SEEKERS OF THE BAT

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.

Bat In The Sun productions gives us another excellent addition to its Batman fan film portfolio with Batman Legends, a compilation of clips featuring faithful renditions of several scenes including the creation of the Joker, the death of Jason Todd, and Bane’s breaking of the Batman. Also notable was a shot of the original Bob Kane Batman with the wide ears :)

When all is said and done, young Timothy Drake may be regarded as the greatest of all those who have served under the name Robin. Although he will never surpass the other Robins at their strengths, his analytical skill has been compared to that of Batman himself. He is also the man who introduced the concept of pants to the role.

Single handedly deducing the identity of Batman after recognizing a quadruple flip performed by Dick Grayson, young Tim was welcomed into the Bat family. Not wanting to relive the events of Jason Todd’s death, Batman put Tim through extensive training by experts from around the world. To compensate his lack of natural skill, he developed a mastery of the staff, which would come to become his signature weapon.

Fiercely devoted to his friends, Time changed his costume to a red and black motif after the apparent death of his friend Conner Kent aka Superboy. He went on to abandon the Robin persona completely to investigate the death of Bruce Wayne, who he [correctly] believed to be trapped in time. To signify his new uncompromising view of life, he controversially took over the identity of the Red Robin, last used by the villainous Jason Todd.

After the murder of his father at the hands of Captain Boomerang, Tim joined Dick Grayson as a formal adoptee of Bruce Wayne.  Together with Damian, Batman’s biological son, each of these 3 Robins are doing their utmost in trying to uphold the legacy of their father.

This wonderful fan trailer depicts an alternate future where Dick Grayson, the original Robin, has to come out of retirement to avenge the death of the Batman.  They appear to ignore Dick’s time as Nightwing, as well as [his wife!] Barbara’s crippling at the hands of the Joker (although one shot alludes to it). Superman appears to play a minor role as a boy scout blindly following orders, as well as several great appearances by Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman?, Batgirl, Catwoman, the Riddler, Penguin and of course the Joker. If there was one fan trailer I’d want to see made into a full film, this would definitely be it.

via Untamed Cinema

Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot.  I must become a… lovable giant rabbit creature?

via danbooru.donmai.us

Another alternate universe?  Muppets Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker are actually Batman and Robin?  Hilarious!

via Bat-Blog

After Dick Grayson left the fold to become Nightwing, Batman was left without a partner. That wouldn’t last long, as he soon came across an angry but extremely gifted juvenile delinquent named Jason Todd.

As the second Robin, Jason was violent, unmerciful and allowed people to die. Although Batman tried to reel in his tendencies, Jason soon became a very unpopular character, prompting DC Comics to conduct a nationwide poll on his fate.   The people spoke, and in the infamous ‘A Death in the Family’ story arc,  the Joker bludgeoned Jason Todd to death with a crowbar before Batman could save him.

Much like the obsessive, irrational guilt he holds over being unable to prevent his parents’ death, Batman also punishes himself for Jason Todd’s death. Soon after he took on Tim Drake as the third Robin, he erected the now-familiar glass memorial to Jason’s memory to ensure he never forgot his greatest failure.

The significance of Jason Todd’s glass case would eventually have gone the way of the giant penny and robot dinosaur except that in 2003, Jason was brought back to life by the ridiculous “Superboy-Prime Reality Punch”. In retroactive continuity, Jason now inexplicably clawed his way out of his grave shortly after his death to be nursed back to health by Talia, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. He has returned to plague the Bat family in a number of guises, first as an adult Robin, then as an evil Nightwing, then as the murderous Red Robin, then as a gun-toting stand-in for the recently killed (Omega Sanctioned) Batman, and currently as the new Red Hood, the original alter ego of the Joker. In all his versions, he sees himself as a more effective Batman, using lethal force to succeed where his mentor failed.

Update: His return in the comics has coincided with the release of the excellent animated film: Under the Red Hood, which recounts Batman’s reaction to his return:

This infamous photoshopped ode to striking a curious friend has been making the rounds on the internet.  Oh Golden Age Batman, is there nothing you won’t do?

And below is the unedited original from World’s Finest #153 in 1965. To give Batfans some context, it was a wholly imaginary story where Batman played the role of the evil Lex Luthor.

Possibly the most significant figure next to Bruce Wayne himself is his adopted son, Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson; aka the first Robin, aka Nightwing, aka Batman. Three heroes, one man.

Having his parents murdered before his eyes, the young circus acrobat was taken in by a sympathetic Bruce Wayne and given the chance to bring the criminals responsible to justice as Robin, Batman’s sidekick. Although Dick and Bruce had similar beginnings, their differing temperaments soon became evident. Batman was grim and brutal, whereas Robin was cheerful and prone to juvenile wordplay.

Philosophical differences would eventually drive a wedge between the two as the grown Robin left the Bat family and Gotham to become Nightwing in the nearby city of Bludhaven. The two men eventually reconciled and even made the bond official as Bruce filed to legally adopt Dick as an adult.

In 2009 comics continuity, Bruce Wayne died/ went missing, and after much thought, Dick stepped into the cape and cowl of Batman, and even took on a new Robin. Although he initially felt unworthy of taking over, he was advised by Alfred to look on the role of the dark, grim Batman as “the performance of his life” and has generally succeeded at convincing the world that the Batman can never be defeated.

Batman joins the exclusive club of Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones as recipients of their very own Lego video game. With the game condensing major plot points of Batman’s career for a younger audience, we can be sure that Batman will continue to be a popular figure for years to come.