Nowadays, superheroes tend to arrive courtesy of CGI, saving cities from asteroids or supervillains, which makes it all the more interesting when something approaching the real thing turns up in a fancy dress outfit with a bucket and sponge, rather than a Spandex leotard.
Around Normandy, Ash and Ash Vale, on the western fringes of the borough of Guildford, residents have grown used to spotting a rather more down-to-earth Batman going about his business, scrubbing years of grime and graffiti off road signs that everyone else had just chosen to ignore.
Liam Keen Is Giving Back
View this post on Instagram
The man behind the cape is Liam Keen, who a few years ago found himself living in a van with his dog Angel after a relationship broke down whilst he was also dealing with a chronic illness. “It was winter time and I was really struggling, on top of which my dog decided to have herself five puppies,” he said. Money was tight enough without six mouths to feed, and Keen has spoken honestly about how little he had left over once the van was kept warm and there was food on the table for his dog and all of her charges.
What turned things around for him, he says, was the local community. Residents in Normandy, Ash and Ash Vale rallied behind him with offers of work and help caring for the puppies. “Honestly, they blew me away with their offers of work and help with the dogs,” said Keen. “They really got me back on my feet.” Grateful for the support, he began heading out each morning to pick up litter and clean graffiti and road signs, which was work that eventually earned him an award from the Mayor for services to the community.
From Gratitude to a Cape & Cowl
The Batman costume didn’t arrive straight away, of course, and when it did, it was actually something of an accident. Keen and his ‘partner in grime’, Dennis Rawlings, who plays Robin to his Batman, were once called superheroes by a passerby who caught them mid-clean, with the description sticking. “I decided the best way to pay them back for their kindness was to pay it forward,” Keen said. The costumes, whilst clearly good for a laugh, also do a decent job of getting people to stop and ask what the pair are up to.
“I’m just trying to repay a debt and make the place a bit better and brighter,” said Keen. “We wear the costumes to help draw attention to what we do, and besides, life’s too short not to have a laugh.” It is probably fair to say that Guildford has seen its share of unusual sights over the years, but few quite so heart-warming as Batman and Robin working their way through the villages with a sponge. It is proof, were it needed, that the best kind of superhero story doesn’t always need a supervillain, just a community willing to lend a hand and someone hoping to pay it back for its kindness.