“My favorite comic book superhero is Baruch Wane, otherwise known as Batman, in The Batman Chronicles. “The Berlin Batman,” #11 in the series by Paul Pope, details Batman’s attempts to rescue the confiscated works of persecuted Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, from Nazi Party hands. “

Pope, creator of “100%” and “Heavy Liquid” took another crack at Batman in 2006 with “Batman: Year 100,” about a descendant of the Dark Knight fighting against the corrupt police force that keeps Gotham City under its brutal control. (‘The Berlin Batman’ is available in the collected edition of ‘Batman: Year 100′, available here) Which raises an interesting question: what incarnation of Batman do the other candidates prefer?

Some guesses:

• Rudy Guiliani: The “Goddamned Batman” of Frank Miller’s “All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder”
• Mitt Romney: The quasi-religious zealot Batman of “Batman: Holy Terror”
• Tom Tancredo: Batman in “Batman vs. Aliens”
• John McCain: “Batman in the Seventies

Sadly, most of the Democratic candidates don’t lend themselves to nerdy Batman jokes, at least not jokes I’m clever enough to make at the moment.

(Original Ron Paul item found via The Beat)