The Most Epic Moments in Batman’s History

When we talk about early Batman, we’re often thinking of a much darker take on the Dark Knight. He kills. He uses guns. He lives in a noir world of violent street crime. But Detective Comics #32 was only his fifth appearance, and already he was facing foes a shade detached from typical street punks (or reality). The enemy in the conclusion of this two-part story is the Mad Monk, a werewolf with a vampire familiar named Dala. It could have been a very early jump-the-shark moment for the Batman, but I think the story unlocks a key piece of the Bat’s longevity: whether it’s Adam West or Christian Bale, Dick Sprang or Frank Miller, you can drop him in almost any type of story and he’ll figure out how to make it work.

Batman thinks of everything.
Tower of Babel

The Bat’s endless preparation also led to one of his darker moments. In the “Tower of Babel” storyline from the JLA book (by Mark Waid, Howard Porter, and Steve Scott), we learn Batman has contingency plans for pretty much ever important hero in the DCU. If anyone ever goes rogue, he has a way to bring them down.
That’s all well and good as long as: a) his friends in the Justice League don’t find out; and b) no one else gets his or her hands on the plans. Here, Ra’s al Ghul brings down the League using Batman’s own blueprint, and some of the takedowns are brutal: knowing, for instance, of the Martian Manhunter’s crippling fear of fire, his skin is covered in nanites that burst into flame on contact with air. Aquaman is given a dose of Scarecrow fear toxin that makes him terrified of water, even though he’ll die in a matter of hours without it.

Yeah. Batman don’t play.
Bruce loses some points here for alienating his friends and letting his fail-safes fall into the wrong hands. However, it’s not as if the heroes have never been turned to evil, so he gets credit for foresight.
Putting out Martian Fires with Bat-Gasoline

Batman’s preparedness is a major theme in Grant Morrison’s stories of the Caped Crusader. In Morrison’s telling, it’s his real and true superpower, and it’s how he can keep up with the gods that populate the Justice League. In Morrison’s “New World Order” storyline from JLA, the entire League has been dispatched by evil White Martians (literally just martians with white skin). Each Martian is approximately as powerful as Superman, and, masquerading as humans, they’re well on their way to taking over the world before Batman steps in. Using his detective skills, Batman deduces their true origin and thus knows their one weakness: fire. He takes out a group that has him cornered with a simple match. Of course, planning ahead, he poured a circle of gasoline around himself before they even got there.

Zur-En-Arrh!

Speaking of Grant Morrison: the Batman R.I.P storyline is his tribute to Batman’s high level of disaster preparedness. At one moment, the Bat digs himself out of his own grave, captions explaining he prepared himself for just such a scenario. Because you never know.
“But that’s the thing about Batman,” the caption reads. “Batman thinks of everything.”
That was just the beginning. Morrison, who mirrors Batman’s foresight with his own, peppered the early chapters of his long Bat-run with the mysterious phrase “Zurr En Arrh.” A 1958 was-it-all-a-dream? story saw Batman travel to a world with the same name where he developed the powers of Superman. Morrison repositions the story as a part of Batman’s greatest contingency plan: a back-up personality. In the event of a psychological assault such as the one he suffers at the hands of Dr. Simon Hurt in the story, Bruce trained his mind to reboot with a Batman-centric personality, giving his mind time to recover.

If the case hadn’t already been made, here’s the final, undeniable proof:
Shark Repellent Bat Spray

1966’s Batman: The Movie, a spin-off of the Adam West/Burt Ward TV series, saw Bats take fend off a shark. Not with his fists, but with readily available aerosol spray. I mean, he didn’t know that shark would be there. But still, he was ready. That’s a hero.
Batman Really Begins

Frank Miller made his mark on Batman with two seminal books in the mid-1980s: Year One, set at the beginning of Bruce’s crimefighting career and largely told from the point of view of young police lieutenant Jim Gordon; and The Dark Knight Returns, which follows an aging Bruce Wayne in a dark future.
Year One is full of iconic moments, and stands as the single definitive creation myth for a character whose origins have been told time and time again. The key moment might be this one: now fully-formed, Batman announces himself at a gathering of Gotham’s organized crime bosses.

