Warning: Spoilers for Batman & Robin: Year One #1!From the brilliant minds of Mark Waid and Chris Smanee,Batmanand Robin’s new story from their early days solves at least one famous debate among fans. At the very beginning of his career, Batman finally answers one essential question: which is the real mask, Bruce Wayne or Batman?
Waid has been puttingBatmanthrough the ringer in the titles ofBatman/Superman: World’s FinestandAbsolute Power, both with superstar artist Dan Mora. The former falls into the same style of nostalgic stories of Batman and Robin during their first years, but inBatman & Robin: Year One#1by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Mat Lopes, and Clayton Cowles, Batman shows Robin his true secret identity.
In the Batmobile for the first time, Robin receives a lecture from his mentor Batman that when he puts on the mask, he drops all pretense. Finally, after years of hinting, DC has revealed thatBatman is truly himself when he puts on the mask.In fact, it’s answered in such a way that it feels like it’s never even been a question.
Who Wears the Mask: Bruce Wayne or Batman?
Batman Debuted First, but Bruce Wayne Endured the Tragedy
Undoubtedly,Batman came before Bruce Wayne. Debuting in 1939’sDetective Comics#27, Batman was born into the sensational pulp comics of the time that were all about vigilantes fighting criminals and mob bosses. Like Zorro, who Batman was a rendition of,the person behind the mask didn’t matter, only the symbol of the mask itself,and the psychological aspect didn’t play into the comics at all. These heroes needed no secret identity, and Batman was fully Batman. It was only later that the lore began to develop and the man behind the mask became just as interesting.
Batman was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, who took their character - and his sidekick, Robin - fromDetective Comicsinto his very firstBatmansolo title in 1940!
However,it could be argued that Bruce Wayne came first, outside of the publication where Batman first appeared and in the actual DC Universe. Bruce Wayne, every comic fan knows, is a billionaire playboy and philanthropist, and it could be argued that it was him, maskless in the alley where his parents were murdered and where he developed hisfamous no-kill rule,who existed long before Batman. Batman, then, under that light, becomes the dark persona, or alter ego, of Bruce Wayne. But through the years, DC has slowly been hinting that “Bruce” has been solely Batman all along, making Bruce Wayne the true mask.
Batman Becomes the Dark Knight Full-Time
Bruce Wayne Gets Discarded inBatman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer?
In 2002’sBatman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer?crossover story, Bruce Wayne is found with the dead body of his girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild. He’s arrested for murder, and the Bat-Family tries to prove his innocence, only to discover more and more incriminating evidence. In this story arc spanning multiple titles, Batman first drops his alter ego of Bruce Wayne to become entirely DC’s hardcore hero,Batman. Weighed down by the possibility of jail time, he realizes thatnothing will stop him from being Batman, heavily hinting that the mask is who he is, making “Bruce Wayne” dead weight.
Batman lives on, but if Batman is taken out of the equation, Bruce Wayne dies too.
What this strained dichotomy reveals is thatwhen Bruce Wayne is taken out of the equation, Batman lives on, but if Batman is taken out of the equation, Bruce Wayne dies too. One can live without the other, meaning that one is only a costume worn, and the other is his skin.This is echoed inBatman & Robin: Year One;Batman says that when he puts on the mask, he drops all pretense. Bruce Wayne is a part he plays, and when Bruce Wayne dies, he can be fully who he is and who he became in that long ago alleyway.
Batman Tells the Truth of His Secret Identity
The Lasso of Truth Reveals How Batman Sees Himself
In an even more heavy-handed and more truthful moment,Batman had a perfect reaction to the Lasso of Truth. In “And Then There Were Three,” from 2017’sWonder Woman Annual#1 by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Jodi Wynne, Wonder Woman’s first appearance gets a retelling, and the Trinity is newly established. Diana holds out the Lasso of Truth, and when each of them touch it, they decide to reveal their secret identities so that no one can lie -and Batman doesn’t call himself Bruce Wayne.
For a fresh new take on both Batman and Bruce Wayne - including an updated origin for 2024 - check outAbsolute Batman#1 by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles, available now from DC Comics.
It’s almost a joking moment, more for comedic effect, anda moment that came a few years beforehis “I’m Batman” catchphrasebecame an answer to every question and started to become its own sort of joke. And yet, technically, it’s true:Batman is holding onto the Lasso of Truth, and while everyone else says their alter ego, he says who he really is: Batman. But in Waid and Samnee’s new story, he doesn’t need any truth magic to tell fans just who he really is.
Batman Settles the Debate about His Secret Identity Once and For All
Batman Is the True Self, and Bruce Wayne Is the Mask
It only makes sense for Batman to have such a mystery around him, since he’s the World’s Greatest Detective. It’s almost a ploy the way he puts it inBatman & Robin: Year One#1,when he says, “Let your true self be your disguise.” The villains of Gotham think that if they get behind the mask of Batman, they will figure out who he really is, but the secret to the mystery of the Dark Knight is right under everyone’s noses. Batman isn’t wearing a mask at all -his true self is his disguise.Batman has been Batmanfrom the very beginning, and this is his ultimate form.
DC Reveals The 3 Words That Changed Batman Forever
Batman is a character who often has to overcome impossible odds and throw himself into danger,and DC just revealed where he finds the bravery for this
It wasn’t just Bruce Wayne’s parents who died in that alleyway, but Bruce Wayne too. Batman was born then, though it would take him many years to find a way to bring his true self to the light. His whole life as a billionaire has been one large front, just a mask to play, not so that no one realizes Bruce Wayne is Batman, but so that they don’t find out that Batman is Bruce Wayne. The debate, practically solved since his conception as a character, has now once and for all been settled:Batmanis the true identity, and Bruce Wayne is the mask.
Batman & Robin: Year One#1is available now from DC Comics!
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
