Last night, my fiancé, some friends and myself sat through “The Dark Knight Rises” marathon at Century 20 in the Park Place Mall. What this attributed to was about 9 hours of Batman action. Also, it was a chance to see the first two movies on the big screen again since their original release.

I always forget how great those first two movies truly are. Especially in a cinema-tastic experience.

Anyway, with “The Dark Knight Rises”, Christopher Nolan ends his Batman trilogy and, in a way, the Batman legend.

No spoilers here, I assure you.

All I can say is I loved the movie for what it was as a movie. It was action packed and full of great character moments. Definitely par for the course for Nolan and crew. As for how it works as an official end to the Batman Trilogy that Nolan has created, well, I’m still contemplating that one.

If you think this is an official review, well, I’m sure you’ll see at least a dozen more reviews in the next few days.

Or maybe you won’t.

Because once we all left the theater, all of us got caught up on the news.

Someone decided it was their right to take the lives of others within the comfort and magic of a movie theater.

Not just any movie goers, mind you.

These were the diehard fans. The ones willing to stay up so late because they wanted to catch a movie as soon as it was released.

These were people like me. Like my fiancé. Like my friends. Like my brother.

Nothing like this can be forgiven, this much is true.

But after watching Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and any local news station report on it, I realized I was exhausted of hearing these people who have no connection to anyone involved in the tragedy speak. Experts. Analysts. Commentators.

Maybe some people need to watch them to feel a sense of stability. Maybe some just want more details.

I just wanted to go see “The Dark Knight Rises” again.

To anyone that’s truly a comic book fan and has truly taken in their messages, it’s all about being a better person. Do they make mistakes and are they imperfect? Sure. That’s what makes so many of their stories so compelling.

It’s their climb that redeems them.

They rise.

The Dark Knight

Just like we need to.

This column is used to talk about comic books and their positive influences and their importance in our society. It’s an idealistic view, sure, but it’s an

inspiration to write and examine.

This movie showed the complete opposite of the message this gunman decided to demonstrate.

Batman has shown me since I was 2 years old that when tragedy strikes, you make something of it.

And you make something of yourself.

In addition to writing for the column “Comic Matters” for the Tucson Citizen website, Bobby Acosta is also a 5th Grade Elementary school teacher, frequenter of local comic book shop Heroes & Villains, and explorer of the importance of comics. He recommends each and every comic he writes about. Contact him at comicmatters@gmail.com

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