I never tried to teach you detection. You already got the mind for it. But when you let your emotions take control, you just go blind. I dont know where youre headed from here, Bruce. But wherever it is, remember...You gotta control that anger. When you get that into your head really know it then ol Harvey will have done right by you Harvey Harris
In many respects, Harvey Harris was Batmans first mentor. In any case, hes the oldest character on this list, first appearing all the way back in Detective Comics 226 from December1955. In this silly story, written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Dick Sprang, Dick Grayson learns that, as a child, Bruce Wayne had dressed as Robin in order to become the apprentice of master detective Harvey Harris. However, unlike many characters on this list, Harris didnt just appear once. He also shows up in the 1980 Pre-Crisis origin story The Untold Legend of The Batman and he also either appears in, or is mentioned in, several other stories besides that. It seems that Harvey Harris is destined to always be an important part of The Dark Knights formative years, one way or another. Probably the best Harvey Harris story yet written is the one that appeared in Detective Comics Annual 2, from 1989. Here, Harris was deftly woven into DCs Post-Crisis continuity by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn and Val Semeiks. The story Blood Secrets deals with racism in the Deep South and also features Batman at his most vengeful. It all began when a 17-year-old Bruce Wayne (on the apparent recommendation of Chu Chin Li, no less) decided to track down the famed detective Harvey Harris. The pair met in Huntsville, Alabama and began to investigate a series of gruesome slayings. The investigation eventually resulted in Harris tragic death (which is a genuinely moving scene) and in a feisty young Bruce Wayne growing up an awful lot over the space of a few short pages. As opposed to the granite-jawed, Slam Bradley type gumshoe of the 1950s, the Post-Crisis Harvey Harris was a wizened (and significantly older) Southern gentleman. He was full of homespun sayings and pithy quips, but, if the situation called for it, he was also an accomplished martial artist (even if he preferred to avoid a fight rather than rush headlong into one). In the hands of Waid and Augustyn, he was a joy to read and it was impossible not to like him. ...So there you have it, ten of The Batmans weirdest, craziest, but also greatest mentors. Ten unique characters that (retroactively, at least) helped a young, determined Bruce Wayne blossom into the famed nocturnal crimefighter of Gotham City. Of course, there are other mentors still that arent mentioned on this list, I hope youll have as much fun as I did trying to track them all down and read about them in Batmans various adventures.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
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I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