Batman Rides

Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is one of the most influential superhero comics of all time, having planted a big old flag for the idea that even mainstream superheroes can go deep—and dark. It’s full of big moments, but, personally, I get a thrill from the opening moments of the final battle. Batman has managed to divert a nuclear bomb into crashing harmlessly in the desert, but the resulting electromagnetic pulse has wiped out electricity nationwide. Reminding us Batman is Batman even without his gadgets and fancy car, he rides into the climax on horseback with an army or reformed gang members at his back.

Kingdom Come

Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come presents a slightly (slightly) less bleak vision of the future of the DCU.
Batman and Superman are still at odds, but ultimately join forces for well and all. His body broken from decades of crimefighting, Bruce remains as sharp as ever, putting his detective skills to use one more time over breakfast with Clark and Diana.
There are many, many, many scenes of Batman and Superman duking it out (usually to Superman’s disadvantage), but it’s nice to imagine that it all works out in the end.

Mad Parenting Skills

For all of his many virtues, we can all agree that Batman shouldn’t really be allowed near children. He’s taken in a stream of them whom he’s trained to be sidekicks (and occasionally cannon fodder) in his endless, brutal war on crime.
That being said, he’s actually a pretty good dad. Introduced as a maybe-not-in-continuity baby in Mike Barr and Jerry Bingham’s Son of the Demon, Damian Wayne was brought officially into the fold  as Batman’s heir by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert in 2006’s “Batman and Son.” Having been raised, unbeknownst to Batman, by the brutal League of Assassins, Damian is a more reasonable Robin than the other kids. He’s just putting his skills and anger to positive use. Bruce knows when to be tough with him:

And he knows when to be tender, as here during Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run:

When Damian was killed, Batman ultimately chose to surrender his heart’s desire in order to bring back his son.
I Didn’t Count on Being Happy

Mask of the Phantasm (aka the best Batman movie) was a spin-off from the brilliant Batman: The Animated Series of the ‘90s. In the film, the past and present interweave when an old love of Bruce’s, Andrea Beaumont, comes back into town.
We learn their love was the only thing that ever made Batman question his crusade, and a crucial scene sees Bruce pleading, on his knees, at the grave of his parents to be released from his pledge to avenge them. “I didn’t count on being happy,” he tells them.
Their silence is deafening.

Ultimate Sacrifice

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s long and already legendary run on the main book is full of truly what-the-eff? moments, but there’s real heart in their over-the-top adventures. Near the conclusion, Bruce has been living a quiet life, retaining his soul while having largely forgotten his Batman identity following one last battle with the Joker. Jim Gordon has been filling in ably, but the true Batman is finally needed once more. In a manner both deeply tragic and inspiring, Bruce is given the choice: end his story with the love of his life and a happily-ever-after, or put it all aside and return to the streets. The choice is, ultimately, no choice at all.

“They got their weapon”

There’s a lot going on in the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue.” It’s the season finale, capping a long arc about government agents working to control the League. It also brings to a close the story of Batman Beyond, the future Batman in the animated universe.
At it’s heart, though, is the story of Bruce’s encounter with an incredibly powerful telekinetic child. She’s developed a lethal brain tumor, and begins to lose control of abilities that could destroy a city, or worse. Batman is tasked with killing the girl, who is, after all, already dying.
There’s a common thread in Batman stories—his willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Part of the tension here is that the story could have easily go more than one way. But Ace finds in Batman a kindred spirit: because she was the subject of experiments from a young age, she lost her childhood in the same way he did. Batman is frequently badass, but this story draws a straight line from tragedy to compassion. The other Leaguers might have empathy, but no one can relate to tragedy like Batman. Even with all the punching, kicking, and general mayhem, at his heart he’s determined that no child have to live through what he did.

I Believe
At the conclusion of Jeph Loeb and Time Sale’s epic The Long Halloween, set during Batman’s earliest days fighting crime, Batman explains why he has to keep going, no matter what dark, tragic, and weird forms crime in Gotham City takes. He speaks for all of us:
“I believe in Batman.”
What are your favorite Bat-moments?