Happy Bale-entine's Day, everyone! And no, that's not a typo — that's the name of the most important holiday being celebrated today. Just ask Batman; he'll tell you all about it...
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Okay, without any context, that looks weird. Let me explain: when I worked at Wizard Magazine years ago, several colleagues and I dreamed up Bale-entine's Day, a way to honor/mock Valentine's Day through a "Dark Knight" lens. The result: way too many Photoshopped images of Christian Bale in seductive poses, paired with out-of-context quotes from Christopher Nolan's Batman movies.
For example...
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And...
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Bale-entine's Day has grown since its inception to include other characters from the Nolanverse, such as Harvey Dent...
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This apology note from Commissioner Gordon...
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And even a young Alfred Pennyworth getting in on the action...
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With Nolan's trilogy completed by "The Dark Knight Rises" last summer, this year's Bale-entines offerings have room for Bane-lentines such as this...
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And this...
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And thanks to the arrival of John Blake, we can even add some Val-Levitt-tines into the mix!
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Jim Gibbons, former Wizard staffer and current associate editor at Dark Horse Comics, has a great rundown on the history of Bale-entine's Day here, here, here and here. It's a silly holiday celebrated by a very small few, but just like the Joker's operation, there's a lot of room for aggressive growth in the Bale-entine's Day gang. So get in on the fun — make some of your own ridiculous Bale-entine's Day cards and leave them in the comments section or tweet them our way!
And while you're at it, take a moment to thank Jim Gibbons, Alex Kropinak, Steve Sunu, Jordan Hammill, Kevin Mahadeo, Matt Powell, David Paggi and all of the other Wizard veterans who invented the best Valentine's Day counter-programming in the history of mankind — or at least Gotham City.
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