Into the (Dark) Bat-verse

Science fiction, and comics especially, have played with the idea of a string theory multiverse concept for a very long time. Some authors/writers are better at it than others. HG Wells, Philip K Dick, Philip Roth, Harry Turtledove, and Robert Harris all play with these ideas of alternate histories and multiverse concepts. This idea of an infinite multiverse was first introduced by Erwin Schrodinger in 1952.

Creatively, the nature of an infinite multiverse allows writers/artists to come up with a seemingly endless line of what-if scenarios. Marvel just made an award winning Spiderman movie on this very concept. Creators were allowed to create Spiderman if he were a Japanese girl with a robot, or a cartoon pig. Into the Spiderverse scratched the surface of what is creatively possible (spoiler: everything is possible in this scenario).

This is not a new thing for DC comics, or Batman in particular either. I wrote before in my other blog about the DC Elseworlds imprint. Batman has been written in several different timelines, depicted as a wild west sheriff, an Arthurian knight, an Industrial Revolution era detective, Golden Age Batman (circa 1940s), A Batman that worked for the OS during World War 2, Flashpoint Batman (Thomas Wayne), Batmouse, and Midnighter from the Wildstorm imprint, among others. For some reason, DC has limited themselves to only 52 alternate realities. I think this is a mistake. Why limit yourself to only 52? Why not endless, inifinite possibilities?

However, this post isn't about various depictions of Batman the hero. I am more interested with alternate versions of Batman that turned villain. Batman, as a character, seems to be a halfstep away from villainy already. This is a theme that has been explored in many Batman and Justice League storylines. Because of the dark nature of Batman the hero, it is easy to imagine him going rogue, becoming an anti-hero, or even full villain.

As pictured above, this has been done recently to great affect by Scott Snyder in the Dark Knights: Metal series. There are a ton of other villainous Batmen from the multiverse. We'll start with Metal though, because it is the most recent.

Metal's Dark Knights

Snyder's multiverse Batmen are all pretty much mashups of Batman with another DC hero or villain. Above is a collage of the alternate Batmen from the Metal miniseries and follow-up series. From the top left and around clockwise we have: 

The Devastator: What if Batman had to turn himself into Doomsday to stop a rogue Superman? 

Dawnbreaker: Just like in the Darkest Knight Elseworlds comic, Bruce Wayne receives Abin Sur's ring instead of Hal Jordan. Unlike the Darkest Knight, this Batman turns evil, and kills the Green Lantern Corp. 

The Drowned: This one is the best, I think. Not only is this a gender reversal (cool), but Batwoman also genetically modifies herself to become like the Atlanteans, and wages a war on Aquawoman. 

Grim Knight: this dude is introduced after Metal. Basically if Batman was actually Marvel's Punisher. Not super interesting or creative, but it is the classic Batman What If.... What if Batman used guns and killed? The answer is this guy. 

Red Death: Batman physically merges himself with the Flash in the Speed Force. This is only interesting, because Barry Allen is still trapped within Evil Batman's sub-conscious.

Murder Machine: Technically robot Batman. This is supposed to be a Batman/Cyborg mashup, but it looks more like Batman/Iron Man. 

The Merciless: Basically Batman merging with the powers of Ares, God of  War. 

Predictably, a mini-series that introduced so many new characters had issues giving them all in-depth backgrounds with detail. They all recieved their own tie-in comics to make up for it. There is one more from this series, a character that leaves the rest behind in terms of horror. It answers the question What if Batman was also the Joker? 

The Batman Who Laughs

The Batman Who Laughs merges Batman's detective skills, proper prior planning, and creative problem solving with the Joker's twisted, sociopathic intellect. He returned after Metal with his own miniseries, and has quickly become a favorite new DC multiverse-wide villain. 

These new evil multiverse Batmans are just the latest in twisted versions of the hero. Below are some of the classics that also have played with classic What If Tropes. 

The New Reichsmen or JLAxis

DC comics has had a few universes where Nazis win World War 2. Currently, Earth 10 has been designated the Nazi universe, and features Leatherwing as the Batman counterpart. What if Batman was a Nazi? Apparently he would look no different than usual. 

Owlman

Owlman is probably my 2nd favorite alternate version of Batman (after The Drowned). Introduced in 1964, Owlman, and the rest of the Earth 3 characters, made the most of the concept of the reverse version of the superhero. Not only is he a career criminal operating within an organized cartel of super villains, but he also uses the symbol of an owl, not a bat. Owls are known natural bat predators. 

Vampire Batman

Batman becomes a vampire in Red Rain. Although this character kills himself at the end of the Elseworlds miniseries, Earth 43 is a universe where he doesn't commit suicide, and instead embraces being a vampire. Pretty sure this guy should have turned up in Metal. 

Batzarro is dumb

Batzarro the Bizarro World Batman is the opposite to Batman in the same way Bizarro is the opposite to Superman. He's a stupid killer, and attempts to "solve" his own crimes. Not the most interesting or compelling evil Batman, but certainly worth mentioning. 

The Bruce

And, finally, in the Elseworlds miniseries I, Joker, The Bruce is a cybernetic cult-leader that murders his adversaries, only to resurrect them so he can murder them over and over and over. In this mirror universe, its the Joker who is able to defeat this villainous Batman and save the day.