Batman #644: A Medical (and Chemical) Review

September 1st, 2005

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

Batman uses an alkalai solution to counteract the acidBatman #644 “War Crimes Part 4: Judgment at Gotham”
Bill Willingham, writer
Giuseppe Camuncoli, penciler

According to Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism: A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing.

Batman illustrates this concept perfectly in the recent Batman #644. Black Mask has been shot in the face with acid by the Joker. Remembering from his “grade school chemistry” that bases neutralize acids, Batman sprays the Black Mask with an alkali solution (i.e. a base) to counteract the acid.

It is true that equivalent amounts of an acid and a base will react to form water and a salt (not necessarily table salt, but any one of a number of chemical salts). The key word here is “react.” This neutralization is a chemical reaction that generates a tremendous amount of heat. Trying to neutralize a chemical burn in this manner causes thermal burns in addition to the chemical burns. The proper way to treat an acid burn is prompt irrigation of the wound with a large amount of water. Studies have conclusively proven that attempting to “neutralize” a chemical burn does far more damage than just irrigating it with water.

Additionally, you’ll notice Batman sprays the Black Mask with quite a large amount of the base. Although acids have the bad reputation, alkali solutions are often more damaging than acidic ones (just ask any cement worker about lime burns). Acids cause a rapid scarring of the skin and this prevents deeper damage. Bases, on the other hand, have good tissue pentration and because of this they cause a great deal more damage. For example, 2 to 3 hours of irrigation are typically used to treat an acid burn while twelve hours are required for an alkali burn. (This also shows the flaw in Joker’s plan for the acid dart to “burrow into the brain.” The formation of scar tissue would prevent that from happening).

So not only did Batman cause more damage to the Black Mask by trying to chemically neutralize the acid instead of washing it away, the base he sprayed on the Black Mask has the potential to be more dangerous than the Joker’s acid ever was.

8 Responses to “ Batman #644: A Medical (and Chemical) Review ”

  1. Carl Fink
    September 1st, 2005 at 9:49 pm

    Pope’s essay on “Critisicism”?

  2. Scott
    September 1st, 2005 at 10:12 pm
    Official Comment

    One of his lesser known works, before he got a spell-checker…

  3. Dorian
    September 1st, 2005 at 10:13 pm

    I half suspect Batman knew all that and did it on purpose…

  4. Stevie Wonder Man
    September 2nd, 2005 at 12:31 am

    Complete the phrase, kids: Batman is a… *

    *Hint: Think dead Lois Lane.

  5. Jon Silpayamanant
    September 2nd, 2005 at 12:52 am

    One of his lesser known works, before he got a spell-checker…

    heh

  6. Tim O'Neil
    September 2nd, 2005 at 1:02 am

    I remember having similar concerns when I read that passage myself - and I’m not even a doctor! All’s I got is high-school chemistry and I remember that bases are just as dangerous…

    But the whole thing just struck me as incredibly stupid, because it was essentially the Joker producing an elaborate gimmick, to which Batman had an instant panacea. It was the storytelling equivilent of a dead end, a useless exachange that any editor should have just deleted.

    “Here’s my special balogna gun!”

    “Luckily I just happen to have my anti-balogna spray.”

    “Boy, that balogna gun was useless, why did I even pack it today?”

    Incidentally, did you check out the medical shenanigans over at The Hurting? Lots of incredibly bad doctoring today…

  7. M
    September 2nd, 2005 at 1:09 pm

    >> I half suspect Batman knew all that and did it on purpose…

  8. Barghest
    November 28th, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    Well, it is Black Mask, the guy that killed the latest Robin/the Spoiler, and also happens to have a black mask carved from his father’s ebony coffin permanently bonded to his face (due to being caught in a burning building while wearing it–which is apparently common in comics and movies. Hey, what are the medical facts about having masks permanently attached to one’s face? Will fire do it?)

    I strongly suspect that Batman was just using the neutralization first aid thing as an excuse to burn off Black Mask’s mask and ruin his gimmick, perhaps also curing his object-fixation that keeps him a villain in the process. Maybe he’ll try the same thing on Two-Face. “Here, it’s concentrate of aloe vera, good for….just come here for a second.”

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