#untold legend of Batman

[comicbookbrain]

Batgirl - Jim Aparo art

Untold Legend of Batman #3, Sept 1980, DC Comics

[freddyloyd]

like father like son lol

[nerds-yearbook]

The first issue of the 3 issue limited series The Untold Legend of the Batman was published with a cover date of July, 1980. The issue covered some of the key events of Batman's past: his father dressing as a Bat-Man at a costume party where he was abducted to perform medical aid to Lew Moxon, his parents murder by Joe Chill, Bruce Wayne fighting crime as Robin with the help of detective Harvey Harris, learning about law and justice at college from his professor Amos Rexford, the incident where a bat flew through the window inspiring him to become Batman, his early adventures with Dick Grayson as Robin, and the deaths of Joe Chill and Lew Moxon. ("In the Beginning", The Untold Legend of the Batman 1#, DC Comic, Event)

[cantsayidont]

April-May 1943. In the modern Batman comics and most modern Batman media, Bruce Wayne grew up with butler Alfred Pennyworth, who became his surrogate father, but originally, Alfred arrived well after Bruce was an adult. In his first appearance in BATMAN #16 (above), Alfred was a former English musical hall comedy actor whose father Jarvis had once been the Wayne butler. Arriving in America, Alfred essentially bluffs and browbeats Bruce into giving him a job. Before Bruce can send him away, Alfred, who fancies himself an amateur detective, accidentally stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave, just as Dick had feared. Later:

Alfred was probably loosely modeled on, and certainly inspired by, Arthur Treacher, an English actor who had been a music hall star before finding his niche in movies as the quintessential English butler, playing P.G. Wodehouse's immortal Jeeves and various other butler roles. In DETECTIVE COMICS #83, Alfred spends his vacation "at a health resort, cultivatin' a new figure," returning in his now-familiar skinny, mustached form, which was modeled on William Austin, the actor who played Alfred in the 1943 BATMAN serial.

In 1957, a story in BATMAN #110 presented a new version of how Alfred was originally hired:

Note that in this version, Alfred already has his more familiar appearance when he's first hired; the original version was later attributed to Earth-2. (As this story eventually reveals, "Noyes" is actually Bruce Wayne in disguise, testing if Alfred can be trusted.)

The 1980 miniseries THE UNTOLD LEGEND OF THE BATMAN, intended as the definitive Bronze Age account of Batman's origins, presents a hybrid version of these two stories, referencing Alfred's previous music hall career and Jarvis Pennyworth having previously worked for the Wayne family, but retaining the 1957 story's version of how Alfred learned his employers' secret. (I think that's too bad, as the original version with Alfred stumbling onto the secret by accident and then pretending to have deduced it is really very funny, but by 1980, Alfred was no longer being treated as comic relief.)

From whence the idea that Alfred raised Bruce? For that you may thank Frank Miller, as first seen in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS in 1986 and then incorporated into "Batman: Year One" in BATMAN #404–407.

In any case, when reading older appearances of Alfred, including his apparent demise in 1964 and his ludicrous resurrection in 1966, it bears keeping in mind that he's really just Bruce and Dick's employee, and is absolutely, unquestionably not getting paid enough.

[all-action-all-picture]

A 1980 ad for the three issue limited series The Untold Legend of the Batman. Written by Len Wein with John Byrne pencilling the first issue only. Jim Aparo pencilled No. 2 and 3 and inked all three.

[dickgraysonsptsd]

"dick became robin because he wanted to kill tony zucco!"

i saw a lot of posts to the effect of "robin dick wanted to kill! 😈 he was murderous! 🔪 he loved violence! 🩸 bruce made him robin so that he wouldn't run out and murder tony zucco!" when i first got into comics.

and because i'm autistic i read every dick grayson origin comic a few months ago to find which one shows dick wanting to kill his parents' killer. because people wouldn't keep saying this if there was no canon basis for it, right? people wouldn't do that. people wouldn't go on the internet and take a single panel from year three out of context. right?

results:

detective comics (1937) #38: dick wants to go to the police.

batman (1940) #32: dick wants to go to the police.

batman (1940) #213: dick wants to go to the police.

detective comics (1937) #484: dick says "i'll get them! i'll hunt them down!" batman and robin bring zucco to justice, as in previous comics.

