Batman has dedicated his life to crime-fighting in Gotham, inferring that he’s selfless and compassionate. However, he’s also egotistical and prone to isolation and a deeply complicated and traumatized person. With Batman, it’s hard to love him sometimes, because he’s such a jerk to the people who support him.
His five best moments are his most human moments, while his five worst moments are when he causes pain and tragedy through his actions. Even with the best intentions, Batman’s still got his issues.
14 BEST: No Man's Land
Batman: No Man’s Land is one of Batman’s best storylines, Gotham’s heroes and detectives banning together to keep the citizens of the abandoned city safe. Batman especially puts himself through hell to save his city. As Bruce Wayne, he leaves to Washington D.C. to lobby for the continued aide of an earthquake that destroyed Gotham. However, he is helpless as the U.S. government abandons the disenfranchised citizens, voting to burn the city’s bridges connecting to civilization.
With rare displays of humility and embarrassment as Bruce Wayne, Batman’s devotion to the forgotten people of Gotham makes this an incredible moment for him. Afterward, he returned to fight in Gotham with dwindling resources and help. When not even the Justice League would intervene, Batman stayed in what was “a lost cause”.
13 WORST: Discriminatory Towards Powerful Heroes (Including Starfire)
Although Batman is generally good, his stubbornness and closed-mindedness alienate most outside of his immediate circle of trust. Specifically, Bruce Wayne has an aversion to aliens or other powerful heroes. Just like his rocky beginnings with long-term friend Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne tends to be wary and even discriminatory towards extraterrestrials.
Emphasized in Geoff John's Teen Titans run, Tim Drake mentions that Batman never accepted Starfire as Dick Grayson’s partner. In the same vein, Nightwing and Starfire sometimes argued in New Teen Titans about her not abiding by a “no killing” code. Batman was threatened by Starfire’s abilities going unchecked, her powers reliant on her emotions rather than his cold logic.
Whether it's due to Batman’s paranoia or possessiveness over his wards, Batman’s distrust affects their personal relationships negatively.
12 BEST: Officially Adopting Dick Grayson
Bruce Wayne has taken on many wards, but the three he has officially adopted as his children and heirs are Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain. After every new form of Robin or Batgirl, Batman gets softer with age, having the strongest relationships with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain.
He and Dick Grayson have a rocky relationship, both having opposite ways of communicating, but in Gotham Knights #21, he made it official. The scene itself is an example of their dynamic, Batman showing his love through actions-having adoption papers made-and Dick verbally saying he loves him before signing.
11 WORST: Contingency Plans Gone Wrong
Even within Batman’s close friends and colleagues on the Justice League, his paranoia pushes him to make contingency plans to neutralize them. In both JLA: Tower of Babel and the adapted animated feature Justice League: Doom, Batman’s plans get stolen by villains. The Justice League members nearly die at the hands of Ra’s Al Ghul or the Legion of Doom.
Unfortunately, Tim Drake made the same contingency plans for the Teen Titans, and when caught felt guilty. Although Batman doesn’t mind being hated by teammates, he’s a bad influence on Robin when it comes to trust.
10 BEST: Loving And Mourning Damian Wayne
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s Batman & Robin delivered heartbreaking issues before and after Damian Wayne’s death in Batman, Incorporated #8. Before Damian’s death, the issues show the two became acquainted, Damian only having worked with Dick Grayson as Batman before. Eventually, through mishaps and lack of communication, Batman and Robin find a precarious balance, only for it to be ruined by tragedy.
After Damian’s death, Batman must experience grief instead of using crime-fighting as his escapism. It’s not the first time he’s lost a child, but his other wards and family each take up an issue to help him through it. Even Jason Todd makes an appearance!
Eventually, Damian is brought back, but Batman must go through a rare, healthy character arc of self-realization with help from his Bat-Family.
9 WORST: Stephanie Brown's Death
In Robin #126, while Stephanie Brown took over Tim Drake’s role as Robin. After firing Stephanie Brown for disobeying orders, she continues fighting crime as Spoiler. To impress and prove herself, Stephanie enacts one of Batman’s plans, only to be captured and tortured by Black Mask.
Much like Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown dies (later revealed as faked death) because of a lack of communication and understanding from Batman. Stephanie and Jason also lacked healthy childhoods or father figures, making it apparent that Batman lacks the emotional depth to help them.
8 BEST: Compassion For Ace
Batman is mostly depicted as a loner type, isolating himself from even his Bat-Family. However, one of his best moments was on the Justice League Unlimited animated series, when he fights the Royal Flush Gang. Their powerhouse, Ace, is a young girl who is dying from a brain tumor.
It’s revealed that her powers are killing her, from invested people using her for their benefit. In a moment of compassion, Batman takes her hand and waits for her to die, dissolving the warped realities that caused her terminal illness.
7 WORST: Not Trusting Jason Todd
Batman’s known for having a strict “no killing” code and is often criticized for having a black-and-white perspective on crime. One of his greatest critics is Jason Todd, even before the sidekick’s death. The catalyst to their riff starts in Batman Vol 1 #424 when Batman finds Robin on a balcony as Felipe Garzonas falls to his death. Garzonas was pimp who murdered Gloria Stanson, a sexual assault victim Jason had befriended.
Batman asks Jason if he pushed Garzonas over on purpose, but Jason never answers. Because of this, Batman distrusts Jason, and Jason resents him for it, then starts secretly searching for his mother. Batman’s lack of communication and understanding eventually leads to Jason’s downfall in Death In The Family.
6
5 BEST: Family Movie Night
As rare as it is for Batman to acknowledge he’s not alone, it’s even rarer to see him in a domestic scene with his Bat-Family. In Batman and Robin #20, Alfred, Dick, Tim, and Damian make smoothies and popcorn to watch "The Mark of Zorro" with him.
Batman watched this same movie the night his parents were murdered, so gathering his family for a movie night seems like closure. No baddies interrupted the quality time either! Batman may not always be the best father figure, but when he gets it right, those are his best moments.
4
3
2
1 WORST: Not So All-Star Batman
On paper, a Frank Miller and Jim Lee team up sounds amazing, but when the product is All Star Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder, it’s definitely too good to be true. Batman’s ego goes unchecked, his justifications driven by hyper-masculinity and narcissism. The entire run is a bad moment for Batman, but the first issue sets the tone.
Kidnapping Dick Grayson from the circus after having watched his parents die, the young boy asks who Batman is, to which he responds, “Who the hell do you think I am? I’m the goddamn Batman.” Along with similar superficial quotes, Batman runs over police, insults everyone he meets, abuses Alfred Pennyworth, and forces Dick Grayson to eat rats.
Batman, in all versions, is not a perfect person, nor a great father, but his All-Star persona takes the cake as his worst self.