| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics (All-Star imprint) |
| First appearance | The Dark Knight Returns #1 (February 1986) |
| Created by | Frank Miller (Concept) (Based on the original character, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Bruce Wayne |
| Team affiliations | Batman Family Justice League of America Gotham City Police Department |
| Abilities | Genius-level intelligence, master detective, peak human physical condition, martial arts master, escapologist. |
Batman is a fictional character, an alternate version of DC Comics superhero of the same name, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. This Batman was created by Frank Miller and first appeared in The Dark Knight Returns #1 (February 1986).
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In his introduction to The Dark Knight Returns #1, Frank Miller says that he got the idea for the character while going through a midlife crisis, while on the verge of turning 30.[1] He later said that while he could tolerate the fact that his little brother was older than Spider-Man, the fact that he himself was getting older than Batman "was something that needed to be stopped."[2]
Although All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is printed under the All Star DC Comics imprint, it takes place in its own continuity outside of Grant Morrison's All Star Superman canon.[3] According to Miller, All Star Batman is the same version of his character set in the continuity of The Dark Knight Returns (DKR), Year One (YO) and The Dark Knight Strikes Again (DKSA). However, this has proven difficult as DKR and DKSA are set in the late 1980s with an older Batman, while All Star Batman has a younger version of the character set in 2008. Out of all of these, Year One is the only one still in current DC continuity.[4]
At the end of issue 52, it is revealed that the DC Multiverse of 52 different Earths still exists. The Dark Knight Universe (DKU) is designated Earth-31.
Much like the mainstream New Earth/Post-Crisis Batman, Miller's Batman begins his journey after his parents are murdered by Joe Chill. However, in Dark Knight Strikes Again, it is hinted that he never found out who was responsible and traveled the world in search of a means to fight crime, which included different martial arts and forensic skills. After returning to Gotham City in his early twenties, Bruce takes up the mantle of the Batman. In his first few months, he exposes police corruption in the Gotham City Police Department, unsettles the empire of crime lord Carmine Falcone, and gains an ally in Sergeant James Gordon. At some unspecified point, shortly after the events of Year One, he stops The Joker from poisoning the water supply.[5]
In the second year of his career, Batman takes on a protégé in young acrobat Dick Grayson, whose parents are killed by a hitman upon The Joker's orders. Batman accepts Dick into his inner circle, and he debuts as Robin. It is during this time that he meets Justice League of America (JLA) members Superman and Hal Jordan, to whom he shows complete disrespect. During this time, Bruce Wayne shows that he enjoys the liberty of being Batman and constantly refers to himself as The Goddamn Batman. His own inexperience makes him reckless and ruthless towards criminals.[6]
Fifteen years prior to the events of DKR, Batman fires Dick Grayson as Robin and replaces him with Jason Todd. Some time later, Bruce is involved in riots, during which he modifies the Batmobile to its tank-like structure. Batman later becomes a member of the JLA and seems to develops a strong friendship with Hal Jordan (also known as the Green Lantern), similar to his friendship with Superman in the Mainstream DC Universe, twelve years before DKR.
Two-Face gets apprehended by Batman one last time before his retirement. His last crime is the kidnapping of siamese twins, and the JLA is pressured into disbanding by political correctness groups. While most members of the JLA retire, Superman goes to work for the government, and Batman continues to fight crime in Gotham. Batman's best friend in the superhero community, Hal Jordan retires to space, though Batman begs him to stay.
Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane becomes Arkham Home for the Emotionally Troubled, due to the wave of political correctness. Jason dies under unspecified circumstances; exactly what happened is unexplained, but it is known that the Joker had a hand in his death. Ten years before DKR, Batman retires over the burden of Jason's death. According to Superman, the other superheroes "almost threw a party." The Joker enters a catatonic state for about ten years due to Batman's disappearance.
Seven years before DKR, Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne meet one last time before their final confrontation in DKSA. The meeting seems to end badly, since they do not speak again for ten years.
Over the next two decades, Bruce takes to drinking heavily and engaging in near-suicidal risk-taking. Despite maintaining his image as a playboy, he invests a considerable amount in the rehabilitation of Harvey Dent, the former Two-Face. Following an "anniversary" of Batman's last crusade with Jim Gordon, a 60-year old Bruce is almost mugged by a group of street hoods. He defends himself, realizing that he cannot ignore the rising wave of crime.
A new teenage gang called "The Mutants" begins to terrorize the police and citizens of Gotham. Bruce begins suffering night terrors and sleepwalking which ends in his waking in the Batcave. After watching The Mark of Zorro and reliving the murders of his parents (who had taken him to see the film on the night they were killed), he dons the cape and cowl once more. He manages to save Gotham from Two-Face, the Mutant Gang, and the Joker. Superman is sent by the Government to stop Batman's shockingly vicious style of vigilantism. Batman confronts the Man of Steel with a variety of weapons, including several missiles and a sonic gun. Batman fights Superman to what appears to be his own death, but not before beating Superman. It is later revealed that he was induced to catatonia but revived to lead an underground subversive movement alongside Green Arrow, Carrie Kelly, the New Robin, and the Mutants (although renamed the Sons of Batman or S.O.B.).[7]
After going underground, Bruce Wayne and his young sidekick, Catgirl (Carrie Kelly, Robin from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), train an army of "batboys" to save the world from a "police-state" dictatorship led by Lex Luthor. In a series of raids on government facilities, Batman's soldiers release from captivity other superheroes including: the Atom (trapped for years in a petri dish), Flash (forced to run on a treadmill to provide America with free power), and Plastic Man (now insane and trapped in Arkham Asylum). Elongated Man is recruited from his job as a commercial spokesman and Green Arrow is working with Batman.[8]
Batman receives a communication from Carrie, who is being attacked by the same psychopath who dispatched the Martian Manhunter and other heroes. Batman recognizes the assailant as Dick Grayson, the first Robin, who has been genetically manipulated to possess a powerful healing factor, and is now criminally insane. Batman shows nothing but contempt for his former sidekick and plans his death the moment they face each other. Batman hurls himself and Grayson into a miles-deep crevasse filled with lava and blows up the entire cave, igniting an underground volcano and destroying everything. Robin falls in the lava, but Batman is saved by Superman at the last moment and brought to Carrie in the Batmobile.
It is unclear if Bruce Wayne survives the ordeal.
Bruce Wayne/Batman will appear in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie Batman: Year One voiced by Ben McKenzie.
He will also appear The Dark Knight Returns slated to be released in two parts in 2012. Several previous Batman veterans will be involved.