Bruce Alexander received his first lesson about addiction from Batman. As a small kid, he grew up on a series of military bases of the United States, where his father was a training officer. One day, he was reading a comic in which a group of crooks beat up a junkie while Batman hid behind a building, watching, impassive. “Dad,” Bruce asked, “why would Batman just stand there while they’re beating this junkie to a pulp? Isn’t it Batman’s job to stop criminals?” “Well, really, no one cares if they beat a junkie to a pulp,” his dad replied, “because they’re worthless human beings.”