batman (1940) #339: dick expresses no desire for violence.

the untold legend of the batman (1980) #2: dick wants to go to the police.

secret origins (1986) #13: dick wants to go to the police.

secret origins (1986) #50: dick expresses no desire for violence.

batman (1940) #436-437: moments after his parents die, dick says "i want him… he killed my parents! kill him for me. you've got to kill him. if batman doesn't find zucco--i will…" there's a two-month timelapse, after which dick no longer wants zucco dead. a major theme of this arc is that dick was not a violent child and wanted justice rather than vengeance; when it later appears that bruce has intentionally allowed someone to murder zucco, dick is shocked and horrified.

robin (1992) annual #4: dick actively tries to save the killer's life and is unhappy when he dies.

dark victory #11: zucco dies of a heart attack after bruce and dick chase him (neither of them are aware of his heart condition beforehand, and dick backs off when he realizes zucco isn't faking the heart attack). dick does not express a desire to kill zucco.

legends of the dark knight #100: dick expresses no desire for violence. bruce beats zucco's henchmen to unconsciousness and dick stops him from going any further. zucco later dies of illness and dick says "bad news. i didn't want him to die."

teen titans go! (2003) #47: dick expresses no desire for violence.

nightwing (2011) #0: dick wants justice and goes out "patrolling" in gotham (fighting random criminals), but never expresses a desire to kill zucco.

young justice (2011) #6: "together we found zucco and brought him to justice."

it's universal across dick's origins that he wants to go to the police (the line "i'm going to the police!" is specifically used in most of these) or pursue justice as robin by getting his parents' killer(s) arrested.

there are more robin origin stories where dick actively tries to save the killer's life or says outright that he doesn't want the killer to die than there are origin stories where he expresses any desire for violence against the killer.

there is no robin origin comic where dick became robin to kill someone or otherwise do violence, or where dick seriously wanted to kill anyone as a child.

[zahri-melitor]

The Candlelight Oath:

For reference I am collating every occasion I can think of that the candle oath comes up, particularly in terms of the wording of it. I know I'm skipping over some but I'm also restricted in terms of how many images I can have.

"-And swear that we two will fight together against crime and corruption and never to swerve from the path of righteousness!" "I swear it!"

(Detective Comics #38)

"Swear that you will fight against crime and corruption...and never swerve from the path of right!" "I swear it!"

(Batman #213)

"If you're to be my partner, you must swear you'll avenge their deaths by devoting your life to warring on all criminals!"

(Detective Comics #484)

"Swear that you will fight against crime and corruption -- and never swerve from the path of justice!" "I swear it!"

(Untold Legend of Batman #2)

"--I knew I wanted to be exactly like him: a sworn avenger in the cause of justice!"

(Secret Origins #13 1986)

"Batman and Robin." I made a promise to my parents that I would rid the city of the evil that took their lives. That remains unchanged. Only now...I am no longer alone.

(Batman: Dark Victory #13)

"Think, Bruce, you remember--'to fight against crime and corruption, and never swerve from the path of justice...?'"

(Batman: Gotham Knights #11)

"But then I took an oath. To carry on in my parents' memory and the legacy Batman had created. From that light I watched our world grow..."

(Dark Crisis #1)

"This is the beginning of a new life, son. Of service to others. Of helping." "I--I am...I vow to help...to make the world a better place. And I swear that I will fight against crime and corruption...and never swerve from--" "The path of righteousness."

(Batman #138 2016)

I love the words. I love the echoes and repeats and the patterns of what people use and where they focus their attention.

Also I die over Zdarsky's version actually, it's one of the best of all, especially as it has Dick saying the words himself, rather than swearing to affirm Bruce's words.

Some of the early ones are so very heavy with exposition: Detective Comics #484 is hilarious in terms of going"'your parents died! as did mine! Let's swear to fight crime to avenge their deaths!" Good job there, Bruce. That's the level of subtle also heavily noted in the time you asked Tim if you could adopt him and started with "your parents are dead. You have no one."

It's interesting in terms of its placement, because the oath almost always comes when Bruce first takes Dick back to the Cave as Batman, and reveals his identity. Before Robin. Before Dick begins training. During the hunt for Zucco.

