Batman: 80 Greatest Ever Moments
44. "You're Thomas Wayne!" - Flashpoint
Flashpoint may have given way to DC's divisive New 52 reboot, but it did bring with it a unique new take on Batman. The basic premise revolves around Flash Barry Allen finding himself in a completely warped version of Earth, where Wonder Woman and Aquaman are warring tyrants, and Batman is a gun-toting vigilante who patrols a Vegas-style Gotham.
Most alternate-Earth stories tend to operate by a set of rules, and one of them tends to be that, even if a character is drastically different from their mainstream counterpart, they're still a version of that specific character. Naturally this led many to assume that this Batman was Bruce, so when Allen entered the Batcave and discovered that this was in fact Thomas Wayne, and that Bruce had been killed in Crime Alley as an eight-year-old, it came as quite the shock.
Flashpoint also includes the heartbreaking letter Thomas sends to his son in a different timeline, which is worth the price of admission alone.
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43. Jason Todd's Demise - A Death In The Family
Jason Todd is probably the most disliked Robin in Batman history, but the narrative surrounding his death isn't as clear cut as some have been led to believe.
The old story goes that Todd, still disliked by DC's readership even after his post-Crisis rebrand, was nearing the exit door. DC thus devised a strategy whereby the character would be put in a perilous situation with the Joker, and it would be up to their readers to decide whether he lived or died.
Fans called one number to vote for him to live, and another to kill the Boy Wonder off for good/a little under two decades. Only, the margin between results was actually very narrow. More votes were counted for Jason perishing in the blast however, and despite allegations of calling machines gaming the system, Todd was the first Robin to die in the line of duty.
The image of Batman holding his dead ward in his arms is still one of the most affecting in the character's history.
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