Anticipation is high among movie fans in general and Batman fans in particular about the film The Dark Knight, which opens Friday.

Early buzz about the late Heath Ledger's performance as Joker and the huge critical and financial success of Batman Begins in 2005 have fans shivering with anticipation.

And there are probably few households in Hamilton where it is higher than at Ken Turner's.

He has been a fan since preschool and has been a serious collector of all things Batman for the past 20 years.

An entire room in his east-end basement is dedicated to his collection and it covers four walls, the door and ceiling.

"We call it the downstairs Bat-room," Turner says with a laugh as he shows his impressive collection. "It's just a pleasure, a guilty pleasure."

The usual reaction from people entering the room for the first stime is the same: "Wow, you've got a lot of stuff."

That is an understatement. Turner has about 1,000 Batman items, ranging from his pride and joy, a lithograph signed by Batman co-creator Bob Kane, to a can of desiccated noodles bearing a cartoon Batman label.

He has a large Batman tattoo on the back of his right leg, some serious Batman collectible and some not-so-serious, such as Mad magazine icon Alfred E. Newman dressed as Batman and Robin and a Lego Batman.

There are also Batman pizza boxes, a Frisbee, figures of all shapes and sizes, toys, posters, Bat-a-rangs, Batmobiles, pictures, posters, glasses and mugs, not to mention the new Joker running shoes Turner sports. The collection has even overflowed to his upstairs office.

The Kane lithograph cost him a few hundred dollars but most of Turner's items are much less expensive and have been purchased over the years in stores, online, the TV shopping channel and at comic book and fan conventions.

And, although many of his collectibles are still in their boxes, he is not shy about removing and playing around with them.

Turner says he has spent thousands of dollars but, having done it over 20 years, has helped keep his wife, Stacy, in support of his hobby.

"I don't know if Stacy gets it, but she is supportive and it has made buying me birthday and Christmas presents easy for her, although she says it's starting to get tough to find stuff I don't have," said Turner.

The collection also provides a never-ending source of amusement for their four-year-old, Christopher, and has made Turner a hit with the Grade 9 and Grade 10 students to whom he teaches geography and history at King's Christian Collegiate in Oakville.

It also landed him on Space: The Imagination Station's program It Came from the Basement and a spot on StarTV.

His fascination with Batman stretches back to preschool when a babysitter used to keep him in line by pretending to know the Caped Crusader and would call him if the youngster was not eating his vegetables or refusing to nap.

"I was young enough to really think it was Batman on the phone," said Tucker, who grew up on the west Mountain and attended Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School and McMaster University.

"If Batman tells you to eat your beans or take your nap, you listen. That's where it all came from."

Tucker was too young to know the campy Batman TV series of the mid-'60s except in later syndication, but he was ready and eager at age 17 for Batman, the 1989 movie.

It was then that his serious collecting began.

"The first thing I bought was maybe a key chain when I was working in a record store (Discus) at Centre Mall," he said.

Why Batman?

"I guess it's just that he's a regular guy," explains Turner of his fascination. "I like Superman, but he's super. He can fly, you can't shoot him, you can't hit him. He can shatter a planet with his breath.

"But Batman is a guy, a guy with a lot of money, but an everyman almost. He can be shot, he can be hurt. We could all be Batman if we had the right resources."

Turner and some friends are planning to be among the opening-day crowd for The Dark Knight.

And he is effusive in his anticipation. "According to all accounts so far, this film is a masterpiece."

He'll know for sure Friday.

dfoley@thespec.com

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