The Batman of Earth-Two is an alternate version of the fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

, who appears in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The character was introduced after DC Comics created

Earth-Two Earth-Two (also Earth Two or Earth 2) is a setting for stories (a "fictional universe") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''The Flash'' #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between ...

, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters whose adventures had been published in the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. 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.

Publication history

Batman of Earth-Two first appeared in ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'' #82 and was created by

Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and

Dick Dillin Richard Allen Dillin (December 17, 1928 – March 1, 1980)Richard Dillin
at the United States

Batman accordingly adopts all of the earliest stories featuring the character from the 1930s and 1940s, while the adventures of the then-mainstream Silver Age Batman (who lived on "

Earth-One Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (The Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name in ...

") begin later in time and with certain elements of his origin retold. Each were depicted as separate, though parallel, individuals living in their respective universes, with the "older" Earth-Two character eventually reaching his retirement and death. A parallel to this character is introduced in ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 2) Annual #1 (2008) entitled "Earth-2" where the Post Crisis Earth-2 is fully introduced. The most notable difference between Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Wayne and his newer Post-Crisis Earth-2 incarnation is that the Post-Crisis Earth-2 Joker learned the real identities of Robin and the Huntress after turning Gotham DA Harvey Simms into the new Two-Face (Harvey knowing Helena's identity already). A new parallel to this character was introduced in the 2012 ''Earth-2'' series who died in the first issue, protecting that world from Darkseid's forces, alongside that world's Superman and Wonder Woman. His father, Thomas Wayne, later took up the mantle to atone for earlier sins, including deceiving his son about his own death. Dick Grayson would also take up the mantle during ''Earth 2: Earth's End and Earth 2: Society''. Helena would later don the mantle after Dick retired at the end of the ''Society'' series.

Fictional character biography

Childhood and early history

Batman's origin and history is essentially similar to the Earth-One version of the character, but events unfold in more of a real-time fashion. For example, the Batman makes his debut in 1939, meets

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

, Joker,

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

, and

Clayface Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them have been depicted as List of Bat ...

at various points in 1940,

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

in 1941,

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's ...

in 1942, etc. These dates reflect the publishing dates of the original stories, rather than taking the Earth-One and Modern Age approach of keeping the characters eternally youthful. * Bruce Wayne was born in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the cit ...

on April 7, 1915. * Bruce's parents,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and

Martha Wayne Martha Wayne ( Kane) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. She is the mother of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and wife of Thomas Wayne, Dr. Thomas Wayne as wel ...

, were killed when he was eight years old by a robber named

Joe Chill Joe Chill is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (Novemb ...

, in 1923. According to a later

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

, Martha died from a heart attack reaction soon after Thomas was shot to death. * Like his Earth-One counterpart, the Earth-Two Wayne is raised by his father's brother, Phillip Wayne, though he never recovers from his parents' murder and vows to one day wage a war against the criminal underworld in Gotham City. This aspect of the Batman mythos was retconned in the Post-Crisis history established by

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

's '' Batman: Year One'', where Phillip is eliminated and

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

largely raises Bruce. In the Golden Age and Earth-Two reality, Wayne and Alfred meet for the first time in 1943, after Batman has already met

(and in fact, this version of Alfred is Alfred Beagle - his originally published name which was kept for the Earth-Two distinction). * After a period of training, a young Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. His first printed story is "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate", although story content implies that this was not his first mission. * Bruce Wayne meets eight-year-old

Dick Grayson Richard John "Dick" Grayson is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman and Teen Titans. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, he first appeared in ''Detective Comics' ...

, following the murder of his parents by Boss Zucco who he overheard. Grayson eventually takes the identity of Robin and helps Batman apprehend Zucco. * Batman meets

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

for the first time in the inaugural case of the Justice Society of America; the two heroes both become honorary members of the society and soon become lifelong friends, learning each other's secret identities. Unlike their Post-Crisis incarnations, they get along right away and often team up over the years. Along with Kal-L, Batman participates in the

Justice Society Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

and the war-time only

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...

. * Batman dies in 1979.

Divergence with Earth-One

At the dawn of the

Silver Age of comics The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...

, DC Comics decided to reintroduce several of their Golden Age superheroes, all of whom had ceased publication several years earlier.

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

and

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

were reimagined as Barry Allen and

Hal Jordan Harold "Hal" Jordan, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created in 1959 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and first appeared in '' ...

. Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, having been continuously published since their Golden Age introductions, were not given any reimaginings (although much about the mythos of each had evolved slowly over the years). It was later revealed that the current heroes live on a parallel world to the Golden Age heroes: The newer Silver Age heroes are on "Earth-One", while the older Golden Age characters reside on "Earth-Two" (the numbering does not indicate any hierarchy of parallel Earths, only the number by which they were discovered). When Barry Allen met

Jay Garrick Jason Peter "Jay" Garrick is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first superhero known as Flash (DC Comics character), the Flash. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. ...

