Batman’s 7 Best Team Ups (That Aren’t Superman or Robin)

In the 86 year history of the Dark Knight, Batman has had a lot, and I mean a lot, of team ups. More often than not, they’re usually with Superman or one of the various Robins, and while those team ups are great, sometimes we need a bit of a change up from the World’s Finest and the Dynamic Duo. From a variety of characters in the DC universe to crossovers with other companies and IPs, the Dark Knight has done them all and today I want to go over some of the best ones that have ever happened in that time frame.

With that being said, not every crossover is going to make it to the list but these are just some of the best ones. With new stories being written every day there are bound to be more simple and even crazy ones in the future as well. With DC’s new Absolute Universe killing it in sales and fan reception I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a crossover between the two Batmen or a team up of the Justice League with the Absolute version of that same team once they’re introduced. Weirder things have happened, and that’s especially true with Batman as this list goes on.

1) Catwoman

Catwoman has been apart of Batman’s history for a long time and the two have had many team ups of the years, but I want to highlight the many team ups between the two during Tom King’s run on Batman. This run started off with the two having their feelings for each other in the forefront of the run with storylines such as “I am Suicide” and “Rooftops.” The love between the two characters was very evident, even culminating in Bruce Wayne officially proposing to Selina Kyle in issue #24 of the series.

Following the engagement Selina would often team up with Batman throughout King’s time on the book rather than any of the other members of the Bat-Family with a fresh new dynamic that hadn’t been there in a long time. With each passing arc and the wedding between the two coming up in issue #50, and what happened in the fallout of said issue. The two went on their own for a while until the came back into each others lives later on and continued to work together until the end of King’s tenure on Batman with issue #85.

Much can be said about King’s run and how he wrote the two but for a lot of people he finally gave a good number of the fans what they had wanted from two of DC’s best characters. As lengthy as his run was and while some of the stories were better than other their romance and team ups resulting from it was the beating heart of the run.

2) Green Lantern (Alan Scott)

In 2003 writer Ed Brubaker wrote in the pages of Detective Comics issues #784-786 a small crossover between Batman and the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott. For those that are unaware, Batman and Scott were both heroes active in Gotham City and it was later retconned that Alan was during the 1940’s when Bruce was a child. Despite all of that, “Made of Wood” is one of the best and most underrated stories between both characters. It explores an old serial killer leaving a calling card talking about Scott’s weakness to wood against his older-model lantern ring. After the killer seemingly comes out of retirement, Scott decides to help Batman solve one of his old cases.

From there the two find and stop the serial killer with the help of at the time former Commissioner Gordon. I won’t spoil the mystery for you all here as it is a very underrated story between two generations of Gotham’s heroes and is a fun quick read. I also believe DC should have more team ups between the two as they have a very interesting dynamic compared to the rest on this list. Despite being two heroes with virtually nothing in common they really do pair well together on top of being in the same backyard.

3) The Flash (Barry Allen)

Another recent crossover from King’s run, co-plotted by Joshua Williamson, is Batman and The Flash in “The Button”. It starts off relatively normal as Batman finds The Comedian’s button from Watchmen in the Batcave, he fidgets with the button as he tries to pinpoint its origin in some down time. What follows next is an attack from the Reverse-Flash who wants the button for unknown reasons and fights Batman for one minute for it. One minute doesn’t seem like much time, but it is long enough for Barry Allen’s The Flash to arrive and help him. After his arrival the Reverse-Flash seemingly dies in front of the two and it leads the heroes to begin investigating the death. With Barry’s experience as a forensic scientist and Batman’s as the World’s Greatest Detective, the team up offers a great mystery with plenty of action to keep you entertained.

While it may have been written as a tie-in for Geoff Johns’ Doomsday Clock, “The Button” remains a favorite and is arguably one of the more popular stories during DC’s Rebirth era. Even without the elements of Watchmen being thrown into the mix for a little extra mystery, the dynamic here between King’s Batman and Williamson’s Flash makes the story all the more iconic.

