SAN FRANCISCO -- Trouble is brewing in Gotham City. The Riddler is on the loose. The Penguin is up to no good. A damsel is in distress.
But never fear. Batkid is coming to the rescue.
San Francisco will be transformed into Gotham on Friday as 5-year-old Miles, who has successfully battled leukemia, will get to save the day as the superhero Batkid. The event is the culmination of a youngster's fertile imagination, the efforts of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the power of social media.
About 12,000 people have signed up to help make the boy's fantasy of being a caped crusader come true, thanks to the feel-good story going viral on the Internet. They will cheer on the pint-size champion as he foils elaborately staged, nefarious plots and captures evildoers throughout San Francisco, uh, Gotham.
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Andrew Farago, curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, reached out to cartoonists and DC Comics, asking for Batman-related memorabilia and original artwork for the boy.
The first to respond was Graham Nolan, who drew the Batman series for much of the 1990s and is co-creator of the Bane villain character. "And the next day, he completed this amazing drawing for Miles that has Batkid versus Bane," Farago said.
Nolan signed it: "For Miles, a real superhero!"
"We certainly all were children who had dreams of being a superhero and being larger than life," Farago added. "But I think this has touched people because most of us have never had to overcome the obstacles that this boy has."
Miles, oops, we mean Batkid, has a full day of adventures scheduled to frustrate the bad guys.
It will begin at 10 a.m. with Suhr issuing the call that Batkid is needed. Traveling by Batmobile, the masked boy will rescue the distressed damsel -- is there any other kind of damsel? -- from the Hyde Street cable-car tracks.
Then, Batkid will apprehend the Riddler in the act of robbing a bank vault. Then a flash mob will alert Batkid that the incorrigible Penguin has kidnapped Giants mascot Lou Seal. Our hero, who will rescue the mascot at AT&T Park. Then it's on to City Hall where Mayor Ed Lee will present Batkid with a key to San Francisco/Gotham and most of the volunteers will be present to cheer for Batkid.
http://www.mercuryne...ham-make-5-year
Nice story, he deserves it for kicking cancer's ass.
