. George Clooney was more boy-next-door; with Bale he's nailed it. It doesn't matter what generation you're from, what version of Batman is on TV or in cartoons that you've grown up with, but Bale really fills the bill. People can identify with it.

CT: The title of your lecture is "Pow! Zap! Oy! How Jewish Immigrants Created Super-Heroes." What are you trying to convey to students? What is your main message?

MU: I was a blue-collared kid from New Jersey who had no money to buy his way into Hollywood. I knew nobody and my last name's not Warner. The whole thing is about how you make your dreams come true. I'm a living testament that it's possible; you can do it. What I'm going to be able to talk to people about is to just follow your passion. My dad was a mason, so if it's bricks and stones, that's great. Mine was comic books. Market yourself. You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but if nobody sees it what's the point? You've also got to have a high threshold for frustration. The only guarantee I can make is that doors will slam in your face. What are you choices then? You can go home and cry about it or you can keep knocking until your knuckles bleed. One day you will be knocking on the right door at the right time. Always have a plan B, maybe even a plan C. Sometimes you have to take calculated risks, and roll the dice. The worst thing I could be sitting here is wondering what if. At least 90 percent of the people sit back on their butts and wait for life to come to them. Something around 10 percent of people get out there and take what they want. You have to take what you want.

CT: I understand you are the professor of a course called "The Comic Book and Society." What was that all about?

MU: My three main points in the course were that, one: comic books are a legitimate American art form, just as important as, say, jazz music; two, comic books have reflected a changing American culture. They are mirrors of our current society; and three, comic books are contemporary American folklore - it's basically modern day mythology.

CT: If you could teach any one class here at Virginia Tech, what would it be?

MU: I would be a history professor; I'm a history buff. One of the productions I did was for PBS Playhouse called Three Sovereigns for Sarah, which was a 100-percent historically accurate perception of the Salem Witch Trials of 1962. One of the courses I would teach would be the history of rock 'n' roll. I spent two years with Dick Clark and wrote "The First 25 Years of Rock'n'Roll." I'm a big fan and scholar of rock 'n' roll and its emergence.

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