Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. Originally named the "Bat-Man," the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective.
Robin is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, to serve as a junior counterpart to the superhero Batman. The character's first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a way to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, doubling the sales of the Batman titles. The early adventures of Robin included Star Spangled Comics #65–130 (1947–1952), which was the character's first solo feature. Robin made regular appearances in Batman related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing. The team of Batman and Robin has commonly been referred to as the Caped Crusaders or Dynamic Duo.
Timothy Jackson Drake is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman #436 as the third character to assume the role of Batman's vigilante partner Robin. Following the events in Batman: Battle for the Cowl in 2009, Drake adopted the alias of Red Robin. In 2019, Tim returned to his original Robin persona in the Wonder Comics relaunch of Young Justice, but later adopted his current codename Drake.
Jason Peter Todd is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. He is the second character to assume the role of Robin and the second character to take up the Red Hood alias. First appearing in Batman #357, Todd was created to succeed Dick Grayson, the original Robin, as Batman's vigilante partner. Initially sharing a similar origin to Grayson, subsequent portrayals commonly depict Todd as an orphaned street delinquent, whom Batman attempts to reform and mentors rigorously.
Stephanie Brown is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly associated with Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #647 and was created by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle.
Caroline Keene Kelley is a fictional character from Frank Miller's graphic novels Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and its sequels Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (2001-2002) and The Dark Knight III: The Master Race (2015-2017). She becomes the new Robin in The Dark Knight Returns when she saves Batman's life. Later in The Dark Knight Strikes Again, she adopts the identity Catgirl, and in The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, she adopts the identity Batwoman. She was the first full-time female Robin in the history of the Batman franchise, though Julie Madison had passed off as Robin for a brief time in a Bob Kane story published in Detective Comics #49 in March 1941.
Thomas Gabriel Wayne is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and husband of Martha Wayne. Wayne was introduced in Detective Comics #33, the first exposition of Batman's origin story. A gifted surgeon and philanthropist to Gotham City, Wayne inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne. When Wayne and his wife are murdered in a street mugging, Bruce is inspired to fight crime as the vigilante Batman.
"Batman and Son" is a 2006 comic book story arc featuring the DC Comics character Batman. Written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Andy Kubert, the story was published in four parts in the comic book Batman starting in #655 and ending in #658. The story was the beginning of Morrison's run in the Batman comic as well as his long-term take on the character of Batman through multiple titles over the next seven years. The arc introduced Batman's son, Damian Wayne, bringing him into the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe.
The Batman of Earth-Two is an alternate version of the fictional superhero Batman, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters whose adventures had been published in the Golden Age of comic books. This provided justification within the fictional world of Batman stories for DC Comics publishing Batman comic books that disregarded the character's Golden Age stories, as Batman had been presented as a single ongoing incarnation of the character since his earliest stories were published.
Damian Wayne is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, commonly in association with Batman. He is the genetically engineered son of Batman and Talia al Ghul, and thus, the grandson of Batman villain Ra's al Ghul and the potential inheritor of Wayne Enterprises as the son of Bruce. With the al Ghuls citing Bruce Wayne as the optimal successor to their empire, after a night of passion with the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, Damian was grown in an artificial womb, his existence being kept from Batman until Batman #656 (2006). In turn, the character is revealed to have originally been intended to "kill and replace his famous father," as well as serving as a host body for Ra's al Ghul, thus, in theory, unifying both Wayne and Demon factions as intended by the al Ghuls. A prototype of the character originally appeared as an unnamed infant in the 1987 story Batman: Son of the Demon, which at that time was not considered canon. Following this, various alternate universe stories dealt with the character's life, giving him various names. In 2006, the character was reinterpreted as Damian Wayne by Grant Morrison, and introduced into the main continuity in Batman #655, the first issue of the "Batman and Son" story arc. Damian Wayne is the fifth character to assume the role of Robin, Batman's vigilante partner.
Robin is a fictional character in publications from DC Comics. Robin has long been a fixture in the Batman comic books as Batman's sidekick. Since 1940, several different youths have appeared as Robin. In each incarnation, Robin's brightly colored visual appearance and youthful energy have served as a contrast to Batman's dark look and manner.
Robin of Earth-Two is an alternate version of the fictional superhero Robin, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters which had been published in the Golden Age of comic books. This allowed creators to publish comic books taking place in current continuity while being able to disregard Golden Age stories featuring Robin, solving an incongruity, as Robin had been published as a single ongoing incarnation since inception. Unlike his main counterpart, Robin is the only alter ego of Dick Grayson, who uses the title into adulthood, rather than taking on later codenames such as Nightwing or Batman. In addition, the name "Robin" is not taken on by later characters.
Batman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, created by Grant Morrison and featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series followed the events of "Batman R.I.P.", Final Crisis, and "Battle for the Cowl" in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died at the hands of DC Comics villain Darkseid and features the winner of the "Battle for the Cowl" as the new Batman. The conclusion of Battle for the Cowl shows Dick Grayson ascending to the role of Batman, while Damian Wayne becomes the new Robin.
Professor Pyg is a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Pyg was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, and debuted as a corpse in the alternate reality story Batman #666 before being introduced as a recurring character in the mainstream DC Universe two years later in Batman and Robin #1. Professor Pyg was re-introduced following DC's The New 52 comics relaunch in 2011, appearing throughout the continuity and the subsequent DC Rebirth relaunch that began in 2016.
Dr. Simon Hurt, commonly known simply as Doctor Hurt, is a fictional character from the DC Comics universe. First appearing as an unnamed character in Batman #156, the character was retro-actively revived in 2008 by writer Grant Morrison and established as Thomas Wayne, a distant relative of Bruce Wayne and his father Thomas Wayne.
Batman Incorporated was an ongoing American comic book series published by DC Comics, featuring the superhero Batman. Written by Grant Morrison, the series debuted following the events of Batman R.I.P, Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, and The Return of Bruce Wayne where, after being stranded in the distant past and believed dead, Bruce Wayne has returned to the present day DC Universe. Now, he is prepared to take his war on crime to the next level by essentially "franchising" it and drafting, training and commanding a global team of heroes who will answer to Batman himself, known as Batman Incorporated.
As a fictional character and the archenemy of Batman, the Joker has been represented in a variety of different stories that redefine elements of the characters appearance and personality. Each work typically establishes its own continuity, and sometimes introduces parallel universes, to the point where distinct differences in the portrayal of the character can be identified. This article details various versions of the Joker depicted in works including various alternative universe stories.
"Robin War" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The event ran from December 2015 to January 2016 in the books Robin War, Grayson, Detective Comics, We Are Robin, Robin, Son of Batman, Gotham Academy, Red Hood/Arsenal, and Teen Titans. The series features numerous incarnations of Batman's crime-fighting partner, Robin, including Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd and the original, Dick Grayson.
Batman: Damned is an American comic book published by DC Comics. The three-issue limited series, written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, began on September 19, 2018 and concluded on June 26, 2019. The series experienced numerous delays throughout its run, with the third issue being rescheduled a total of five times. Damned was the first series published under the DC Black Label, an imprint allowing writers to present unique takes on DC characters for a mature audience, and Azzarello and Bermejo described it as a loose sequel to their 2008 graphic novel Joker.
Duke Thomas is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. He is a supporting character of Batman. His first appearance was in Batman Vol. 2 #21, later debuting as one of many characters to take up the Robin identity in the comic book We are Robin in May 2015. He later created a new role as The Signal.
