In southeastern Turkey there is an oil producing town called Batman. Its mayor, Huseyin Kalkan, is trying to sue Christopher Helmer and Warner Brothers for royalties from the mega-film “The Dark Knight.” He’s accusing Warner Brothers producers of using the city’s name without permission. There’s only one Batman in the world, apparently, and those terrible Americans used the name without asking for it. Batman first appeared as a comic book character in 1939, so it is a mystery as to why the town is up in arms about the name now.
Well, it isn’t really a mystery, but it is illogical nonetheless. The mayor is actually blaming Warner Brothers’ use of the name Batman for the Turkish city’s high female suicide rate and for several unsolved murder cases due to the psychological impact the film’s success has taken on the city’s residents. The mayor is working on getting proof that Batman was the name of the Turkish city predating 1939.