"Batman and Robin Have an Altercation" is a short story by the American author

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

. It was originally published in the September 2012 issue of ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'', and later collected in King's short fiction collection ''

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams ''The Bazaar of Bad Dreams'' is a short fiction collection by Stephen King, published on November 3, 2015. This is King's sixth collection of short stories and his tenth collection overall. One of the stories, "Obits", won the 2016 Edgar Award fo ...

'' in 2015. The story won Ellie for Fiction in the 2013

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

. In 2016, actor

Stephen Lang Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...

read the short story for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''Too Hot for Radio'' podcast.

Synopsis

Sanderson, a middle-aged man, twice weekly visits his father, who is suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. They dine at

Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...

for their weekly lunch, where for three years they have ordered the same food and had the same conversation. His father's memory is deteriorating; he mistakes Sanderson for Sanderson's late brother, who died 40 years ago in an accident. The only memory he holds is that they once dressed up as

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

and Robin for Halloween. When driving his father home, Sanderson becomes distracted by an unpleasant (though unintentional) revelation by his father, and gets into a car accident when a pick-up truck swerves into his lane without signaling. The driver of the truck turns out to be an ex-convict with no license, who has no intention of swapping insurance information with Sanderson. When Sanderson insists, the man becomes enraged and starts beating Sanderson. Sanderson's father, in a rare moment of lucidity, intervenes and kills the driver with a steak knife he stole from the restaurant.

References

Short stories by Stephen King 2012 short stories Works originally published in Harper's Magazine Robin (character) {{2010s-story-stub