Batman: 10 Harsh Realities Of Rereading The Comics

Without a doubt, Batman, who recently returned to the big screen in The Batman, is one of the most iconic superheroes in history, and thousands of comics are written featuring him and his allies. He is a dark, brutal hero with a large rogue’s gallery, and many of his comic stories are considered the best DC Comics has to offer.

Many readers have enjoyed reading Batman comics, especially if it’s for the first time. However, should these readers choose to reread these comics, they will be met with several harsh realities that may ruin the experience overall.

Shaky Continuity

Given that Batman has had comics going back decades, there’s a lot of information to keep track of. As such, there are many continuity issues that readers will have to deal with while rereading the comics.

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This falls into the fact that Batman’s history has been altered and changed many times over the past several decades. Whether it’s rewriting minor details of Batman’s life to completely changing major elements, many comics may give conflicting histories of Batman and his actions. Some of these continuity errors are, of course, due to the entire DC universe changing due to events like Crisis on Infinite Earths or Flashpoint, but others do seem to be due to the sheer amount of Batman comics out there, making information hard to keep track of.

Massive Rogues Gallery

Many heroes have a significant amount of villains to fight in their comics. Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery is particularly massive, with many different villains rising to challenge The Dark Knight.

To fit with Batman’s street-level style, his villains are mostly street-level, many of whom rely on gear and gadgets rather than superpowers. The problem with there being so many villains is that it’s hard for readers to keep track of them all, even when rereading the comics. What’s even worse is that some cool villains are often pushed to the side in favor of the more famous villains like Joker and Riddler, making lesser villains that could’ve been great insignificant and easily forgotten to the pages of the past.

Joker Is Brutal

People who watch iconic Batman cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series may see the Joker as a goofy comedian who was an accidentally created villain. But rereading the comics proves that this is far from the truth.

In the comics, especially in the later ones, the Joker is a brutal, sadistic, incredibly insane villain who kills anyone that gets in his way. His horrible actions range from mass murder to paralyzing Barbara Gordon in the infamous graphic novel The Killing Joke. The more people reread Batman comics, the more they come to realize that Joker’s humor is sick, sadistic, and easily makes him one of the most brutal, violent villains in the entire comic book industry.

Batman Doesn’t Do It Alone

A large fantasy some might share is that Batman is a solo warrior who doesn’t need anyone’s help in his one-man crusade to bring justice to Gotham. But this couldn’t be more wrong.

Batman has multiple different allies that assist him in his crusade, from proteges such as Robin and Batgirl to his butler, Alfred, to even police Commissioner Gordon. These people do much to help Batman out when he needs it most and have even filled in as The Dark Knight himself when Bruce Wayne is unable to fulfill his duties as the famous hero – a reality that becomes more prevalent the more people reread the comics.

The Early Comics Were Sillier

Superheroes weren’t always as serious as they are today; in their early days, they were far sillier. And Batman is no exception.

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The early Batman comics were undeniably silly, especially in the comics before the 80s. Part of this silliness was due to the Comics Code Authority cracking down hard on comics, especially superhero comics, and forcing them to avoid excessive violence and grotesque images. Due to this crackdown, comics had to change and put far more humor and silliness within, which, unfortunately, almost killed the comic book industry altogether and can make rereading these older comics a hair-pulling experience with how ridiculous they are.

Batman Is Still Human

Despite beating many of DC’s most powerful characters in a fight, one thing that becomes increasingly clear when rereading the comics is that Batman is still only human.

He may have trained his body to the peak of human ability, but he still doesn’t have any sort of superpowers, relying on his wits and utility belt to defeat his foes. Even then, he still has his failures and faults, and there have been several times when he has not been able to win, such as when Bane broke his back. This helps build Batman’s character, showing that he’s far from perfect, and thus more relatable as a character.

The Bat Family Is Massive

When people think of the Bat Family, many just think of just characters like Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Alfred. But the Bat Family is much larger than this and contains some really powerful members, a fact that becomes clear the more the comics are reread.

The Bat Family is essentially made up of everyone that consistently helps Batman in his crusades, including multiple different Robins, Batgirls, and other various vigilantes that generally operate on the streets of Gotham. Even Commissioner Gordon is considered a member of the Bat Family due to his closeness to Batman. All of this becomes quickly clear upon further rereads of the comics.

Batman Is One Of The Smartest People On Earth

Batman is known far more for his stealth and his fighting skills, but something that becomes far more apparent in the comics is that he’s incredibly smart.

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Batman is the world’s greatest detective, being able to figure out the entire mystery from one single clue at times. He’s smart enough to devise ways to incapacitate the entire Justice League despite not having superpowers. His brainpower is so massive that even Lex Luthor has admitted at times that Batman is smarter than him. Batman’s intelligence isn’t talked about as often as his other traits, but it is still something that those rereading the comics will realize is one of his best traits.

Miller’s Batman Is Still The Most Iconic Comic Book Batman

There are many different versions of Batman in the comics, but the one that fans time and time again have agreed is the most iconic is Frank Miller’s Batman in The Dark Knight Returns.

This Batman is darker, more brutal, and even more dedicated to saving Gotham despite his actions being illegal under new government regulations. Yet despite his more brutal nature, he still refuses to kill anyone, proving that he’s still Batman no matter what. The way Miller writes Batman in this story is simply phenomenal, and even those rereading the comics will have to admit that no other Batman can become more iconic than Miller’s.

Batman Does Not Kill

A fundamental part of Batman’s character becomes more and more clear once people reread the comics: Batman doesn’t kill anyone.

In his eyes, killing makes him just as bad as the villains he fights. Not killing keeps him from becoming a villain himself. There are plenty of other heroes across the industry that kill, and it seems like heroes more and more are willing to kill their opponents if they have no other option. Batman, however, remains firm in his belief that killing a villain shouldn’t be up to him, a reality that the comics clearly show off in the past and will continue to show off in the future.

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