You May Not Know Why Bats Are the Perfect Inspiration For Batman, But We Do
Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Absolute Batman #4
While it does help scare the superstitious and cowardly, DC Comics has revealed that a bat is the perfect inspiration for Batman for a much bigger (and arguably better) reason. Thanks to the new alternate Absolute Universe where heroes are primarily the underdogs, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman have been remixing and redefining what it means to be The Dark Knight. As such, this includes why Bruce Wayne was inspired by bats to begin with.
In the main DC Universe, Batman was inspired to make a bat his symbol due to his childhood fear of the animal, combined with the bat that crashed through the window of Wayne Manor right as Bruce Wayne was questioning what becoming a vigilante in Gotham would look like. Likewise, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins provides a strong explanation on-screen with Bruce's response to Alfred who questions the bat motif: "Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread".However, Snyder and Dragotta's Absolute Batman #4 provides an explanation that's far more layered and arguably more inspiring, while still connecting to Bruce's past.
Absolute Batman #4 Redefines The Bat Symbol
Connecting To Bruce Wayne's New Origins
Absolute Batman #4 looks back at Bruce Wayne's life during his earliest days as a vigilante in Gotham. Originally going for a more dramatic bat-look with fake fangs and red eyes, The Dark Knight in the Absolute Universe continued refining and building up to a more definitive iteration, one that could adapt and be more than just an intimidating symbol. As such, this earlier look at Absolute Batman's career is perfectly parallel with an even earlier time in Bruce Wayne's life when he was designing a bridge for a school project, one that had to be inspired by an animal.
Having chosen bats as his animal, a young Bruce Wayne initially designs a bridge with high protective walls, one that would intimidate enemies. However, his father (and school teacher) Thomas encourages Bruce to keep going and keep defining his design until he can come up with something that speaks to "what makes a bat special at its core."As such, the older Bruce redefining and improving what Batman ultimately is mirrors his youth where Bruce eventually finds what that core was, going far beyond a bat's ability to scare as is largely seen in the main DC Universe.
Bruce Wayne Knows What Makes A Bat Special "At Its Core"
"They Defy The Impossible"
Ultimately, young Bruce Wayne comes to the conclusion that bats are special because "they defy the impossible". After all, bats are the only mammals with the ability to fly, making them quite unique creatures with the ability to effectively defy the odds "going bigger and flying higher". Combined with their ability to map and adapt to their environment via echolocation, a bat makes perfect sense to become Bruce's future symbol.
The bat motif makes even more sense considering Bruce would later lose his father on the very same field trip he earned for his class when his bridge project won the school contest, having been inspired by bat wings. As such, the reasoning for bats has been very much expanded in the Absolute Universe compared to the one given from the main DC Universe's Batman. However, writer Scott Snyder did confirm in a recent interview with Comics Beat that the new metaphor does have its origins with the primary Dark Knight.
The Metaphor Works Best With This Alternate Batman
It's Different When Batman Has Billions
According to Scott Synder, the connection to bats "defying the impossible" originated with his work on The Batman Who Laughs with a similar line about their unique ability to fly. However, he notes that he didn't get to fully explore the idea within the context of the main DC Universe's Batman. Now, Absolute Batman has allowed Snyder to go deeper with the concept as The Dark Knight is being more wholly redefined. From Snyder's perspective, the bat metaphor has a stronger meaning when Batman is someone who doesn't have a lot of the same resources:
"It sort of doesn’t speak the same truth? Sure, you can defy everything holding us down when you have billions of dollars and all the resources in the world and train with the best people in every corner of the globe to be the pinnacle of human achievement. Which is super fun to write, and I love that version, so it’s not disparaging him as an inspirational figure in the main universe.
But there’s a different energy to that metaphor, particularly of a bat, as the only mammal that defies gravity and flies sincerely, when you know that your bat, your Batman, your Bruce Wayne in this version, is just an everyman. It takes on a different power."
Believing that the main Bruce Wayne can still defy the impossible as one of the few people who could become Batman in the first place with all his training and resources, it's easy to see why Snyder believes the "Defiant Bat" metaphor works better for this new Dark Knight with fewer advantages, and why he also doesn't think the main Batman would see himself with that exact lens.
Batman's Bat Symbol Is More Than Intimidation
It's About Being What Gotham Needs
Regardless of the particular Batman and the origins of the bat inspiration, the symbol itself is one that has evolved to become far more than pure intimidation alone. Over time, it's come to represent hope and justice. This is especially true for the people of Gotham, such as when they see the bat signal in the night sky, a light in the darkness.
One of the great points made in Absolute Batman #4 is that bats are flexible and quickly adapt to their environment and its challenges. Just like the defiant mammals themselves, this is what any good version of Batman does, and it's what makes him special at his core. Batman always adapts to become whatever Gotham needs him to be.
Absolute Batman #4 is on sale now from DC Comics.
Source: ComicsBeat.com
- Created By
- Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- First Appearance
- Detective Comics
- Alias
- Bruce Wayne
- Alliance
- Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family
- Race
- Human
- Franchise
- D.C.
One of DC's most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world's leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
- FIRST APP
- Detective Comics #27 (1939)
