Another creation during the Grant Morrison run on JLA was Prometheus, a brand-new villain whose whole origin story was like a dark mirror version of Bruce Waynes. As a young child he saw his two hippie dissident parents killed by the police, and thus dedicated his life to annihilating the forces of justice. And his hair goes white from the trauma. Initially attempting to join the JLA under the codename Retro, Prometheus has all the same globetrotting training as Batmans origin story, with the added benefit of having access to a pocket dimension limbo and a helmet that lets him download any information into his brain. Like they do in The Matrix, I know kung fu and all that. Which means that, having bested most of the rest of the JLA with various gadgets and gizmos, he manages to take down Batman in hand-to-hand contact because hes analysed and downloaded the Dark Knights fighting style, countering all his best moves. He wins, but Batman wins their second fight because...the story needed to end, or something.
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/
