With over 80 years of stories across tens of thousands of comics, there are more Batman books than any one person could ever read in a lifetime. And with so many stories over so much time and mixed in between multiple reboots and retellings, parts of the Dark Knight's history contradict each other, creating inconsistencies in the overall logic of the character's mythology.
These things don't take away what makes Batman so iconic. In reality, many of these inconsistencies help build on why the Caped Crusader is so great. But they do exist, and they are fun to think about as a thought exercise. There are no true or real answers to these logical fallacies, but that's part of the fun of comics; we know these things exist, but we accept them as part of the overall story.
10 How Old Is Batman?
An inconsistency that continues to grow every few years is Batman's age. In theory, Gotham's protector is in his mid-30s, but the timeline of his life makes that hard to believe. With all the adventures Batman has been on – and with many of them taking place on specific dates or holidays – the character would have to solve multiple major cases every Christmas for this to work. Add in that his sidekicks keep aging, and it becomes more confusing. Dick Grayson has gone from a pre-teen Robin to a grown-up Nightwing pushing 30 all while Batman has barely aged a day.
9 How Long Has Batman Been Batman?
Part of the issue with Batman's age sits in how long he has been Batman. In general, DC tries to keep the careers of their heroes set in a period of roughly 10 years, meaning that whatever Batman is doing today, around 10 years ago was when he first put on the cowl.
But again, Batman's sidekicks cause a problem with this. Dick Grayson started his career as Batman's sidekick when he was a pre-teen and is now in his 20s. Tim Drake, the third Robin, started his sidekick career when he was 13. At the start of the Rebirth Era, Tim has his own apartment and is getting ready to go to college, which means he's aged at least 5 years. Batman has to have been doing this for far more than a decade at this point.
8 How Old Is Damian Wayne?
If DC wants to keep Batman's career at roughly ten years, there's one very big issue with that; Damian Wayne. The current Robin, Damian is Batman's biological son and his mother is Talia al Ghul. Batman and Talia met well into Batman's crimefighting career, which would mean that Damian would have to be under 10-years-old, but in the comics, he is now 14. How can Damian be 14 if his parents met less than a decade ago? Was he artificially aged up like Conner Kent? As far as readers know, Damian aged at a normal pace before the New 52, so there is no logical explanation for this.
7 How Do The Robins Fit In?
Sticking with the Robins, there is a question of how much time Batman spends with each of his sidekicks. Dick Grayson, the first Robin, started when he was quite young and quit when he was in college. Next came Jason Todd, who didn't last long, but wore the yellow and red for a few years. After that, Tim Drake took over as Robin for a number of years before being replaced for a short time by Stephanie Brown. Then Damian came around. Batman is looking at twenty-plus years of having sidekicks, but most aren't even 20 yet.
6 How Did Jason Todd Come Back?
Jason Todd, the second Robin, was famously killed by the Joker in the classic story "A Death of the Family" by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. Nearly 20 years later, Jason returned as Red Hood and the explanation for his resurrection was that Superboy-Prime punched the wall of reality and brought him back to life.
But why? Why was Jason Todd the only person brought back to life by Superboy-Prime's punch? And how does someone punch reality? While Jason's change from Robin to Red Hood has become something readers like, the way he came back still doesn't make sense.
5 Is Batman A Cop Or A Vigilante?
Sometimes, Batman works alongside the Gotham Police Department. They shine his symbol in the night sky and the Dark Knight shows up ready to help. Sometimes, the leaders of Gotham claim that Batman is an illegal vigilante who works outside the law and causes more problems than he solves. It all seems to depend on the mood of the day.
Making matters more confusing is when Batman is considered a criminal by Gotham's representatives while running around with the Justice League and hanging out with Superman. How can Batman be both a part of Batman's policing plans and also be a wanted criminal?
4 How Could Batman Not Know About The Court Of Owls?
Batman sells himself as "The World's Greatest Detective." With a title like that, having a secret organization controlling Gotham the entire time he's been around is a really big red mark on Batman's resume. Somehow, Batman never caught on to the Court of Owls as they not only controlled all of Gotham but as they had direct impacts on his life. Batman is famous for his paranoid instinct – this is a man who has come up with ways to stop every superhero – and that makes it hard to swallow him not noticing a clandestine organization in his hometown working behind the scenes for decades.
3 Which Origin Is Batman's Origin?
Batman's origin has been told and retold time and time again, and while some pieces may change over time, one thing that has always stayed is how Bruce Wayne chose to take on the mantle of Batman after a bat flew through his window. From the earliest tellings of Batman's story to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Zero Year, this moment has played a pivotal role.
But Zero Year added a whole new layer to the start of Batman's career – one that doesn't fit with the previous versions, including the iconic Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. Both stories are part of Batman's canonical past, but they don't line up, something Tom King played with but didn't answer during his Batman run.
2 How High Tech Is Batman?
Unlike the other members of the Justice League, Batman doesn't have any superpowers. A man who has trained himself to be the height of human physicality and mind, Batman relies on a lot of gadgets to do his job. Just how high-tech those gadgets are seems to change from day to day.
While the Dark Knight may have a way to talk to Superman across the galaxy in an issue of Justice League, in Doomsday Clock he has to wait for communications to reach Mars. Batman's technology is dependent on what will best add to the drama – which is good storytelling but causes some inconsistencies in the mythology.
1 Batman Knew Who Joker Was?
In 2016's Justice League #50, it is revealed that when Batman sat on the Mobius Chair and asked for the real name of the Joker, the all-knowing chair revealed that there are actually three Jokers. In 2020, Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok released Three Jokers, a three-issue story that would, in theory, explain it all.
What was revealed was that Batman has always known the Joker's true identity. This is confusing since he appeared to be shocked to learn that there were three Jokers and that Joker's identity has consistently been shown as "Unknown" whenever it is brought up on the Bat-computer in the Batcave. To say nothing of Batman's previous clashes with the Joker.