Mainstream superhero comics, more often than not, are never-ending stories. While there are very popular superhero stories with defined endings, such as Invincible, Marvel and DC’s heroes are meant to keep starring in comics until the day they physically can’t even more, and some more beyond that. Of course, with some heroes having nearly ninety years’ worth of continuity from hundreds of writers to their names, things tend to get very confusing. One of the best ways to put new spins on stories and write off stories that should never exist is by implementing retcons, which are retroactive changes to continuity.
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Retcons have a bad name in most comic book circles. Mostly because there are undeniably hated retcons that have ruined beloved stories and characters. Spider-Man’s “One More Day” and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch not being Magneto’s children are despised with good reason, but there are innumerable beloved retcons for every character, even the most famous ones. The best retcons go unnoticed, simply becoming the new canon that everyone accepts. To give these retcons their due, today we’re going to be looking at seven of the best retcons that Batman has ever had across his eighty-six years of existence.
7) Stephanie Brown Never Died
One of Batman’s worst storylines was “War Games,” which saw Stephanie Brown be fired from her position as Robin and try to implement a plan she found on the Batcomputer to end all crime. Unfortunately, she was unaware that this required Batman to go undercover as Matches Malone, so it wound up dissolving into a massive gang war that took her life. In the follow-up story, “War Crimes,” it was revealed that longtime Batman ally and staunch pacifist Leslie Thompkins let Stephanie die to show Batman that violence and having teenage sidekicks were wrong.
Obviously, having Leslie kill Stephanie was one of the most out-of-character moments of all time, and a massive slap in the face to Stephanie fans. It was later retconned that Stephanie actually survived and traveled to Africa under a new identity. While dumb, this retcon returned a beloved character to the stage and fixed Leslie all but murdering a teenager, which is massively welcome.
6) Cassandra Cain Was Brainwashed
Cassandra Cain is the current main Batgirl and was the first to take up the mantle after Barbara Gordon was paralyzed. While nearly every member of the Bat-Family has staunch rules against taking lives under any circumstances, Cass’s dedication to that is stronger than anyone else’s, even possibly including Batman. Her famously strict rules against killing made her sudden heel turn to villainy and assassinhood all the more asinine. Robin’s “Wanted” storyline, part of the “One Year Later” headline, had Cass go from Batgirl to the leader of the League of Assassins, casually murdering and speaking without issue out of nowhere.
This change was a direct editorial mandate with zero rationale given, according to writer Adam Beechen. This was nearly immediately retconned as not Cass’s turn to villainy, but her being mind-controlled by Deathstroke. Cass’s time as a supervillain was swept under the rug as quickly as possible, and fans seemed all too eager to accept this explanation and forget the brief yet infinitely frustrating deviation.
5) Batman and Two-Face’s Friendship
Many of Batman’s iconic villains have had their entire backstories retconned over the years, and Two-Face is one of the most successful. Originally, the villain was a man named Harvey Kent and had no relation to the Dark Knight. However, the masterclass stories like “Year One” and “The Long Halloween” expanded Harvey’s career as DA before his heel-turn. He worked closely with Batman, the two becoming friends, with Bruce even considering sharing his true identity. This connection made Harvey’s fall to the dark side all the more painful and poignant, and adds an extra layer of emotional depth to all of his encounters with Batman. It’s not just a superhero and villain, it’s a man trying to save his former friend from himself.
4) Mister Freeze’s Origin
While Victor Fries is easily one of Batman’s most tragic villains, before Batman: The Animated Series reimagined him as a widower left cold by a seemingly uncaring world, he was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill, motivationless villain. He was originally called Mister Zero, a scientist who invented an ice gun. He carelessly dropped a tankard of his freezing solution, which altered his physiology to need to subsist in cold environments. This is a far less emotionally resonant origin than a man turning to crime to save or avenge his lost wife. While this retcon might have originated in the cartoon, it was very quickly adapted into the comics as well, and is universally accepted as Mister Freeze’s true origin.
3) Jason Todd’s New Origin
Everybody knows Jason Todd as the Robin who grew up in the slums and fought for everything he had. Jason meeting Batman after stealing the tires off the Batmobile perfectly set up their relationship and dynamic. It conveyed that Jason was a risk-taker who wasn’t afraid to go big, and showed how he could be a little punk. It perfectly captured the edge, resourcefulness, and tragedy of Jason’s character all in one fell swoop. However, this is actually Jason’s post-Crisis on Infinite Earths origin. His first origin is entirely forgotten about, and for very good reason.
Simply put, Jason’s origin is a carbon copy of Dick Grayson’s. He was a circus acrobat whose parents were murdered, and he was taken in by Batman after. His family was literally called the Flying Todds. I understand that DC was nervous about making a new character Robin, and so wanted to make him as similar to Dick as possible, but they didn’t even try to differentiate anything. The literal only differences are that Jason watched his parents die outside the circus and that he was blonde. Both of these things were blessedly changed to the superior version soon after.
2) Alfred Raising Bruce
Alfred wasn’t always the Waynes’ helpful butler. In fact, he didn’t first appear until Batman (1940) #16, where he forcibly hired himself as Bruce and Dick’s butler despite their pleas otherwise. He was originally a bumbling comic-relief character, the Watson to Batman’s Sherlock. Over time, however, he was reimagined as the Waynes’ longtime butler and the one to take Bruce in after his parents’ murder. This turned Alfred from a disposable joke to a foundational character. He shaped Batman’s very worldview, helping Bruce grow into the man he is today. Alfred is one of Batman’s most beloved characters, and that is in no small part due to this change.
1) Batman Not Killing
Batman has a very strong moral code that defines his character. Way, way back in his earliest appearances, Batman was a far more traditional pulp detective. While the number of people Batman killed during that time is greatly exaggerated, that genre was far more gruesome, so Batman naturally cared a lot less for the lives of his villains. When he made the transition to a true superhero as the genre boomed, he quickly threw aside these few murders to become a paragon of morality. In Batman (1940) #4, he directly tells Robin that they must never take a life. This was less than two years after his introduction, and thirteen years before the Comics Code Authority formed to control the comic book world.
This change to Batman’s character has shifted from a basic moral stance to a deep, nuanced part of his personality. Batman being such a dark, vengeful figure with such a deeply-held respect for life is what makes him who he is. It separates him from the Punishers and Midnighters of the world because deep down, Batman is a kind soul and does everything out of compassion. Batman’s struggles to uphold this sanctity of life are one of the most entertaining and uplifting parts of his stories, and as such, this stands as the greatest retcon of them all.
There we have seven of the best retcons that made Batman who he is, although there are plenty more where those came from. Some honorable mentions definitely include Barbara Gordon being Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, the Joker falling into the vat of acid, and Grant Morrison’s reintroduction of Zur-En-Arrh. Which Batman retcon is your favorite? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
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