If you’ve been following Batman for a while, then you probably know of Maryland’s Batman. A wealthy man named Lenny Robinson, who spent nearly a decade dressing as Batman and driving around his customized Lamborghini Batmobile to visit sick children in hospitals. You probably also know that he tragically died last year in a car accident.
Well, much like how John Robin Blake took up the mantle of the Bat in The Dark Knight Trilogy, we have a new real-life Batman taking up Lenny’s mantle. This time in Texas. David, who speaks in a Gotham accent, started dressing up as Batman for fun, but as his popularity grew he made it a mission to help the community.
“If I can do something like this to make people smile and laugh and take pictures and brighten their day, put some awareness on charity work, that’s what this is for.”
Nolan Day is a 4-year old who has been battling cancer and his mother Misty had heard about this Texas Batman being in town and contacted him.
“It was very important for him to feel good and not feel sick at that moment, because he had just had treatment the day before, so just feeling like he was normal and he felt like a superhero.”
That visit with Nolan is when the Texas Batman realized this is more than just dressing up and having fun. “That’s when it started. That was my first one here in Houston that just melted my heart.”
Much like the Maryland Batman, the Texas Batman has his own Batmobile as well. Though not as fancy as a Lamborghini, he drives a 3-wheeled vehicle called a Slingshot, which he claims is “fast enough to catch the Joker.”
Texas Batman’s mission is to visit and attend as many charity events and hospitals as he can because “it’s not who you know, it’s what you do.”
As of today, Nolan’s cancer is in remission and David is continuing to brighten people’s day. In the words of Bruce Wayne, “Batman can be anybody.”