Batman is known as DC’s Man of Mystery. He hides in the shadows and takes down enemies with stealth and precision. He can be anywhere and nowhere at the same time. Being at the pinnacle of human potential, Batman trains hard to be at par with his other Justice League members, some of them being so powerful they are literally Gods. Yet with all their power, they still fear Batman – a mortal human being. He is correctly called by Superman – the strongest being in the Universe – as the world’s most dangerous human. People think twice before crossing his path. The Batman has been a part of the DC Comic book universe since time immemorial. And after all this time, he too has gathered a pile of deep, dark secrets. Presenting – 10 Stunning Facts about Batman DC is hiding from you!!
10. The Bat-Cave first debuted on TV rather than Comic books
The Bat Cave is the dark lair of the Batman. It houses all his gadgets and is built underneath Wayne Manor. It is literally a cave of bats – hundreds of thousands of bats live within its closed ecosystem. The Batman has built a training ground, a garage, a Rogues room as well as a showcase room where he hangs his capes and cowls. But here’s the thing – the Bat Cave, the very first concept of a superhero lair that is a common superhero trope nowadays is not a comic book invention. In 1943, The Batman TV series first aired on national television in the United States of America during the heat of World War Two. The Bat Cave and the current iteration of Alfred Pennyworth both draw their roots from small screen television, not the comic books.
9. He has singlehandedly defeated Darkseid twice!!
Darkseid is DC Comics’ God of Evil. He is not someone to be trifled with. Several times the Justice League has locked horns with this guy and he has had them beat each time. But Batman is a different case. Give him enough room and he can beat anyone, Darkseid included! He has done it twice already in the comic books. In one instance, Darkseid used his Omega Sanction Beams to throw Batman back in time. Batman made his way back to the present and used a radion bullet he had saved up just for such an occasion and killed him. The second time, Batman put on the life-threatening Hellbat armor and traded fists with Darkseid to save his son Damian who had been kidnapped at the time.
8. There is actually a real-life college course that teaches how to be Batman
The world is a strange little place, ladies and gentlemen. Time and again, the sheer absurdity of it makes us wonder whether we really are God’s best creations. There are already courses that teach you witchcraft and sorcery from Harry Potter lore and how to be a pirate just like Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The University of Victoria in Canada offers a college course that is straight out of the comic books. The Course is titled “The Science of Batman” and it is aimed at teaching the students the extreme levels of adaptability of the human body and how to achieve it by studying the adventures of the Dark Knight.
7. Batman has killed countless number of times during his early years
When Batman first debuted in the comic books, he was not that opposed to dealing the criminals the dead hand. In fact, there are issues where Batman has even brandished guns and killed people in cold blood. Another issue showed Batman (and this is actually Canon, mind you) hanged a guy from his Bat Plane and made the whole world see as the guy broke his neck and died a slow death. Several other issues have shown him breaking bad guys’ necks like twigs and not giving a damn about the remorse or regret associated with murder. Batman’s No Kill policy came around much later. He was already a murderer by then.
6. He is worthy of both the Yellow and the Green Power ring
The Yellow Lantern Power Ring automatically chooses a wielder based on the amount of fear the wielder can strike at the heart of their enemies. No one in the universe could incite fear the way Batman strikes fear at the heart of the criminal elements of Gotham and beyond. The Power Ring once shoes Batman as its successor. One other instance in a parallel universe, Batman is shown to be worthy of having enough willpower to wielder the Green Power Ring. His willpower was so strong that he bypassed the fail-safe that stops a Green Lantern from using deadly force, a feat that no one else was able to achieve before Batman, not even Abin Sur or even Hal Jordan.
5. Batman’s ears double as projectile weapons
We know. This sounds so absurd. But when you think about it practically, it makes so much sense. Batman can use literally anything as a weapon. John Wick can use a pencil to kill highly trained assassins. But Batman takes it up a notch by using the ears from his own cowl to take down meta-human villains. You think a Batarang throwing Batman is badass?!?!? Wait till you see Batman head-butting the Joker and piercing his face with his own ears!
4. His inspirations were also fictional characters
The Shadow was probably the world’s first full-fledged superhero. Using a combination of Hypnosis, Eastern medicine, continental martial arts, and the good old fashioned western gun-slinging, the Shadow was a force to be reckoned with. He was also the first superhero to get his radio show (Back then TV was not that popular a medium). The other inspiration that created Batman was Dracula – king of the blood-suckers. Bob Kane has given equal weightage to both these characters and came up with the idea of Batman.
3. The fans killed Jason Todd, not the Joker
Death in the family is one of the most famous storylines of DC Continuity. It established the fact that death and chaos is something always around the corner in the DC Universe, even for Batman. An online poll was conducted before the issue was released where the question was asked whether Robin should be killed. 5,343 voters voted for him to die while 5,271 voters were against it. The outcome – the fans led to the writers making the Joker killing Robin by repeatedly hitting his head with a crowbar. Talk about being nasty!!
2. Bruce Wayne is worth 7 Billion Dollars
And this is a conservative estimate. Bruce Wayne’s Wayne Enterprises have subsidiaries and sub-branded companies that we do not even know of. With whatever data is available, fans came to the conclusion that the man we know as Bruce Wayne is worth at least 7 Billion US Dollars, maybe even more. With so much money at his disposal, Batman can do literally anything and get away with it. He only needs a fraction of that money to keep his superhero empire running. The rest of the cash just keeps taking a nap in his multiple bank accounts in different countries. Oh, and yes, Batman is one of the highest taxpayers of DC Comics, second only to Lex Luthor.
1. Bob Kane’s Original Batman was starkly different than the current version
Bob Kane is generally credited with creating Batman – the most popular superhero on Planet Earth. But there is one more guy that failed to get some well-deserved credit for the Dark Knight’s creation. Bill Finger may not have created the Batman but he was heavily involved in setting up the premise for the Batman. He is credited with creating Gotham City (modeled after the real-life New York City) and naming the Batman Bruce Wayne. The original Batman costume was abysmal – it had a red body stocking with skeleton wings and a domino mask. The black ears, dark cowl and cape and the signature scowl of the Batman are all Bill Finger’s works. DC Comics never gave credit to Bill Finger but in recent years, they have changed their stance. Finger and Kane are now treated as cp-creditors of the Batman.