, it meant there were two Flashes, two

s, two Supermen, and two Batmen. Unlike the Silver Age versions of the Flash and Green Lantern, who had entirely different secret identities from their Golden Age counterparts Jay Garrick and

Alan Scott Alan Scott is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first character to bear the name Green Lantern. He fights evil with the aid of a magical ring which grants him a variety of powers. He was created by Mar ...

, the Batman and Superman of each world were both Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, respectively. There is no clear demarcation between when the stories of one Batman ends and the other begins. Indeed, many stories from the 1940s and the 1950s were treated as canon to both incarnations of Batman after the concept of Earth-One and Earth-Two was established; Some stories from the mid-1950s could have only occurred on Earth-One, while some stories as late as the early-1960s seem as though they could have also occurred on Earth-Two. DC has mandated that only the Earth-One Batman wore a yellow oval around the bat symbol on his chest, making 1964 the fixed year in which all Batman stories were set on Earth-One, although there are several instances where this is contradicted in-story. The Earth-Two Wayne made several different character evolutions from the mainstream Batman, as the Earth-Two Bruce accepts his one-time adversary Catwoman as his true love and shares his secret identity with her after her memory is restored of her real life. The Earth-Two Wayne and Catwoman later marry, after she had voluntarily served prison time for her crimes. They have a daughter,

Helena Wayne The Huntress, also known as Helena Wayne, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The Character (arts), character is the daughter of the Batman (Earth-Two), Batman and Catwoman#Earth-Two, Catwoman (Selina Kyle) ...

, the Huntress, and the family resides at Wayne Manor where Bruce devotes himself and his fortune to philanthropy. By the early 1960s, Wayne has retired as Batman with Robin taking over crimefighting in Gotham City. He even accepted Wayne's position in the reformed Justice Society. Wayne is later called out of retirement by the ancient god, Mercury to help defeat

King Kull Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by writer Robert E. Howard. The character was more introspective than Howard's subsequent creation, Conan the Barbarian, whose first appearance was in a re-write of a rejec ...

along with other superheroes of Pre-Crisis Earth-Two, Earth-One and Earth-S. He and Robin not only fought Joker on Earth-S, but also fought Weeper II of Earth-S, Doctor Light of Earth-One, and Shade of Earth-One Several years after, that he again dons his costume to answer the Batsignal when Robin is away from Gotham City, but this adventure ends in tragedy as Batman's kick causes the criminal Cernak to fire his gun wildly, striking and killing Selina Wayne. Bruce burned his cape and cowl that night, swearing to never wear it again. Helena Wayne would become Huntress and bring Cernak to justice. Bruces years of civic volunteerism results in him being named to replace the retiring James Gordon as Police Commissioner. In this capacity, Wayne is soon mind-controlled by the

Psycho Pirate The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two supervillains appearin in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bob Frazer portrayed the character for his live action debut during The CW's 2018 Arrowverse crossover "Elseworlds (Arrowverse), Elseworld ...

. Resulting in his declaring the current roster of the

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic ...

to be outlaws and he attempts to arrest them. Once freed from the Psycho Pirate's control, Wayne clears the JSA of all trumped-up charges. The elder Earth-Two Wayne is eventually coaxed out of retirement for one last mission as Batman when a thief named Bill Jensen is magically empowered by a sorcerer named Frederick Vaux (possibly the Earth-Two analogue to

Felix Faust Felix Faust is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League of America #10'' (1962), created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. He is depicted as an mystic sorcerer obse ...

) and attacks Gotham City. As when he was eight, Earth-Two Wayne faces an overpowering criminal with a weapon that is greater than himself, though this time it is magical bolts rather than bullets. Already dying of cancer from his years of pipe smoking (as stated in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #197), Wayne decides to fight to the death against Jensen, who bears a furious grudge against Wayne, stopping his threat at the cost of his own life. In the aftermath of the battle, the public learns that Wayne was Batman's secret identity. The Earth-Two

Doctor Fate Doctor Fate (also known as Fate) is the name of multiple superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version of the character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, debuting in ''More F ...

later removes the memory of the battle from the consciousness of the general public, so as to protect the secret identities of Robin and the Huntress, which were also thus exposed, and causing everyone to believe instead that Wayne died of cancer at home on the same day that Batman died. Several years after Bruce Wayne's death, Batman's diary was discovered and made public (as described in the limited series '' America vs. the Justice Society''). In it, he charged the JSA with treason, being spies for Hitler, resulting in the team being put on trial. It is ultimately revealed that this was a hoax on Batman's part, designed to set a trap for a longtime Justice Society foe,

Per Degaton Per Degaton is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A young version of the character was portrayed by Cory Grüter-Andrew on the first season of ''Legends of Tomorrow'', while an unknown actor portrayed his ol ...

. Knowing he was dying and would not be alive to combat Degaton's as yet unrevealed scheme, Wayne fabricated the treason charges so as to bring about a reexamination of the JSA's history, giving them clues as how to defeat the time traveling villain. It would prove to be the Earth Two Batman's final case, solved from the grave. Professor Zee, the scientist who had invented the Time Machine (and someone Per Degaton shot), appeared from it, which he had used to transport himself 40 years into the future, and accused Per Degaton of murder. Per Degaton then shot himself in the head. As a tribute to this version of the character, his final formal 'appearance' was in ''

Secret Origins ''Secret Origins'' is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters. Publication history ''Secret Origins'' was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and c ...

