31. The Bat-Canon of Characters
Let me list a few: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Jean-Paul Valley, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul and Barbara Gordon. This list is by no means exhaustive, but Im trying to keep my word count down. Batmans world is host to such an abundance of rich, satisfying characters that its little surprise that so many different lines have popped up on the shelves relating back to the Dark Knight himself (Nightwing, Catwoman, Azrael, Batwoman and Batgirl, again the list goes on).
32. The Joker
Ill go on to discuss the rogues gallery in a moment, but I felt this guy deserved his own mention. The Joker is my favourite villain of all time, out of a shortlist of three (along with Magneto and Lex Luthor). Hes just such a perfect binary opposite of Batman in almost every way. Bruce Wayne needs to bring order to the chaos that claimed his parents; thats his obsession, thats the Batman. The Joker is that very chaos boiled down into one single, grinning psychopath.
Theres a powerful poeticism to the Joker/Batman saga, considering the fact that the Clown Prince of Crime appeared in Batmans first ever dedicated issue back in 1940 and has wreaked havoc on his beloved city ever since. Its almost as though one could not exist without the other.
33. The Rogues Gallery
Comic book lines have a habit of going silly, especially in the villain department. Its understandable really, when lines stretch into their twentieth and thirtieth year and theres been a constant stream of villains, usually each a little more convoluted than the last. Batman hasnt been completely immune to this phenomenon (Gentleman Ghost, anyone?) but those villains that remain today are of prime quality.
Let me list but a few: The Joker, Two-Face, Hush, Professor Pyg, Killer Croc, Szasz and Ras al Ghul. Its one of the best rogues gallery around in my opinion (for me, rivalled only by that of Kirkmans Invincible universe), and one of the only list of antagonists that manages to consistently toe the line between dark and playful without ever becoming prosaic.
34. History
There are a few comic lines that have had long, illustrious runs dating back many, many years, but Batman has the accolade of being the worlds longest running continuous superhero publication of all time (continuing to print even in the face of waning interest brought on by 1954's villainous Comic Book Code). Detective Comics first issue ran in 1937, the Dark Knight himself featured amongst its pages in 1939, before securing his own dedicated line in 1940 due to unprecedented popularity.
And the rest, as they say, is history. His original origin (in Batman #1) was one page long, designed to get us to the present day ass-whoopin as quickly as possible. But today there have been so many stories told, so many meanings made and so much exposition and elaboration that its possible to know Batman as well as one might know a close relative.
35. Gotham City
Its as synonymous with crime as Hollywood is for movies and its not even a real place. Say the name of Batmans beloved but treacherous city anywhere in the world and youll conjure an instant picture in the mind of the listener. Posed as a caricaturized version of the worst parts of New York, its probably the most well established fictional Superhero city out there, arguably even more so than Supermans Metropolis.
