Batman (Earth-Two)

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

Publication history

The earliest reference to a Batman on Earth-Two was in ''Detective Comics'' #347 (January 1966) "The Strange Death of Batman" which contained a "What if" story where the Batman of Earth-One was killed, but the Batman of Earth-Two came to Earth-One to be Robin's partner while the adult Robin of Earth-Two took his place on that Earth. This Batman also stated that on parallel Earths many events are repeated.

Batman of Earth-Two first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #82 (August 1970) and was created by Dennis O'Neil and Dick Dillin.

The character history of the Earth-Two 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") begin later in time and with certain elements of his origin retold. Each was depicted as separate, though parallel, individuals living in their respective universes, with the "older" Earth-Two character eventually reaching his retirement and death.

Earth-Two Batman was canonically 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: World'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 similar to the Earth-One version of the character, but does not exist in a floating timeline. For example, the Batman makes his debut in 1939, meets Robin, Joker, Catwoman, and Clayface at various points in 1940, Penguin in 1941, Two-Face 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 on April 7, 1915.
* Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, were killed when he was eight years old by a robber named Joe Chill, in 1924. According to a later retcon, Martha died from a heart attack soon after Thomas is shot.
* 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's '' Batman: Year One'', where Phillip is eliminated and Alfred 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 Robin (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 after Tony Zucco kills his parents. Grayson eventually becomes Robin and helps Batman apprehend Zucco.
* Batman meets Superman for the first time in the inaugural case of the Justice Society of America; the two heroes 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 and the war-time only All-Star Squadron.
* Batman dies in 1979.

Divergence with Earth-One

At the dawn of the Silver Age of comics, DC Comics decided to reintroduce several of their Golden Age superheroes, all of whom had ceased publication several years earlier. Flash and Green Lantern were reimagined as Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. 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, it meant there were two Flashes, two Green Lanterns, 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, 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 (also known as 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 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, he 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 burns his cape and cowl that night, swearing to never wear it again. Helena Wayne becomes Huntress and brings Cernak to justice.

Bruce's years of civic volunteerism results in him being named to replace the retiring James Gordon as Police Commissioner. He is temporarily mind-controlled by the Psycho-Pirate and declares the Justice Society's members outlaws.

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) 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 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. 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.

In ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', the multiverse is destroyed, erasing Earth-Two from existence.

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.

Other versions

The New 52

An alternate depiction of the Earth-Two Batman appears in ''The New 52'' where he resides on Earth 2. He is killed in battle with Apokoliptian forces.

Thomas Wayne becomes the second Batman while making use of Miraclo pills. Thomas is later killed battling villains from a parallel world.

Dick Grayson later became the new Batman.

In other media

* Earth-Two Batman appeared in the 2014 short ''Batman: Strange Days'', voiced by Kevin Conroy.
* In '' Batman: Caped Crusader'', Batman (voiced by Hamish Linklater) wore a version of the Earth-Two Batman's Batsuit.
* Earth-Two Batman appears as a skin for Batman in the '' Batman: Arkham'' series.

See also

* All-Star Squadron
* '' America vs. The Justice Society'' — A miniseries in which Batman (through his diary, discovered post-mortem) accuses the JSA of committing treason during World War II
* Batman
* Golden Age Robin
* Golden Age Catwoman
* Huntress (Helena Wayne)
* Multiverse (DC Comics)
* Superman of Earth-Two
* Wonder Woman of Earth-Two

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 characters with cancer
Fictional escapologists
Fictional police commissioners
Superhero detectives
Vigilante characters in comics