Steven Padnick argues that Batman is the ultimate aristocratic hero.
I don't have too much to add here except to wonder whether the model of vigilatism is necessarily aristocratic, as Padnick suggests it is. It seems to me that it does necessarily involve an assumption of superiority, and it would be interesting to examine different superhero narratives and explore the reasoning behind the assumption of superiority, and the implied ideology behind that assumption.
Maybe for another post.
My first thought was of Zorro, an analogue of Batman in prior culture. Looks like someone beat me to that point in the comments thread over on Padnick's blog: "Batman was pretty obviously derived from Zorro and The Scarlet Pimpernel, both of whom were aristocrats who used inherited money to fund their adventures (and encouraged the public to see them as frivolous playboys)" (EliBishop).
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