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The writer's strike postponed Season 7 of "24" until January 2009, a long wait for the ardent fans of the series. Rather than focus on the political debates of whether the show encourages torture, gives terrorists bad ideas or is too far left or right, the reason most people have followed the show is the greatest character in the history of modern television: Jack Bauer played by Kiefer Sutherland in the role of his career. Prior to the last three year arc, Sutherland received the largest contract in the history of TV drama: $40 million for those three years.

As a lifelong fan of comic book heroes and the media in which they are portrayed, it occurred to me that Jack Bauer is, indeed, the modern version of "Batman" without the costume, fighting terrorists across the globe without pointed ears, but still able to overcome any odds or any obstacles for the forces of good, albeit with a darkly colored lens through which Mr. Bauer views the world.

The similarities to the Caped Crusader:

1) Vigilantes: both work outside the law, but for the forces of good;
2) Going dark: even more so in recent years, the Christian Bale portrayed and Tim Burton directed Batman is the Dark Knight of Gotham - Jack goes "dark" on a daily basis, that is, cannot be stopped or tracked before he accomplishes his mission and can be absolutely frightening in his approach to those who impede his progress along the way;
3) Points of contact: in order to make their connection to the forces of conventional law, each needs a contact person willing to bend the rules while still working within the system - for Batman, the contacts were either Commissioner or Barbara (the former Batgirl, now confined to a wheelchair after an encounter with the Joker) Gordon; for Bauer, primarily Chloe O' Brian with a recent assist from Bill Buchanan;
4) Weaponry: Bruce Wayne/ Batman has his Bat-Cave and utility belt; Bauer has his "Jack Pack" satchel and ATV filled with artillery and terrorist-defeating gear;
5) Combat training: Bruce Wayne trained in the Far East and through all means at his disposal; Bauer was in some type of elite "Special" Special Forces division, both can defeat any attacker in hand-to-hand combat;
6) Master detectives: a trait expected of Batman, but under-rated for Bauer - neither will miss a clue nor lose a trail to the one person that holds the key to defeating the villains - for a non-IT person, Bauer shows amazing abilities to crack most computers and hard drives on the scene just to get the information back to Chloe;
7) Personal loss: Batman was created by the young Bruce Wayne seeing his parents gunned down in an alley; Bauer lost his wife at the end of the first season, driving him to an even darker place in his life - over the seasons, there could not be a more life-threatening role than being Jack's primary love interest;
8) Indestructible: though neither possesses powers beyond that of a normal man, both can walk into rooms with a dozen assailants and be the only ones to walk out.

Regardless of which, if any, you prefer, if fiction were reality, we could all benefit from having these two Dark Knights on our side rather than not.

Learn more about this author, Pete Smits.
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