Batman: 80 Greatest Ever Moments
50. Dick Grayson's New Origin - Dark Victory
Dark Victory might not be as great as The Long Halloween, but it was another solid reimagining of Batman's early years. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale sealed a legendary partnership and did so by re-telling the story of how Dick Grayson became Robin, providing a much needed modern uplift in doing so.
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49. The Debut Of Matches Malone - Batman #242
Matches Malone is the Dark Knight's go-to alter-ego whenever he wants to infiltrate the criminal underworld to gather info, and given the identity has become so essential, it should come as no surprise to hear that Dennis O'Neil was behind the figure's creation.
Introduced in Batman #242 in the midst of Batman's conflict with Ra's al Ghul, Matches was a petty criminal who accidentally killed himself while fleeing from the vigilante. Wishing to recruit more criminals to defend Gotham against al Ghul's cabal, Bruce goes undercover as Malone so as to not raise suspicion.
He would don the identity on countless occasions thereafter, with Matches become an essential element of the character's war against crime - although not quite how he'd initially planned.
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