You know what my favorite part of any upcoming DC event? It’s the way they promote it with their clever little posters. The one before Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis is of particular note in my mind. However, since I don’t have either of those hanging up in my apartment – I have the one from Battle for the Cowl. And now that it’s been a few months since BFTC has ended, I figured it would be fun to take a look back on the preview poster that was released.
Let’s see how it goes behind the cut.
From left to right
The Joker card: I’m not entirely sure what this could necessarily entail. When we last saw the Joker, he was plummeting to his “death” off the Gotham bridge in an ambulance after being bumped off by Damian in the Batmobile. Since then, we haven’t seen or heard from him. In a way, I suppose this makes sense – the Joker is only relevant if Batman is alive, and with Bruce dead, who needs him? However, we have seen two “forms” of the Joker. The first appeared in the new series Gotham City Sirens, where Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy (The Joker’s original sidekick before Harley Quinn) attacked the trio, with the intent to kill Harley. The other is the Jester, who is apparently some sort of split personality tied to Jeremiah Arkham.
While neither are the Joker, one can’t help but notice that the card is mirrored, so it may not necessarily mean that it is his return. At least not until Bruce himself is back. My money would be on Gagsworthy.
The first Batman in the “classic” costume: As we saw in Battle for the Cowl, this was Tim Drake, the third Robin, attempting to fill the void left by Bruce. He has now become the new Red Robin, starring in his own title written by Chris Yost.
Harley Quinn: Harley Quinn has been put to a starring role in Gotham City Siren, but based on the image, I would assume there is more to this than just that, mostly because Catwoman and Poison Ivy aren’t prevalent in the poster. I would guess we probably haven’t seen the importance of this yet.
Alfred Pennyworth: Alfred Pennyworth is dressed up in military guard… what? We have barely seen Alfred throughout the whole of the books, only appearing every now and then as a back up character. But some sort of military version of Alfred? The best I can guess is some sort of relation to the Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader story, in which Alfred tells a story of how he was every villain Batman had ever fought. Something tells me there is something more to this… and my guess would be that it appears in Batman and Robin.
Edit: Actually, upon reviewal, I realize that this could be a reference to the Outsiders? Batman charges Alfred with forming the new group. Perhaps Alfred in a military-type of dress could be a reference to him forming this new group?
The T-Rex: The T-Rex was last seen in Detective Comics, when it crashed to the ground and died during “The Heart of Hush” arc. RIP T-Rex.
The second Batman in the modern costume: This Batman is our current Batman, Dick Grayson, formerly Robin and then Nightwing. Though reluctant, Grayson is the one who dons the cowl at the end of the “battle.”
The cowl in the glass case: This is Bruce’s cowl, hanging in the cowl as many old suits now hang, such as the various Robin suits or the old Batman costumes. We’ve recently seen the cowl being focused on in Batman and Robin #7, and Morrison has hinted at the importance of this for the future arc.
The third Batman in the odd costume/the giant penny: Although unclear at first, we now know that this is Two-Face, as having appeared in the Judd Winnick arc. Two-Face knows that the new Batman is not actually Bruce (or “whoever he really was”), and dons his own cowl in order to beat the truth out of him and bring the real Batman back.
Continued belowThe fourth Batman with the guns: This is Jason Todd, the second Robin, returned from the dead. He feels that Batman has to take a new approach on criminals, specifically a harsher one. He then dons the new Red Hood costume, battling the new Batman throughout the ages of Batman and Robin.
Of course, I can’t help but point out that this does look similar to the evil future Batman from Batman #666, who also was one of the three “ghosts.”
(And I could of course point out that in Batman #666, one of the villains Damian as Batman has to defeat was the Flamingo, who just appeared in Batman and Robin #6.)
Batwoman with the magnifying glass: With Paul Dini leaving Detective Comics, we saw Greg Rucka and JH Williams III taking over, with Batwoman as the central star. This is also easily the second best Bat-comic currently coming out, constantly going up and down with Batman and Robin by Morrison.
Damian and Bruce Wayne with the bandages: One of the last things to happen in between both Batman and Detective Comics was Hush changing his facial features to mirror Bruce Wayne. One of the first things to happen in Streets of Gotham was Damian and Hush, now imprisoned, playing chess. It was possible at one time that Hush would try and manipulate Damian for his own advantages, and I’d say it’s something that could happen in the future, but all things considered, it’s not something I can see happening right now. Perhaps when the Zsasz story is over.
The Wayne Enterprises box with the body: I’m a little lost on this one. During the Hush crossover of Batman and Detective Comics, Hush travels to another country to escape from the authorities and the Bat-family. During this is the only idea I have for this box… with the body possibly being Bruce Wayne. Although I am not sure of this one, and welcome interpretations.
Did I miss anything? Or am I… wrong? (Cue shock) Weigh in in the comments with what you think. In the near future of the Batman books, we have the return of Bruce Wayne from the past, Batman and Robin vs Zsasz, Red Robin teaming up with Ra’s Al Ghul against the Guild of Spiders, and Batwoman continuing to have an amazingly well written book. Have we really covered everything in the poster, or is there more?
