Batman: 80 Greatest Ever Moments

52. The Dawn Of The Supervillains - Batman And The Monster Men

Batman and the Monster Men
DC Comics

One of the most fascinating periods in Batman's history is that period just before he encounters the first ever supervillains. His early adventures involve him taking on the mob and rooting out police corruption, but the transition from fighting the likes of the Falcone and Maroni crime families to going toe to toe with Joker and Mr Freeze isn't always well delineated.

Matt Wagner's Batman and the Monster Men aimed to change that, and it succeeded. The comic showcases an early-in-his-career Batman as he battles the eponymous villains, several years before he'd face the Clown Prince of Crime in The Man Who Laughs. A must-read for the discerning Bat-fanatic.

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51. Grinding The Terminator To A Halt - Deathstroke Vs Batman

Deathstroke vs Batman Batcave
DC Comics

Christopher Priest's stint on Deathstroke ended up being one of the best surprises to come out of DC Rebirth, and though it was by no means finished by the time the Terminator fought Batman in the appropriately titled Deathstroke Vs Batman, it could've still served as a spectacular finale.

Coming to blows over the custody of Damian Wayne, who Slade was led to believe was actually his own child, the pair trade a massive punch that ends up flooring them in an instant. Deathstroke reiterates a desire to keep going, but the two compromise and realise that would serve no point.

Still, even though the answer to "who's the better fighter" is still up in the air, the fact Bats was able to hold Slade off for so long is a testament to his ability.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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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.

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I like my comics like I like my coffee - in huge, unquestionably unhealthy doses.