I guess this message is well past it’s sell-by date, but just to make a point, I’d like to present to you : Markovia has been doing all right, even without Batman’s help.
In Batman And The Outsiders #1 (1983), Batman leaves the JLA and joins a ragtag band of second-rank superheroes in their battle against the evil oppressor of Markovia, a “small country in Eastern Europe”. However, the first mention of Markovia places it smack-dab between France and Germany, and as a matter of fact, right in the southern part of my native Belgium.
Real-life Markovia would stretch the whole of Luxembourg Province (not to be confused with our neighbouring Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg), with half of the Namur Province added for good measure. As for the capital of Markovia, Markovburg, I would situate that in Saint-Hubert or Rochefort, both very lovely towns but a long way away from any oppression or war ever since the end of World War II.
It’s another example of the sheer lack of interest that American comic creators had for anything that was outside of the US, like Germans saying things like “Stopf! Mit mir gekommen” and all Central and South American people basically looking like Mexicans. The fact that they mention Luxemburg and (Fr)ance by name, which are very much in Western Europe, can only mean that this snafu is not due to lack of knowledge, but more of giving a damn.
Oh, and just to be complete, Castle Markov is nowhere near Belgium, but rather in the South of Germany, and possible better known as Neuschwanstein. And it doesn’t look nearly as yellow as in the comic.
