The story of DC’s new Absolute Batman is asking the world who Bruce Wayne would become without his money, but believe it or not, Stan Lee asked the same question when he created his own version of Batman in 2001. But where the Absolute Batman is comfortable slicing off limbs, Stan Lee’s Batman is comfortable with outright killing, directly challenging the importance of Bruce Wayne’s ‘no-kill’ policy.
Stan Lee’s Batman is Created To Avenge His Father’s Murder
Rewriting The Origin of Spider-Man, This Hero Actually Gets His Revenge
We’ve previously explained how Stan Lee’s version of Superman was more controversial than fans would ever expect, or want, but Lee’s re-imagning of Batman has more source material to turn to. For starters, the actual costume adopted by Lee’s Batman to inhabit the role is much, much closer to Bob Kane’s original concept of the hero. But for as outlandish as the zoologically-accurate Bat costume may be, the tale of revenge which drives our hero is far more ‘street level.’
The protagonist of Just Imagine Stan Lee with Joe Kubert – Creating Batman is Wayne Williams, an African American living a far more common life for a city like Gotham than Bruce Wayne could ever dream of. After his policeman father is killed on the job by the criminal Handz Horgum, Wayne is also framed for a crime to get him out of the mobster’s hair. Devoting his prison sentence to training for revenge, Wayne wastes no time in getting it once freed.
To be honest, the story of Stan Lee’s Batman is eerily similar to that of his Spider-Man; Wayne becomes a wrestler to make money, and seeks out his guardian’s killer for vengeance, mirroring Peter Parker’s own journey. But where Peter would stop before succumbing to his desire for revenge, Wayne hardly even masks it. Working his way up to the crime boss’s penthouse, Wayne goads Handz into a fistfight, before heading to the balcony and outsmarting Handz, “laying down” to launch the gangster to his death.
Stan Lee’s Batman is More of A Killer Than Any ‘Heroic’ Version
The Darkest Batmen Have To Become Villains To Match ‘Wayne Williams’
There is truly no argument to make that Wayne Williams ‘accidentally’ or ‘inadvertently’ led to the death of Handz Horgum. But despite that, the murderous element is often ommitted from descriptions of Stan Lee’s re-imagining fo who and what Batman would be as a superhero. Perhaps because it is uncomfortable, or inconvenient, for a legendary comic creator to show no devotion whatsoever to Batman’s supposedly crucial no-kill policy.
In fact, most variations or similar reinventions of Batman could only recreate Wayne Williams’ decision to kill by becoming a villain, or cautionary tale of ‘what kind of monster Bruce Wayne could become.’ But certainly not in his first major mission, on his path to remaining a heroic vigilante. Does Stan Lee injecting murder into the Batman archetype change your view on the ironclad rule? Or is it best to accept Lee did his greatest work for Marvel, after all?
- Birthdate
-
December 28, 1922
- Birthplace
-
New York, New York, USA
- Height
-
5 feet 11 inches
- Professions
-
Writer, Editor, Publisher, Producer, Actor