10 Comic Book Villains Humiliated By Batman

5. The White Martians - JLA

White Martians Batman
DC Comics

Grant Morrison's stint on Justice League in the early noughties was something special. Their JLA comic gave the team an iconic lineup and went on to inspire the opening arc of the Justice League cartoon when it premiered in 2001.

As was the case in the animated series, the world falls under attack from the villainous White Martians and it's up to the Justice League to stop them. Also like the cartoon show, the decisive blow is first dealt by Batman, who is so badly underestimated by the White Martians because he lacks the superpowers of his fellow teammates.

The White Martians manage to capture all of the Justice League and assume that Batman was killed when they shot down the Batwing. However, the Dark Knight had survived the wreckage, and deduced that they were just as susceptible to fire as Martian Manhunter, due to the fact they didn't come near his burning plane.

Bats swoops in, sets everything on fire like a pointy-eared Hank Scorpio, and saves his teammates. Another lesson in why you should never underestimate him.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.