5 Things About Batman That have Aged Perfectly

Batman has been an iconic superhero for decades, and several key elements of his mythos have been just as enduring as the Dark Knight himself. The origin of Batman is one universally known to comic book and superhero fans of the young billionaire Bruce Wayne seeing his parents murdered before his eyes, and vowing to fight the crime rampant in the streets of Gotham City. After years of mental and physical training, the adult Bruce returns to Gotham City to lead a double life. By day, he is billionaire philanthropist and business magnate Bruce Wayne. By night, he cleans up the streets of Gotham as the city’s feared creature of the night, Batman.

As one of the core heroes of DC Comics, Batman’s mythos has cemented his eternal popularity both as a solo superhero, a leader of his own collection of crime-fighters in the Bat-Family, and as one of the founding members of the Justice League. Alongside Batman as a character, numerous supporting characters and aspects of Batman’s lore have been particularly long-lasting, as well. Here are 5 Batman elements that have aged as well as the Caped Crusader has.

1) Commissioner James Gordon

The Dark Knight’s closest ally on the Gotham City Police Department, Commissioner James Gordon, has been a staple of the Batman mythos since time immemorial. While the GCPD in general looks to Batman as often their greatest asset in fighting both supervillains and organized crime in Gotham, no officer has as close a connection the Bat as Gordon, a man who the Caped Crusader trusts with everything up to his secret identity, and who is always the man to light up the Bat-Signal. No version of Batman in comics, movies, or television doesn’t have his own Commissioner Gordon on his side, and after decades fighting crime side-by-side, the reasons for Batman’s deep trust of Gordon remain crystal clear.

2) The Bat-Signal

Alerting a superhero to an unfolding crisis takes many forms, and none have the kind of direct shorthand as Batman does in the Bat-Signal. Shone in the night sky of Gotham City, the Bat-Signal tells the Dark Knight and all of the Bat-Family that Gotham needs them, but it also serves a darker role, as well. As Bruce tells us in the narration of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, “When that light hits the sky, it’s not just a signal, it’s a warning”, and it is one that all of Gotham’s criminals know to heed well as a heads up that the Dark Knight will soon be near.

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3) Alfred Pennyworth

At the time of Batman’s creation in the late ’30s, the image of wealthy socialites like Bruce Wayne included the stereotype of a butler, a servant still well-associated with the wealthy in modern times. Without a doubt, there is no more universally known or beloved butler in either all of fiction or real-life than Bruce Wayne’s butler and Batman’s close confidante, Alfred Pennyworth. Presenting the image of a gentile British butler to all who enter Wayne Manor, Alfred is also one of Batman’s most trusted allies, providing him with crucial tech support and intel on his missions, often drawing from Alfred’s military background. Alfred’s closeness to Batman has even led to the fan theory that he is the real father of Bruce Wayne. True or not, the Bat-Family simply would not be complete with Alfred Pennyworth.

4) The Batcave

Many superheroes plan their missions from within the seclusion of a secret lair, and Batman’s is perhaps the most famous of all in the Batcave. True to its name, the Batcave is a literal cave of bats deep beneath Wayne Manor, but it also houses a high-tech base of operations for the Dark Knight and the Bat-Family. Complete with an arsenal of Bat gadgets and weapons, a highly advanced super computer, a garage and hangar where vehicles like the Batmobile and Batwing are kept, and even trophies from some of Batman’s most epic battles, the Batcave is more than just Batman’s secret lair, but the kind of command center most nerds would die for.

5) Batman’s Martial Arts Training

Most superheroes add to their powers with extensive martial arts training to battle villains, and as a fully human warrior, few superheroes can compare to the fighting skill of Batman. In the decades leading up to Bruce Wayne properly donning the cowl of Batman, he spent years traveling the world training and mastering a jaw-dropping quantity of martial arts disciplines from around the world. Upon his return to Gotham City as Batman, Bruce Wayne is a martial arts master virtually without compare in the DC Universe, combining literally dozens of martial arts forms into a highly effective fighting style against even the most formidable of villains, and at times even other heroes. Batman’s martial arts abilities are without a doubt one of his greatest assets, and an element of the Batman mythos that will forever be a staple of his legacy.