But it's so important to both Bruce and Dick, and echoes for both of them. It's a password that they use. And Dick's memorised it, as if he's said it many times in remembrance of the first occasion.

[jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear]

Can I please have some comic recommendations for getting into batman (and yknow)

I'm mostly versed in Scarecrow, but here's a place to start

Origins

Riddle of the Human Scarecrow || World’s Finest #3 (first appearance)

Masters of Fear || Batman Annual 19 (New Earth Origin)

Scarecrow: Year One || (Year One Origin)

Untold Tales of Blackest Night (Yellow Lantern origin )

Cycle of Violence || Batman: The Dark Knight Vol 2 #10 - #15 (New52 Origin)

Batman ‘66 #28 (’66 Origin)

Great Stories

Batman TMNT Adventures #4 ‘To Laugh so not to Cry”

Detective Comics #571“Fear for $ale”

Shadow of the Bat #16-18 “The God of Fear”

Batman Detective Comics #835-836 “Absolute Terror”

Legends of the Dark Knight #9 “Dreaming He is a Butterfly”

Batman Legends of the Dark Knight “Fear of Faith”

Joker’s Asylum: Scarecrow “Dark Knight of the Scarecrow‘

Batman #523-524 “Dark Wings Fly Away in Fear"

Batman: Kings of Fear #1-#6

Batwoman Rebirth Issues #7-10

Current Comics

Knight Terrors: Nightwing

Batman 89 Echos

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #7

[farshootergotme]

I need to know what DC was thinking when they made a random bully a redhead kid named Wally.

The Untold Legend of the Batman #2

That's obviously not Wally West, aka. Kid Flash, but you can't put a kid same age as Dick named Wally who also happens to be a redhead and make him Dick's bully. That's literally Dick's best friend!

(conclusion: DC needs to be more creative with names)

[blackbatss]

The untold Legend of Batman #2

[celaenaeiln]

How did Gotham high society react to Bruce adopting Dick? Because I rmbr about the ask with his school mates liking him, and some even having a crush on him, and I wonder how the high society Gotham treated/reacted to Dick and him being adopted.

They really just loved him!

Untold Legend of Batman Issue #2

Dick of course hated it but Gotham loved him.

He was pretty, charming, and sweet. He knew how to play the game and fit in so they loved him.

Robin: Year One Issue #1

They weren't unaware of Dick's origins though

Batman and Robin Eternal Issue #6

They just didn't care. Not when it came to him. I can't remember who it was but I'm pretty sure someone said canonically that Dick's superpower is Glamour because his beauty's so beguiling/enticing. The power of attraction. So nope, Gotham Society didn't mind at all! They welcomed him with open arms.

[comicbookbrain]

Barbara Gordon - Batgirl and Batman - Untold Legend of Batman issue 3, Jim Aparo art

[zedreh]

Does anyone remember how Bruce Wayne at one point was the first Robin. It was from an old comic in the 50s where, when Bruce was still training, he learned to be a detective from a man named Harvey Harris, who taught him over the summer. Bruce had made the Robin costume because he felt Detective Harris wouldn't teach him if he knew who he was and why he wanted to learn from him. Post-crisis, Bruce being Robin didn't stick around, but him learning from Detective Harris did.

It was also acknowledged in The Untold Legend of The Batman from 1980

I get why it isn't canon anymore, as it kind of over complicates things and takes the title of the first Robin away from Dick, but I still think it's a pretty fun concept.

Also, it was also brought up again in The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries

Which need I say combining Batman, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, and obscure trivia; three of my favorite things is certainly a way to catch my interest.

[nerds-yearbook]

The last issue of the limited series The Untold Legend of the Batman 3# came out with a cover date of September 1980. It was the first appearance of Jack Edison, created by Len Wein and Jim Aparo. ("The Man Behind the Mask", "Secrets of the Batman", The Untold Legend of Batman 3#, DC Comic. Event)

[mydarlingbat]

The untold Legend of Batman #2

[omniversecomicsguide]

Read the untold tale of Batgirl and Robin’s first official team-up in issue 9 of Batman Chronicles. There are more plenty more post-Crisis/pre-Legends Bat stories to explore in our two-part BATMAN ORIGINS READING ORDER!

Featured art:

BATMAN CHRONICLES #9 (1997)

by Hugh Fleming