SEEKERS OF THE BAT

When Batman was sent back to the beginning of time, he inadvertently set in motion a series of events that would lead to inspiring himself to later become Batman. Wearing the carcass of a giant demon bat, he inspired the ancient Miagani cave tribe to worship him and await his return for thousands of years. It was his actions that  inserted the inherent fear of bats into all men.

It is the crumbling relic of his cape, found by Red Robin in a secret area of the Batcave that proves to the world that he is only time-lost, not dead.   Now, having returned from the grave, and having become a defining force in mankind’s development, Dick Grayson tongue-in-cheekly, but tellingly  introduces him as BatGod on his return.

If Bruce Wayne’s childhood wasn’t marred by tragedy, he very well could have ended up having adventures like another young gazillionaire :) Aww, what wacky hijinks could have been.

In flash forwards, we have seen the current Robin, Damian Wayne serving as a completely ruthless Batman some unknown number of years in the future. The page above sums up his hypothetical history. The fifth panel is the most troublesome, as it shows a dead Batman.  Who exactly is under the cowl, is still unclear.  One more tidbit, it has been hinted that Damian made a deal with the devil in order to patrol Gotham effectively.  It remains to be seen if this future will indeed come to pass.

Owlman is the alternate Batman from the parallel universe Earth-3 where the world lives in fear of the Crime Syndicate, featuring evil versions of the Justice League.  Their first meeting is re-imagined in the animated film: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. He is written as a brilliant, albeit completely amoral nihilist, attempting to destroy the multiverse on principle alone.

Although there have been multiple reboots to the multiverse, Owlman’s generally accepted origin is that he is Thomas Wayne Jr., a younger brother that our universe’s Bruce Wayne never had. Thomas Jr. saw his mother and brother shot by a policeman, and much like our other Anti-Batmen, dedicated his life to opposing the law.  An additional wrinkle is that his father, Thomas Sr. is now police chief, and both are obsessed with eliminating each other.

Our universe (Earth-1) has recently gained its own Owlman. Roy Raymond, Jr., grandson of a Golden Age character. A disgraced investigative journalist, he is said to be an excellent detective. In another case of “Batman predicting everything”, Alfred Pennyworth was instructed to recruit and outfit Roy to join the Outsiders during Batman’s Final Crisis disappearance.

It’s always fun to see a Keaton era costume in person. A big weakness of these film costumes was obvious: the actor playing Batman couldn’t turn his head. This was lampshaded in The Dark Knight when Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne asks for a less bulky suit so he can finally turn his head.  The new headpiece was built more like a motorcycle helmet over neck armor versus a one piece rubber neck sock as in years past. The rest of the suit followed er… suit. Instead of a solid rubber suit molded to the actor’s body, the new batsuit was built as a series of armored panels connected by elastic mesh. And still, no rubber nipples.

Where does he get those wonderful toys? via NinjaInk at DeviantArt

Batman is the master of fear. Even the fear gas using Scarecrow is merely a fear addict. The only reason Bruce Wayne chose to become Batman was because Bats were something that he feared. He figuratively conquered the concept of the bat and took it for himself.

So it would make sense that when the fear based Sinestro Corps was formed, Batman would be recruited to wield a yellow ring. Of course doing so would enslave him to Sinestro, so it’s probably for the best that he turned it down. Still, it would have been cool to see him throw glowing yellow bats at criminals all over the universe.

via shortpacked

No wonder Einstein slipping on a banana peel is so hilarious :)

This great shot of a Justice League meeting reminds me of something. I can’t be sure of what. But check whose spot Batman is taking.