SEEKERS OF THE BAT

In the left image we see Batman in his heyday. Clearly an homage to the 1960s TV series, with the fight sound effects in bright neon lights (Biff! Bam! Pow!). Grant Morrison imagined this to be an era of “popcrime”, with his foes being more akin to quirky performance artists than hardened criminals. The worst crimes were a penguin or cat themed theft, littered with childish riddles or bad puns leading them exactly to their hideouts, and the only backup he ever needed was a pair of wisecracking teenagers. Also note that Batman is wearing his cheery bright blue and gray costume with large yellow chest logo.

But in the right image are the darker times that would come from the 1970s on. From Robin turning his back on him and leaving as Nightwing, to the vicious crippling of Batgirl, to fathering an assassin with the daughter of a global terrorist, to the Joker beating Jason Todd to death, to the frustration at filling Arkham Asylum with murderous lunatics, only to see them escape again and again without hope of rehabilitation, it is no wonder Batman now wears the mournful midnight blue and dark gray costume.

Dustin Nguyen gives us this awesome group shot of the major characters in the Bat universe. It must have been a blast to put together. The only character I had trouble identifying was the little girl sitting on Clayface’s shoulder. It turns out she’s Annie, Clayface’s “daughter” from the animated series. For such a loner, Batman sure does have a lot of people in his life :)

If the death of Jason Todd is Batman’s biggest regret, then a close second has to be Barbara Gordon’s paralysis at the hands of the Joker. Another young person caught in the crossfire between himself and the insane clown. To harm Batman, the Joker senselessly attempted  to drive Batman’s greatest ally, Commissioner Jim Gordon,  insane by injuring his daughter.  Thus ended the career of the high flying Batgirl.

If there was one positive, it was that Barbara reinvented herself as Oracle, and in doing so, became a much more effective crimefighter than she ever was as Batgirl. But as iamww illustrates below, Barbara must occasionally have quiet moments of regret for a life taken from her. And for allowing another friend to be hurt under his watch, Batman can only drive himself harder.

In Batgirl issue 15, Batgirl Stephanie Brown explained (and illustrated) Batman’s entire history to Oracle’s new protegee Wendy Harris. It’s a cute but accurate depiction of every major character in the Bat family. A great start to Dustin Nguyen’s run on the title! I especially like the devil horns on Damien, who Stephanie has never really gotten along with.

We’re big fans of Dustin Nguyen around here, and here’s a great pinup of four of the main bat family members. It’s clear to see everyone misses Barbara Gordon as because we still see images of her in the Batgirl suit despite there having been 4 people in the suit since. :\

This wondrous shot of the Bat family is brought to us by Kuroi Tsuki. There are some anachronisms, such as Barbara Gordon still able to walk and in her Batgirl costume. In any case, it shows how even a so-called loner like Batman can accomplish so much more with family and friends supporting him.

Here we have the climax of Alan Moore’s Batman classic The Killing Joke as skillfully reenacted by Lego characters. Not only did The Killing Joke depict the crippling of Batgirl Barbara Gordon, but it also introduced one of the Joker’s more popular origin stories.

Just to be clear, even after yesterday’s fight, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown were never mad at each other. It only makes sense that Cassandra would willingly give up her costume to her best friend. Aww… In the world of the grim, brutal Dark Knight, it’s perhaps healthy to have a couple of a few moments of silly pastel-colored fun once in a while :)

More from the lovely Ms. Brown: This scene had Cassandra Cain handily demonstrating to her friend that she simply didn’t have the skills to go toe to toe with the deadliest Batgirl past or present. Enjoy!

Stephanie Brown is another character who has risen through the ranks of the Bat family. Starting her career as the Spoiler, she then takes over as Robin before returning from the grave in time for her friend Cassandra Cain to hand over the position of Batgirl.

As the daughter of supervillain Cluemaster, she donned the costume of the Spoiler in an effort to put a stop to her father’s crime sprees. Her actions gained the attention of Batman and Robin, who tried to dissuade her from continuing her vigilantism. Working alongside them, she developed a relationship with Tim Drake, who helped her through a pregnancy by an absentee ex-boyfriend.

Now on Batman’s radar, Stephanie was welcomed as a reserve Bird of Prey, even becoming fast friends with Batgirl Cassandra Cain, trading reading lessons for fight training. While patrolling with Tim, Stephanie was badly injured. His guilt over not being able to protect her in addition to his father finding out about his double life as Robin led to his quitting as Robin. Feeling responsible, Stephanie stitched together a Robin outfit of her own, and convinced Batman to take her on as a partner, thus becoming the first ‘official’ female Robin. Unfortunately her inexperience, and need to prove herself led her to igniting a citywide gang war and eventually to her ‘death’.

Stephanie later returns approximately a year later, having faked her death and been living in Africa in the meantime. Through a complex series of events, she ruins her relationship with Tim Drake, but instead inherits the Batsuit worn by Cassandra Cain, who disappears for reasons unknown. After being put through rigorous training by Batman, she takes over as the new Batgirl under the watchful eye of Oracle. After a few scrapes, a stronger, better trained, and more mature Stephanie makes the role her own by discarding Cassandra’s suit for the current Spoiler-purple trimmed Batgirl suit.