Holy look-alike, Batman!

On March 21, 2012, “Batman” was spotted on Route 29 in Silver Springs, Maryland. The hero was pulled over by local police for not having any numbers or letters on his license plate, but in its place, having the notorious bat symbol. “It’s a black lamborghini and a driver dressed as Batman. You can send me Robin if you wish,” the police officer reported over the radio. The dashcam video of the superhero’s near ticketing experience soon went viral, and the search for the man behind the mask intensified.

The Washington Post was the first to discover the secretive hero’s identity. It was no billionaire Bruce Wayne, but rather the face of Lenny B. Robinson, a 48 year old father of three.

Lenny discovered the superhero 12 years ago when Brandon, his son, became obsessed with the popular comic book icon. He was drawn to Batman over Superman or others simply because of what Batman couldn’t do. “He’s a superhero, but he doesn’t have any super powers. We all can be Batman,” Robinson told ABC News.

Robinson secured a lot of money when he sold the cleaning business he founded. He put this money towards his transformation into The Dark Knight. He spent an astounding 5,000 dollars on his custom made Batsuit, which weighs 35 pounds. The full transformation, including makeup, armour, boots, cowl, gloves, and cape, takes a total of 45 minutes to completely accomplish. In the suit, he sweats enough to lose 5 pounds of water weight.

For many, dressing up as Batman seems like a fun hobby, but for Lenny, it’s something much more than that. After he is fully transformed from Lenny Robinson, father of three, to Batman, The Caped Crusader, he hops into his $250,000 bat mobile to entertain sick children at the local hospital.

“When I put the suit on and I quote unquote become Batman, I think I am Batman,” Lenny told ABC en route to the local children’s hospital. ABC News accompanied Robinson on one of his trips where he greeted children and passed out Batman paraphernalia.

“Think about that everyday–getting better,” Lenny was heard saying to one of the kids.“ You are the real superheroes.”

While the Batsuit may protect you from Mr. Freeze’s freeze ray, or the Joker’s babydoll bomb, it didn’t protect Lenny from the emotional toll of the day.

“I saw the kids in there, and my heart’s breaking,” Lenny said on the way home from the journey. “ On the inside I’m crying like a little baby.”

Robinson is inspiring thousands of people as Batman, but Batman has helped Lenny in more ways than one. “You wouldn’t have liked me before. I considered myself back then a little on the obnoxious side.”

Since taking up the mantle of donning the cape and cowl, Robinson has focused more on the well-being of others rather than himself, the true definition of a hero.