The 1990s were an interesting time in comics. The decade saw some huge events for both Marvel and DC and the formation of Image Comics, which led to a new era for indie comics. The decade also saw some incredibly low lows for comics as well. After an unexpected boom for comics in the decade which saw titles like X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman selling millions, that eventually led to a bust that nearly took down the whole industry. Even on a character-specific level, the 1990s was a decade of extremes and that is true for Batman as well.
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The 1990s were a transitional time for Batman. Coming off of huge stories such as the controversial “Death in the Family”, the decade was full of some interesting choices, strange choices, and character defining moments. While many of these things aren’t necessarily bad — the “Knightfall” storyline where Bane infamously broke Batman’s back is an all-tine classic — there are definitely some Batman moments from the 1990s that even today still have some fans scratching their heads (or even outright wonder wtf people were thinking.) Here are five.
5) Batman Becomes a Vampire to Fight Dracula. Yes, Really.
The Batman & Dracula trilogy is honestly a solid story and, while bleak, is a great read so this isn’t any shade, but it’s also a moment that would probably send a new, contemporary Batman fan into a coma. The Elseworlds story sees Batman investigating a series of murders of the unhoused in Gotham and discovers that Dracula is behind them. A vampire, Tanya, helps Batman by biting him to give him vampiric strength so he can fight. Unfortunately, while Batman does end up defeating Dracula, the whole thing results in Batman becoming a vampire himself and he loses his humanity.
Over the course of the entire trilogy, Batman loses control and cannot control his thirst for blood. He violates every single aspect of his personal code and becomes the sort of villain he has always fought, though arguably only killing bad guys. In the end, Batman manages to rid Gotham of criminals and vampires, but he’s lost his soul in the process and walks into the sunlight to end it all. Again, it’s a great story but it is also absolutely wild.
4) Everything About Batman in The ‘90s is Inexplicably Aggressive and Edgy
This is more of a catchall situation than anything specific, but if there is one theme to Batman in the 1990s, it’s that the character is overwhelmingly aggressive and edgy. And dark, very dark. The extremes of the ‘90s really fleshed themselves with the characters in comics. What’s interesting about this is that we can kind of credit the late 1980s for Batman’s evolution in this direction. The Dark Knight Returns, which was published in 1986, started the idea of a darker and more mature Batman that featured hyper-violence and other edgy, grim elements. Stories that followed, they followed suit causing a massive shift in the character.
While the idea of a darker Batman might not necessarily be that far from what people expect from Batman now, things were dialed up to 11 in the 1990s and it was reflected in some very wild stories. Things like “Contagion,” “Cataclysm”, and “No Man’s Land” hit Batman with never ending and back-to-back tragedies that kept everything in a grim state of extreme bleakness and it reshaped everything about Batman and Gotham City.
3) “No Man’s Land”
Speaking of “No Man’s Land,” if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Gotham City were cut off from the rest of the world, this story is for you. It came at the end of the decade — it ran from January 1999 through December of that year — and in a sense it nicely closes out one of the most extreme eras in comics. During the “Cataclysm” storyline, Gotham City suffers a 7.6 magnitude earthquake which prompts the government to evacuate most of the population and declare Gotham to be a no man’s land, going so far as to destroy the bridges leading to the island and blocking any access — be it entry or exit. This leaves gangs and villains to divide up the city for themselves. James Gordon and some police stay behind and form their own gang to help protect those left behind. Bruce Wayne leaves to try to get the government to help. That doesn’t work but with Batman gone (because Bruce is gone, Batman is, too) things get really bad, leading Gordon to denounce Batman.
This is just scratching the surface of the story. The Joker kidnaps babies and kills Gordon’s wife. Lex Luthor makes a play for all the property on Gotham. Batman regains his status. It’s a wild story. It’s also a very good story but man, it’s the kind of tale that engulfed DC Comics in a way that nothing today ever could.
2) “Library of Souls”
On the other end of the spectrum of 1990s comics — after all, this is the decade of extremes — we have one of the weirder stories that sees Batman sort of return to the oddball villains and cases in Detective Comics #643, “The Library of Souls”. In the story ten exhumed skeletons — including one more than a century old — are found scattered all over Gotham and Batman pays attention because he doesn’t understand why. Soon after, when cemeteries are on lockdown, new bodies are found with numbers stitched on their sleeves and it takes a librarian to figure out that it’s Dewey Decimal numbers. It turns out a disgruntled former librarian is behind it all after being fired for trying to change the Dewey Decimal System. He’s also revealed to be mentally ill (he hears voices).
It’s not a bad story, but it’s also just very weird and something that would probably give most contemporary Batman fans some pause. Somehow, given how much Batman seems to know, the idea of him not knowing the Dewey Decimal system seems a little absurd now (and honestly, kind of did then) but the wild tonal shift between stories lie that and some of the other wild tales in the 1990s is just an adventure all in itself.
1) Azrael
This might be the most insane and “wtf” Batman moment not just of the ‘90s but ever. While Bane breaking Batman’s back might be one of the most important moments in the character’s history, what happened after is also one of the wildest. With Batman out of commission, he turned things over to Jean-Paul Valley. Seems legit, Batman needs someone to fill his shoes. The problem here is that Azrael is mentally unstable and wildly violent. His suit is also pure 1990s madness.
The longer Jean-Paul serves as Batman, the more brutal and merciless he becomes and even starts becoming violent towards innocent bystanders as well. He ignores Bruce’s orders and even starts to become delusional. At one point, he nearly strangles Tim Drake to death. It is one of the craziest and darkest times in Batman history and while Bruce eventually gets Batman bac, it’s an insane time all around.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
