He may have lived to reach the grand old age of 75, but even Bruce Wayne knows that he won't live forever. He even realises that he can't quite do his job properly at the height of his powers, briefly franchising out his superhero identity to vigilantes around the world in the Batman Incorporated storyline. Before we got there, however, there have been a handful of storylines involving who will take up the cowl when he finally does shuffle off of his mortal coil. There was a whole storyline called Battle For The Cowl, in fact, where various factions fought to take control of his title, and it's pretty telling that the majority of those seeking to take his place (when Bruce Wayne was missing, presumed dead, actually sent back in time to the prehistoric era) were former Robins. In the end it was Dick Grayson, his original sidekick that became the new Batman. He didn't do half bad, either, bringing his natural grace and fluidity in combat, detective training from his mentor and his own much more sunny attitude to the role. Tim Drake actually did a pretty good job - under the circumstances - during the Sins Of Youth storyline, too, and although he's keen we're not sure how well Jason Todd would do if he ever took over as the Caped Crusader. One of the possible futures we saw for Gotham City in the comic books was that Damian Wayne may one take over the Bat-Mantle, as seen in a flashforward storyline around the time of that cowl battle thing. In what we can probably accurately describe as a dystopia, the future of Gotham City doesn't seem all that better than the present. Just bigger and shinier. We're not sure if this is canon, what with Damian currently being deceased and all (plus the introduction of Terry McGinnis, the Batman Of The Future from the animated series, into the DC comic book continuity), but this part of Grant Morrison's epic Dark Knight run seems to provide conclusive proof this Robin will one day become Batman. Except now he's dead, Dick Grayson is off being a spy and nobody knows he's alive, Jason Todd is a lunatic, Tim Drake has become Teen Titan Red Robin and seems to have a lower opinion of his mentor recently, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl...despite all the evidence to the contrary, and these examples of times his sidekicks did replace him, recently it seems like DC are insisting Bruce Wayne will remain the one, true Batman forever more. Even when he's farting around with a zimmer frame.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
