Batman vs. Scarecrow

Creepy picture, huh? Why would Batman be sitting across from one of his oldest and scariest enemies, The Scarecrow? In this image, Batman and Scarecrow appear to be playing a game of chess, however, instead of a chessboard they are playing with Gotham City.  Although this picture is not from the original Batman comic series nor any artist that ever created Batman, it does accurately portray a relationship between the two entities. Scarecrow uses poison gas that causes the victim to hallucinate their greatest fears. Batman, similarly, uses the night and his slyness to sneak around his enemies and strike fear through his unseen actions. This twisted connection becomes more prevalent when you learn that Scarecrow was ignored by his mother and lost his father, sharing a distinction to the childhood of Bruce Wayne where they both lacked parents

Returning to the image, Batman and the Scarecrow both have their arms outstretched and, in relation to the picture, they are both diagonal. This diagonal position as stated by Molly Bang, “gives a sense of movement” that develops to form a tension that builds up in the image (Picture This 51). This tension mounting over the city of Gotham eludes to the conflict between the two, of Batman protecting the city (with his arm somewhat surrounding it) and the Scarecrow (with his crooked fingers attempting to infiltrate his way into it). Simply the position of the two establish the mood and tension between them, without any need of words or explanation.

Batman is clearly sitting in a defensive position, across the Scarecrow, who appears menacingly with his crooked hands and appearance. All the diagonals in the picture add to the movement and the feeling of tension between the two over the city of Gotham. This tension reveals the connection of the two fighting for control, and both using fear. So is Batman all that much different than the Scarecrow?