The caped crusade Batman and the rise of nerd culture.

A witty, intelligent cultural history from NPR book critic Glen Weldon explains Batman's rises and falls throughout the ages-and what his story tells us about ourselves. Since his creation, Batman has been many things: a two-fisted detective; a planet-hopping gadabout; a campy Pop-art sensation; a pointy-eared master spy; and a grim and gritty ninja of the urban night. For more than three quarters of a century, he has cycled from a figure of dark...