4) The Joker

As surprising as this entry may be, Batman and the Joker have been known to team up on very rare occasions. The moment I would like to highlight as brief as it is, occurs in the pages of Dark Nights: Metal issue #6. In the event, we as readers are introduced to the concept of the Dark Multiverse which spawns dark and disturbed version of classic DC superheroes with a lot of them being introduced as evil mashups of Batman with various different characters. The most notable one is The Batman Who Laughs (TBWL,) a fusion of Batman that was Jokerized in the Dark Multiverse and became one of the big bads of the event. With that description alone you’d think the Joker would be all over having a version of Batman that’s similar to him, but that was not the case.

Towards the climax of the story Batman and TBWL fight each other in the batcave and in a surprise turn of events The Joker shoots TBWL and sides with Batman instead. In the Joker’s mind, he wants an adversary like Batman to complete him, not to become him and with seeing what the Dark Multiverse has to offer, he aids Batman in taking down TBWL. With a list of already iconic moment from Dark Nights: Metal this almost tops the list as one of the most iconic moments from the event. It will always be remembered by the Joker claiming this never happened but we will remember.

5) Dream of the Endless

In an insane turn of events Batman actually teamed up with Dream from Vertigo’s The Sandman. While Batman may have cameoed in The Sandman a few times before, nothing was quite like seeing Dream of the Endless help Batman in stopping the Dark Multiverse from destroying existence. This was not only a very impressive moment for the event but also strongly implied that The Sandman can co-exist in the larger DC universe while also being tucked away in it’s own little corner. A lot can be said about the ramifications of this crossover and how both worlds tie into each other but it is still one of the most impressive ones to date.

While Dream’s role was rather small in the grand scheme of the event, it was fantastic to see Dream once again after all these years. Serving an somewhat Deus Ex Machina type of role, Dream’s inclusion didn’t feel forced and tacked on, it felt like it belonged with the rest of the event which remains one of the biggest to date. Especially with the scenery of Batman in The Dreaming and interacting with Dream’s library and librarian Lucien, it’s a sight to behold.

6) The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The ultimate crossover that somehow wasn’t from the 1990s is here with Batman and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. DC and IDW made the crossover of a lifetime with Batman and the TMNT. A now classic six-issue miniseries written by James Tynion IV, the story explores the turtles arriving in Gotham city after a battle with their villain Krang. After that it becomes a sightseeing adventure of Batman and his rogues gallery meeting the Turtles and their supporting cast as more of their characters hop over including, April O’Neil, Casey Jones, and the villainous Shredder. With Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl and Damian Wayne’s Robin added to the mix what more could you ask for?

This was the first of a trilogy of crossovers between Batman and TMNT as it was a hit for both companies as well as spawned a now iconic meme of Batman showing Raphael crime alley. The series continued on with more Batman villains joining in, as Ra’s al Ghul was co-antagonists with Shredder, Bane would take center stage, and it would come full circle with Krang. Lastly, with how popular it became it even landed an animated adaptation to reach a wider audience. Truly one of biggest and best crossovers in Batman’s history.

7) Elmer Fudd (Yes seriously)

To this day I’m still surprised about this one. In 2017, Batman teamed up with Looney Tunes’ very own Elmer Fudd but not the exact character from the cartoon. In Batman/Elmer Fudd Special, Elmer and the Looney Tunes characters are in a grounded world where all the animals are human and Elmer is a hitman for hire and makes his way to Gotham City. Following the supposed death of his and Batman’s former lover Silver St. Cloud, Fudd hunts down Bruce Wayne who supposedly put out a hit on Silver. From there Batman and Fudd cross paths and both go on a somber journey of self-reflection and heartache over Silver that leads them back to the beginning in Porky’s Bar to a man named Bugs “The Bunny.”

On paper this sounds like it wouldn’t work but was incredibly well-received and even became an Eisner nominee that year. Sometimes, the best teams ups are the ones you least expect and Batman is no exception. Sure he can team up with anybody else in his home universe but Elmer Fudd takes the cake for one of the best team ups with the Dark Knight.

Was there anyone else you wish we had covered in this list? Leave it down below in the comments and add who you think Batman should crossover with next.