(Found here - the article is nonsense, but the picture is halfway down the page)
I can't remember how I found the link to the article where I found this picture - I was sure it was from a link in Hit & Run, but I couldn't find the article. Possibly it was on Crooked Timber, but it didn't seem likely. Or a library-related blog. Whatever. (I have linked to the original article, and I'll leave it at that - it was a serendipitous find).
The point was that the instant I saw the picture, I was hooked. There was something disturbingly amusing (at least, to me) about it, and I immediately sent the link to R., telling her it was proof that they finally got together. Every time I saw it I snickered, but it still bugged me that it entertained me so much.
It dawned on me tonight why: the "camp" factor. First, anyone who's seen the old Batman show knows how utterly over-the-top the program was, how the acting was exaggerated and cheesy it was. There's something exaggerated and cheesy about that tattoo - and I can imaging Robin stepping out of the embrace and remarking, "Holy tonsil hockey, Batman!"
The second reason why I dig the camp factor is the whole "Batman and Robin"-wink-wink nudge-nudge effect. At some point, most of us have engaged in speculation about what really went on in the Batcave (or, the "Batcave"-wink-wink) and the true nature of the relationship between the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder. Go Google for the fanfic - go on, I'll wait. See? Plenty of people enjoy speculating about it, and have rather vivid imagination when it comes to the mechanics. This tattoo is someone's idea of what went on when the dynamic duo weren't fighting crime (or their attraction to each other).
Still, part of me feels guilty about it, as if it's too naughty for me to acknowledge. But then I look at it again and start giggling.
