The London Batman Wants to be Called 'The Shadow'

Recently we brought you a story about a man in south London who’s been fighting crime as a masked vigilante. The ‘Bromley Batman’, as he’s been dubbed, is still anonymous but he recently reached out to the Evening Standard to explain a little about himself and what he’d rather be called.

"He insisted he had not set out to be venerated as a superhero when he began his one-man war on crime three years ago, adding he hated the name “Bromley Batman” – preferring The Shadow, whose comics he enjoyed as a boy.“I just want to make a difference and leave this world a tiny bit better for the younger generation to inherit,” he wrote from an anonymous e-mail account.“I got sick of seeing crime on the news and in the papers with rarely anyone willing to step in and help people in need.”Revealing he had trained in self-defence “since a very young age” and that he had “picked things up from previous employment”, he said: “I just remember one day thinking: ‘I have the skills to help, so what am I doing with my life?’“I sat and watched crime being reported and [news about] scandals in parliament, and thought: ‘This world is f***ed up and needs some help’.”Asked about the facial hair mentioned to the Standard by a number of witnesses, he confirmed: “I do have a big, beautiful beard.”He would not be drawn on how often he is forced to intervene in situations such as those reported last week.“I don’t go looking for trouble,” he said. “I hope every time I go out that I don’t come across it.“[But] I do go to areas that generally are known to need help.”"

He goes on to mention that he hates the ‘Batman’ analogy and that he’d never even considered it.

"“As a young boy I always enjoyed The Shadow, so if any name then that one kind of makes some sense.”Asked if he had a message to Londoners – some of whom may have already received his help – he said: “I am doing this for future generations to feel safer. I have seen the world get increasingly dangerous and unstable.“We all need to stand up and be counted, not stand by when people need us. Let us please try to leave a better world for our children and learn from our previous mistakes instead of making the same ones over and over again.“I’m glad the people I have helped are OK, but there isn’t any thanks needed. Just raise a glass or something and then forget about it and get on with your lives – I wish you all well.”"

This guy is definitely for real, but it surprises me anyone would hate being called Batman.

The London Batman Wants to be Called ‘The Shadow’

By Skip Harvey | Jun 15, 2015