why bruce wayne calls himself batman

a fine choice, although a bat he is not

eastern sucker-footed bat (myzopoda aurita)
genus: myzopoda (two species)

bruce wayne chose the name batman
because as a child he was afraid of bats.
he wanted to channel his own fear 
to strike panic in criminals and corrupt bureaucrats.

but his power is not really that of the bat.
he’s got wealth and stealth and martial arts, 
resources, technology, and alfred pennyworth,
the batmobile, the batarang, and genius-level smarts. 

he needs an electric polymer memory-cloth cape
to glide across gotham’s streets. 
and he doesn’t have natural sonar,
nor does he have these amazing super-sticky feet. 

there shouldn’t be just one batman. 
there really should be lots of batmen. 
with at least fifteen hundred bat species,
comic writers would do well to add them!