While Bruce Wayne may always be “Batman Prime,” in the DC Universe, several other people have taken on the mantle of the Bat. Some filled Bruce’s boots excellently, while others were, shall we say, less than worthy of the title. We rank the Batmans who were not Bruce Wayne under the mask, from worst to best, in the pages of DC Comics.
10. Lex Luthor
The Man of Steel’s most persistent foe, billionaire genius Lex Luthor, is also no fan of the Batman. Despite this, Lex Luthor has also been a version of Batman himself, however briefly. In Batman #119, Luthor bought Bruce Wayne’s Batman Incorporated company right out from under him, making it part of Luthor Corp. He even designs a Batman mech suit to fight the Dark Knight. He didn’t last very long as a version of Batman. But he was one, nevertheless. Other temporary Batman stand-ins like Jason Todd and Azrael may be antiheroes, but Lex is straight-up evil. So he’s definitely the worst Batman of them all.
9. Jason Todd
If Batman’s various Robins are his sons, then Jason Todd is the black sheep of the family. Mostly famous as “the Robin readers voted to die,” Jason returned to life and became an anti-hero vigilante named Red Hood. When Batman died in Final Crisis, he threw his batarang in the ring to become his successor. He wore a version of the bat suit, but had no problems killing his enemies, even gunning them down. A Batman who uses guns seems like blasphemy to us, so for that reason alone, Jason Todd is close to the bottom of this list. The only reason he makes the list at all is because his Batman costume is actually pretty cool.
8. Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler and father figure, is usually portrayed on the elderly side. Nevertheless, he has filled in as Batman before for good old Master Bruce. (And no, we don’t just mean in a goofy moment in Batman ’66. Although they did it first.) Most recently, he did it in the Rebirth era of DC, under writer Tom King. Alfred put on the Batman costume in an effort to fool the unhinged Gotham Man. Alfred has the right moral character to be the Dark Knight, but since his expertise is more in dressing wounds than making them, we give him this slot on the list.
7. Thomas Wayne
In the alternate reality from the mini-series Flashpoint, by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert, we were introduced to a reality where the gunman who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents didn’t kill them, but young Bruce himself. This led to Martha Wayne losing her mind and becoming the Joker. As for Thomas Wayne, he became a hardened version of Batman who uses lethal force. When the Flash from our reality appeals to his better nature to help restore the “proper” timeline, it helps redeem this version of Batman. Flashpoint Batman struck a chord with readers and he kept returning, despite the end of his universe. He becomes more of a villain for our Batman than an anti-hero as originally depicted. But he’s a compelling character, and a fan favorite for a reason.
6. Tim Drake
The third Robin, Tim Drake, is too often glossed over in Batman history. Dick was the original, Jason was “the one who died,” and Damian is Bruce Wayne’s son. But Tim Drake is perhaps the smartest of all the Robins, and the only one who figured out Bruce Wayne’s secret on his own. While Tim Drake has repeatedly stated he has no desire to ever become Batman, the mantle has been thrust upon in him in two different alternate futures.
First, we meet a Tim Drake Batman in the “Titans Tomorrow” storyline in 2004’s Teen Titans. That “TimBat” was much more like Flashpoint Batman, embittered and taking a “take no prisoners” attitude about criminals. And way too comfortable using guns. The second alt-timeline Tim Drake Batman was in the Batman Beyond comics. He came from the main reality, thrust 35 years into the future, taking over when Terry McGinnis died. Tim Drake became the new future Batman for a time, proving he could be Gotham’s protector as well as any of his Robin brothers.
5. James Gordon
When it comes to his non-costumed allies, Bruce Wayne’s Batman has no greater one than Commissioner James Gordon. So it was only a matter of time before someone got around to put Jim in the costume. And that someone was writer Scott Snyder. In the middle of his seminal Batman run, Bruce Wayne’s Batman disappeared. Believed dead, Jim Gordon became the new government-funded Batman of Gotham City. Gordon’s Bat costume is cool, but the anime-styled mech suit looks like it has bunny ears and not bat ears, so it’s just a tad goofy. But Gordon made a compelling (however short-lived) Dark Knight who discovered that being a police officer and being Batman are very different things. While this list is replete with morally questionable people taking over as Batman, Jim Gordon was not one of them.
4. Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley)
One of DC’s most famous ‘90s stories is “Knightfall,” which elevated Bane to A-list villain status when he broke Batman’s back. During that saga, with Bruce Wayne incapacitated, he tasked Jean-Paul Valley, the recently introduced anti-hero Azrael, to replace him as Batman. Azrael was part of the extremist religious Order of St. Dumas, a soldier in their holy war to purify Gotham. For the better part of a year, “Azbat” was Gotham City’s protector. But his ultra-violent ways did not mesh with Bruce Wayne’s M.O. When Bruce recovered, he had to take his mantle back. Azbat’s costume was designed by future Marvel icon Joe Quesada, and it’s a very ‘90s costume. It’s memorable for just how overdesigned it is. Azbats is mainly notable for being the first replacement Batman to last more than a few issues.
3. Jace Fox
One of the most recent non-Wayne Batmans on this list is Jace Fox, who only took on the mantle of the Dark Knight recently, in 2020. He’s unique among Batmans as the only one who doesn’t protect Gotham City, but instead, defends New York City. Jace is the prodigal son of longtime Batman business ally Lucius Fox, who first appeared way back in 1979. Disappearing for decades, he returned to continuity where readers learn he’d killed someone in a hit-and-run, resulting in a strained relationship with his family. Attempting to make up for his past deeds (and using years of military training) he assumes the name and costume of Batman. Jace Fox headlined his own series, I Am Batman, for 18 issues. He’s culturally notable as the only African-American version of Batman to ever headline his own series.
2. Dick Grayson
If any character is worthy of inheriting the mantle of Batman, it’s his original Robin, Dick Grayson. And unlike several other alternate Batmans on this list, he never sullied the legacy of Bruce Wayne by being ultra-violent or going over the edge. In fact, he was often better at being Gotham’s protector than Bruce. (Yeah, we said it.) Nightwing took over as Batman for the first time after Azrael’s controversial run, but only for a very brief time. After Bruce “died” in the event series Final Crisis, there was a “Battle for the Cowl,” on who would take over. Dick Grayson won that battle.
Nightwing spent a year in the cowl where his Robin sidekick was Damian Wayne, Bruce’s young son. Even more than Bruce, Dick’s Batman molded Damian into a true hero, not just a petulant junior assassin. Most importantly, one of the greatest Batman stories ever, “Black Mirror” by Scott Snyder, features Dick Grayson as Batman. Dick Grayson was all the positive aspects of Bruce Wayne’s Batman with fewer of his negative traits. Simply put, he’s just not a jerk like Bruce. We like Dick Grayson as Nightwing more, but his Batman was fantastic.
1. Terry McGinnis
The greatest non-Bruce Wayne Batman wasn’t created in the comics, he came from TV animation. Terry McGinnis was the titular Batman Beyond in the 1999-2001 series, a sequel to the iconic Batman: The Animated Series. Set in a futuristic Gotham, where Bruce Wayne is an old man and retired from being Batman, Terry McGinnis is an ordinary teenager whose father is killed by a criminal gang, and later stumbles on Bruce Wayne’s secret. He becomes the new Batman, under the tutelage of the elder Wayne, and defends his city from a variety of futuristic villains.
What makes Terry’s Batman great is that he’s a remix of some of comics’ greatest heroes. He’s a teenager dealing with relatable problems (Spider-Man), he’s got an amazing high-tech suit (Iron Man), and he’s an urban vigilante like the original Batman. Somehow, this synthesis just works. This makes Terry a unique Batman, feeling connected to the past while not being a direct copy of Bruce. Yet he retains Bruce’s strong moral compass. Although originally a strictly TV character, Terry McGinnis became so popular, DC Comics incorporated him into the comic book continuity. Since he’s in the future, he didn’t have to return the title to Bruce after a brief run, continuing as the ongoing future Dark Knight.
The post Ranking the Non-Bruce Wayne Batmans, From Worst to Best appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Fady Askharoun Samy Askharoun
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