It would appear that changing your name to sound like a superhero doesn't mean you're above the law.
The Caped Crusader, as conceived by the Last Son of Krypton, is trading his cape and cowl (or whatever he wears) for a prison jumpsuit as he's been sentenced to a jail term of almost three years, according to AFP News.
Allow us to explain, oh probably intrigued yet somewhat confused reader.
Batman bin Suparman, which translates to 'Batman son of Suparman,' is an unemployed Singaporean who legally changed his name to be a misspelled DC character hybrid. He's also now headed to the slammer for theft, housebreaking and drug offenses ... in, you know, real life.
The 23-year-old Batman bin Suparman (the name actually becomes more awesome the more you say/write/read it) was arrested on Aug. 19 after security videos showed him sneaking into a store at night on two separate occasions (Batman is known for his stealth and preferring to work nocturnally, after all). Batman bin Suparman stole about $400 from the store and pleaded guilty to other rather non-superheroic actions, including snatching his brother's ATM card to make withdrawals and consuming heroin (not 'heroine,' as is the more common spelling/reference in comic books).
'Batman bin Suparman' isn't the craziest pop culture-inspired name change out there, but as the dude in question is now known for committing crimes rather than fighting them, it's definitely one of the most ironic. Other amusing if not ill-advised name changes include Seattle man Jason Michael Burrows becoming 'Jason Megatron Burrows' in homage to the Decepticon leader of the Transformers ... and perhaps in response to Scott Nall, a member of Ohio's 5694th National Guard Unit in Mansfield, becoming 'Optimus Prime' a few years earlier on his 30th birthday.
Outrageous name changes have been inspired from other sources besides comic books and cartoons. Karin Robertson of Norfolk, Virginia took her support of vegetarianism to extreme levels when she had her name changed to 'Goveg.com,' named after the popular online source for vegetarian information. Dan Miller of Ohio changed his name to 'The Dan Miller Experience' (because why not?) and Andrew Wilson changed his name to simply 'They' because, according to LegalZoom.com, he wanted to "take legal responsibility for the pronoun."
Hey, somebody had to, apparently.
Speaking of legal responsibility, Batman bin Suparman commences his prison sentence today and will be locked up for a total of 33 months ... unless, you know, Wonder Woman daughter of Supargirl busts him out.
Batman bin Suparman became something of social media celebrity after his ID card was posted and circulated online. A Facebook community page dedicated to him has almost 3,000 'likes' and Facebook's Batman Bin Suparman Fan Club has almost 11,000.
