A lot of civilizations have their own form of mythology that feature gods and legendary heroes of their culture. The Greeks have Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Hercules. The Egyptians have Ra, Osiris, and Isis. The Norse with Odin, Thor, and Loki. Although America is a relatively young country when compared to the rest of the world, there is a form of American mythology here as well. They go by the names of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (any superhero really).
Just like how people tell the story of how the god of gods Zeus created the Earth and Mount Olympus, so to do people tell the story of how Bruce Wayne’s parents were gunned down and murdered in an alley, causing him to devote his life to an ideal and become Batman.
The particularly mythology of Batman will now be preserved and admired at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. A 3,250 piece Batman collection by Kevin Silva, who held the Guinness World Record from 2013 to 2016 for souvenirs, will be sold to the museum.
Mr. Silva originally became captivated by the character when he was all but 5 years old, when he watched the television series premiere of Batman on January 12, 1966 and “it burned a hole in the back of [his] head.”
The Children’s Museum had this to say on the acquisition:
“Batman is an iconic hero of American culture. We are always looking for ways to initiate conversation between multiple generations of families, and this was a perfect fit.”
The Batman display will be featured as a permanent attraction in the “American Pop: Galleries for American Arts & Popular Culture” section, and will stand among other great treasures of American history such as gold records of Elvis Presley and shoes warn by Lady Gaga.
Although Silva’s display features different variations from his debut in 1939, all the way to the modern day, it is Adam West’s incarnation that is more prominent, seeing as it was his introduction to the character. From a hand made replica of the Adam West suit, the bookcase that leads to the Batcave, the red Batphone, to a phone book of Gotham City.
The attraction opens at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on June 17, 2017.