'' (vol. 2) #6 (September 1986) in the story "Secret Origins Starring the Golden Age Batman" by writer

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

and artists

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

and Terry Austin, a retelling of the Earth-Two Batman's origin. In the limited series ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to March ...

'', the

Anti-Monitor The Anti-Monitor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He served as the main antagonist of the 1985 DC Comics miniseries ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and later appears as an enemy to the Green Lantern Corps ...

destroys most universes, reducing the universe to the

anti-matter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioacti ...

universe and a single positive matter universe. Earth-Two "never existed" in this new universe's history, which retroactively removes the Earth-Two Batman from history, blending elements of his past with that of the

Batman's, effectively creating a Batman with a new fictional history.

One Year Later

During ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...

'', senior members of the

regain some memories of Earth-Two's previous existence.

One year later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through books published by DC Comics. It involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'' storyline, to explore ...

when the

Gentleman Ghost Gentleman Ghost is a supervillain appearing in books published by DC Comics publications. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert, the character first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #88 (October 1947). Fictional character biography ...

attacks the JSA using powers of limited control over the spirits of the dead,

Jakeem Thunder Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams), initially called J.J. Thunder, is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe, a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America. The character appeared starting in the second season of '' ...

and Johnny Thunderbolt are assisted in battle by the spirits of various deceased JSA members and allies, including the Batman of Earth-Two. Although Jakeem is confused by his presence noting that Batman is not dead, Johnny Thunderbolt tells him not to worry about it.

The New 52

In September 2011, DC Comics carried out a line-wide revision to its superhero comic book series and the fictional histories of their characters, branded as "

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

". While Bruce Wayne was the first Batman, the second Earth-2 Batman is Thomas Wayne. Wayne is a corrupt doctor who works for the Mafia in Gotham City until he fakes his own death, deceiving his son about whether he has survived. The original Batman (Bruce Wayne) discovers his father's actions and disassociates himself with Thomas. Following Bruce Wayne's death where he sacrificed his life to fight off the invading forces from

Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...

, Thomas Wayne becomes the second Batman. As Batman, Thomas Wayne uses

Hourman Hourman or Hour-Man is the name of three different fictional superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. The original Hourman was created by writer Ken Fitch and artist Bernard Baily in '' Adventure Comics'' #48 (March 1940), during ...

's Miraclo pills. After Thomas Wayne sacrifices his life to prevent villains from a parallel world from entering his own, Dick Grayson becomes the third Batman.''Earth 2: Society'' #1. DC Comics.

Powers and abilities

The powers and abilities of the Earth-Two Batman are similar to his Earth-One counterpart. Like his Robin, Batman had his aging rate reduced after the JSA's fight with Ian Karkull. Unlike his Earth-One counterpart, the Earth-Two Batman was shown to carry a gun after meeting Robin. He used a gun during his early adventures.

In other media

* The first live-action adaptations of Batman, in both the 1941 serial ''

The Batman Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman or The Batman may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Characters * Batman (Terry McGinnis) * Batman (Thomas Wayne) * Batman (Earth-Two) * Bat ...

'' (portrayed by

Lewis Wilson Lewis Gilbert Wilson (January 28, 1920 – August 9, 2000) was an American actor, who was most famous for being the first actor to play DC Comics character Batman on screen in the 1943 serial film, film serial ''Batman (serial), Batman''. Life ...

), and the 1966-68 TV series ''

'' and it's film adaptation (played by Adam West), were visually based on both the Golden Age and Silver Age depictions, with Wilson's version evoking the colder and grimmer Golden Age era and West's version famously resembling the friendlier and campier Silver Age era. * The 2008-2013 animated series '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', partially based on the comic book of the same name, while visually inspired by the Silver and Bronze Age depictions, also drew aspects from the Modern Age/

Post-Crisis "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Ma ...

eras of the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

, with Batman, while wearing a suit evoking his Silver Age appearance, has the sterner and far more serious demeanor of his modern depictions. * Two Earth-Two Batman skins are available as downloadable content for the video game '' Batman: Arkham Origins''. One is based on the New 52 Earth-Two Bruce Wayne and the other the New 52 Earth-Two Thomas Wayne. The latter skin is also available as downloadable content for '' Batman: Arkham Knight''.

Notes

References

External links

Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics: Earth-Two Batman Index

{{Earth-Two Alternative versions of Batman Characters created by Dick Dillin Characters created by Dennis O'Neil Comics characters introduced in 1939 Comics characters introduced in 1970 DC Comics male superheroes DC Comics martial artists Earth-Two Fictional blade and dart throwers Fictional characters from parallel universes Fictional characters with cancer Fictional male detectives Fictional escapologists Fictional police commissioners Vigilante characters in comics