DC Comics’ annual Batman Day for this year falls on Saturday, September 15th. This celebration of the brooding superhero started in 2014 when The Dark Knight celebrated the 75th year since his debut in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939).
Comic book stores and enthusiasts celebrate this day with loads of Bat-gimmicks, ranging from sales and discounts on a wide range of Bat-books and other Bat-merch, to coming up with lists of memorable Batman stories from every medium he’s appeared in, in comic books and graphic novels, TV shows, movies and video games.
And I, a huge Batman nerd, will now share to you my Bat-themed listS. Yes lists with an S, as in there will be multiple lists in this single post.
Favorite Batman Incarnations
Let’s start with the most commonly discussed Bat-topic (yes this post is filled with campy Bat-things a la the 1960’s TV show starring Adam West). Batman has appeared in a wide variety of mediums, and even in a particular medium, his appearance, while generally the same, has some unique features depending obviously on the style of the art director or artist.
So here are my top five favorite versions of the Caped Crusader, in no particular order.
1. Batman: Hush
Jim Lee is one the greatest comic book artists ever, and his take on Batman in the Hush storyline by Jeph Loeb is what I consider in my mind to be what Batman really looks like. The Batsuit is jusy the perfect shade of black, gray and blue, the pointy ears on the cowl isn’t too long or too short, and overall Batman just looks gritty.
2. Batman: The Animated Series
If you grew up in the 90s and watched a lot of cartoons, BTAS was definitely one show that you’d love very much. It was a kid’s cartoons that wasn’t for kids and that version of Batman looked cool enough for the grownups, but not too dark for the children watching. Perfect blend if you ask me.
3. Batman: Arkham Knight
The main reason why I love this version of Batman (from my all-time favorite PS4 videogame, btw) is the Batsuit. A titanium-dipped tri-weave armour made by WayneTech just in case Batman needed to go to war against an entire army (which he did in the game, coincidentally), this Batsuit was lighter, more responsive to the environment and allows Batman to pull off one of the coolest moves in the entire Arkham games series: the Fear Multi-takedown, where he is able to take out up to 5 enemies in one swooping motion. And he looks scary doing so.
4. Batfleck
Say all you want about the DC Extended Movies Universe. Most of the criticism is warranted. But maaaaan, Ben Affleck nailed being Batman. Batfleck is a bulkier and older Batman, reminiscent of the one from Frank Miller’s terrific The Dark Knight Returns (the GOAT of all Batman graphic novels). The warehouse scene when Batman takes out Luthor’s thugs to save Martha “WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME???” Kent is the reason why this version of The World’s Greatest Detective is here. The entire sequence was like taken from the Arkham games.
5. Snyder/Capullo’s New 52 Batman
The New 52 Batman was the at the time, the current incarnation of Batman when I first got into comic books on a deep level, so of course it’s going to be in my top 5. Writer Scott Snyder made Batman and Bruce Wayne much more “human” compared to versions of the past by subtly delving into the “man” part of Batman, through his relationships with other characters in the Batman mythos.
What’s your favorite version of Batman?
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