Batman

The Epic Crossover Event

JLA/Avengers, written by Kurt Busiek, is described on its Amazon page as “perhaps the most eagerly anticipated and memorable crossover of all time, as the Justice League of America unites with The Avengers. Superman, Batman, and the other members of the JLA join forces with Captain America, Iron Man, and the many other Avengers to fight a threat so immense it threatens two entire dimensions.” This was the ultimate Marvel/DC event, featuring hundreds of character cameos as well as headlining bouts like Superman vs Thor!

But are the events that played out in this adventure considered canon?

What is canon?

In regards to fictional universes, canon refers to everything that is judged to be included in the history, setting, circumstances, and overall makeup of the property. When the property is written by a single creator, then that person is responsible for acknowledging what is or is not canon. When it comes to much larger properties, the publisher sets the guideline that keeps contributing authors writing stories in the universe that “fit” in the continuity of what is expected for characters and events.

When ranking the validity of different types of evidence, I’d consider the following in order:

Direct Comic Page Reference
In-house Published Sourcebooks
Off-hand Author/Publisher Comments
All Third-Party Sources

Now, let’s get to the evidence…

The DC Evidence

This one is pretty easy since the author of JLA/Avengers also wrote a JLA arc that included overt references to the events of the crossover in its story. Kurt Busiek wrote it. DC published it on its comic pages. JLA/Avengers is clearly canon in DC.

The events of JLA/Avengers is referred to in JLA #107.

In JLA #111, also written by Kur Busiek, Owlman explains that the Crime Syndicate reboot is a result of the events of the JLA/Avengers crossover.

In addition to this, DC used the Cosmic Egg that appeared at the end of JLA/Avengers. In Trinity #7, John Stewart refers to the Avengers as “Others.”

Marvel Evidence

Marvel repeatedly acknowledged the canonicity of the events that took place in JLA/Avengers in their 2008, 2011, and 2012 sourcebooks. These were all titled the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, published by Marvel themselves.

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The Terminus entry states, “In a distant cosmos, he arrived on another Earth and began to rampage across its USA attracting and battling a league of justice-seeking superheroes. Though Terminus easily resisted even their mightiest warrior, their detective correctly deduced the importance of Terminus’ power lance. Combining their minds via their telepath, the heroes assaulted Terminus on several levels, then dumped him into thinking they were trying to steal his lance. As Terminus unleashed a potent blast of power through the lance, one of the heroes channeled the energy back at Terminus, blasting a hole in his helmet and incapacitating him. A being of high power from that universe then dispatched Terminus back to the Earth-616 reality.”

In Monica’s entry, it mentions “the will-powered energies” of an “emerald gladiator.” That’s a reference to a GL (Kyle Raynor) who she fought in JLA/Avengers.

The Galactus entry reads that he was “assaulted by yet another extra-dimensional powerhouse, who sought the origins of the universe, but he recovered via the actions of the Avengers and a league of heroes from another reality.”

Avengers’ entry says that they “teamed with the league of heroes from a divergent cosmos to save both their universes from a cosmic scholar turned semi-omnipotent destroyer.”

The Grandmaster’s entry recounts nearly the entire plot of JLA/Avengers.

The Verdict

The events in JLA/Avengers is canon because it is acknowledged in publications from both Marvel and DC since its release.

One of Us

Batman and Robin in the Batmobile

As the only pure human, Batman represents us in a world of superpeople. So why does he need to go so dark to do what he needs to do? Moreover, what does it say about us that he needs to be so dark for us to accept him as a relevant hero?

The Batman of the ’60s didn’t have armor. He wore bright clothing and drove around in a convertible with his teenage sidekick. He made jokes. He spent his money on expensive cars and state-of-the-art technology like Shark Repellant.

Shark Repellant

He didn’t need any help winning fights. Going dark didn’t help with that. It’s probably the opposite. Try convincing someone today that the modern Batman could take down the Hulk.

Old School Batman beats the Hulk

So What Changed?

We did. The last fifty years has shown us some pretty harsh truths about our world. Wars. International Terrorism. Pervasive Economic Greed and Instability. All of these things existed before, but are now a daily part of our lives thanks to the global network of cameras and information that are nearly impossible to ignore.

Somewhere along the line we stopped believing in Shark Repellant. The convertible Batmobile was fine until snipers rose out of solely military use and into our collective awareness. Soon, a man in grey and blue tights looked small compared to the problems we saw.

So Because We Changed, Batman Changed Too.

Dark Knight Returns

First came Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns (1986), the story of an aging Bruce Wayne and how he deals with the way the world is turning out. This story didn’t take place in the regular Batman world. It was a possible future, one way that the character could turn out.

We liked it. It changed our view of Batman. He became colder and more detached. We liked it so much that we began to take things from him, most notably Robin. A Death in the Family (1988-1989) gave us the chance to tear a piece off of Batman and we took it with glee. DC let fans vote whether to kill off the current Robin. We did, permanently darkening Batman.

Tim Burton’s Batman

Also in 1989, Tim Burton directed the first Batman feature film since Adam West wore the costume. The tone was dark and Batman was in an all black armored suit. He was a fierce and humorless fighter and we couldn’t get enough of it.

The Jokes were gone. Batman became an overworked and under supported shell of himself. Even after training a new Robin, he was still driving himself past his limits. One villain caught on to this and exploited his weakness. In Knightfall (1993-1994), Bane broke the Batman we knew once and for all.

Bane Confronts Batman

Bane Breaks Batman

He came back as something different. Batman is now someone who we consider believable. He is aggressive. He is armored. He is unwilling (or unable) to make friends. He drives a tank and has extensive training. He has access to technology that keeps him ahead of his friends and foes.

The Modern Batman

He’s More Cynical, Like Us.

The weird part is that we like him better this way.

Jeremiah Kleckner

Jeremiah Kleckner

JLA/Avengers is Canon

The Epic Crossover Event

What is canon?

The DC Evidence

Marvel Evidence

The Verdict

Why did Batman have to go so dark? Answer: We became cynical.

One of Us

So What Changed?

So Because We Changed, Batman Changed Too.

He’s More Cynical, Like Us.

The Epic Crossover Event

What is canon?

The DC Evidence

Marvel Evidence

The Verdict

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One of Us

So What Changed?

So Because We Changed, Batman Changed Too.

He’s More Cynical, Like Us.

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