Since 1939, Batman has been a staple in DC Comics and has been the proverbial glue that holds the entire universe together. He is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known heroes in pop culture and has been solidified as an entertainment icon due to his many adaptations on the big and small screens. With the popularity of The Dark Knight trilogy and the anticipation for the upcoming Justice League, he could not be more popular than he is right now. Some might think they know all there is to know about Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, but here are a few things some fans might not be aware of.

10) Bruce Wayne takes full responsibility for the actions of The Joker.

Batman’s one rule is simple: no killing. With that comes the inability to put an end to the havoc that is caused on a seemingly weekly basis from his arch-nemesis, The Joker. No matter how many times he’s had the chance, he can never pull the trigger—which means The Joker will always find a way to return to his maniacal tendencies. Scholars have calculated the number of murders committed by The Joker at around 2000. Batman is haunted by 2000 lost souls, and he never breaks. Steel resolve, people. Steel.

9) Batman was once addicted to the hyper-drug known as Venom.

Venom  is a highly potent, highly addictive, strength-enhancing super-steroid that fuels Bane and makes him the monster that he is. Once, after a battle with Bane, Batman was exposed to the drug and found himself wanting more and more and more. Drug addiction is a disease from which even Batman cannot escape. Wait. He had the wherewithal to lock himself in a basement for 72 hours and kick the habit. Cold turkey. Alfred found him in a chair, severely  malnourished, and nursed him back to health. Good old Alfred.

8) Batman is a straight up martial arts master.

Bruce Wayne, through his several adventures and intense training regimens, has mastered over 120 different styles of martial arts. This include, but are not limited to, pressure point attacks, lethal and forbidden techniques, Muay Thai and Tae Kwon Do. This allows him to be one step ahead of every single opponent he has ever gone one-on-one with. He can literally kill a man with a single focused strike. Just one. (Good thing he’s morally obligated to abstain from murder.)

7) Bruce Wayne is not a college graduate.

Bill Gates. Ellen Degeneres. Bruce Wayne? All great minds. all tremendously successful individuals. All college degree-less. Bruce is self-taught and home schooled by Alfred within the mansion. After he was old enough and wise enough due to life experience and intense training of the mind, he had the most credentials to lead Wayne Enterprises, his father’s company. All without ever having to reference a degree. See, Mom? Batman didn’t finish school…

6) He’s like… crazy strong.

Batman once got a single train car, which was parked, moving on his own. He did this on his own. No Superman, no Green Lantern, just sheer core strength. This astonishing feat of strength is equivalent to a 2,500-pound leg press. Oh, and he’s beaten Superman, so…

5) Deathstroke completely respects him.

Slade Wilson, otherwise known as Deathstroke, is a super soldier that has enhanced strength and agility, his available brain capacity has been increased to 90 percent (whereas you and I only have 10 percent), and he is both an assassin and a warrior who is universally feared and respected. He respects nobody, except Batman. He views Bruce as an equal in all aspects of being a true warrior. Deathstroke refers to Batman as a soldier, which is quite the compliment among super tough guys, I guess.

4) He can do something every college student should learn to do.

Bruce Wayne has, through rigorous meditation seminars and a bevy of techniques, trained his body to receive a full night’s rest in just 3 hours. That explains how he has the stamina to fight crime and deliver justice all night long. Meanwhile, college students are falling asleep at their desks because of late-night Netflix binging.

3) The League of Assassins almost broke him.

Before he was Batman, Bruce was a protégé of Ras Al Ghul. He was taught to beat a man 1000 different ways. He then went on to destroy the League, but around this time he was thrown into a pit, a pit full of fighters for a full 28 hours. It was designed as a group death match, and he won every single fight without killing one man. This no-killing rule was set in stone way before he even put on the cowl.

2) His balance is impeccable.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Robin John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises) recently played Phillippe Petit in the critically acclaimed film, The Walk, and he walked a tightrope suspended in midair. He stole that gimmick from Batman. Bruce can perfectly balance himself on a horizontal cable and run at full speed on it, regardless of length between mounting points. He has to find a way keep up with his higher-powered counterparts.

1) He was chosen as the head of the Sinestro Corps.

The Lantern Corps is a group of space beings who use the power of focus and will to control their magical rings to create any amount of mass they dream of. The Sinestro Corps are the same thing, but they utilize fear. Sinestro chose Batman as the leader of his corps due to his ability to strike fear into the hearts of human men, even more than Sinestro. Batman has taken his fear of bats and turned that into becoming the scariest being in the known universe.

Bruce Wayne is the man. The Batman. Bad joke, but still. His history in comic books, spanning more than 75 years, is second to none. He has earned his place as, arguably, the greatest superhero of all time. November 2017 cannot come soon enough. I need to see Batman lead a live-action Justice League. Now you know a little more about the hero we all love.

• Christian Hubbard, Social Media Administrator