Batman: 80 Greatest Ever Moments

16. "Penny For A Book Of Matches" - DC: The New Frontier

DC The New Frontier Batman
DC Comics/Darwyn Cooke

The late, great Darwyn Cooke was incomparably brilliant, and no book exemplifies this more so than DC: The New Frontier.

Marshalling the history of the DC universe within the context of the 'long' 1960s, the Cold War and JFK's eponymous speech, Cooke managed to capture the essence of DC's characters and did it all by having them react to the contemporary politics of sixties-era America. He laid out a genius explanation as to why Batman embarked on a rebrand during the Silver Age, and included this particular exchange between the character and a recently-arrived Martian Manhunter that could potentially rank among the Dark Knight's scariest.

J'onn J'onnz believes his true identity is safe, but Batman crashes his apartment and issues a warning that exemplifies just how ruthless he can be.

"I've been watching you, mister Jones. I know all about you. Except where you come from. My instincts tell me you're to be trusted, but make no mistake-- it took a seventy-thousand dollar sliver of meteor to stop the one in Metropolis. For you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches."

And people say Batman couldn't mingle with the Justice League. Pfft.

[EP]

15. “There Were These Two Guys At A Lunatic Asylum” - The Killing Joke

The Killing Joke Final
DC Comics/Brian Bolland

The Killing Joke has fostered a somewhat controversial reputation amongst comics readers, but there's no denying it was a seminal moment in Batman's history. Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's comic dedicated itself to exploring the never-ending duel between the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime, and the moment it comes to a close in the last few pages is the stuff of legend.

Chasing the Joker through his theme park of horrors, Batman comes face to face with his adversary and the two share a brief moment together. Bruce begs him to stop, but Joker knows that he can't. Instead, he cracks a wry joke about two patients at an asylum, and it manages to get a rare laugh out of Batman.

Depending on your interpretation, either Batman takes him back to the police to start the cycle all over again, or this is the moment where he puts his arch nemesis out of his misery. Whatever the result, the light fades, the laughter stops, and the comic remains one of DC's darkest.

[EP]

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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.