Talk:List of DC Comics characters named Batman

Dick Grayson as Batman

I think there may also have been a rather early story in which Dick appeared as Batman in a suit specially designed for that purpose. Not sure if its significant enough to mention, though. John Carter (talk) 18:48, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

I recall that, from the Golden Age, right? I that, because it was a one-off, like Alfred donning the suit, it was a one-time occurrence. We are discussing folk who actually assumed the role for a time. - Arcayne (^{cast a spell}) 04:37, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Wouldn't that criteria rule out Hugo Strange? I wonder if it'd be worth having a section for the impostors (those, especially villains, who have posed as Batman) which would separate those who have officially taken up the mantle. (Emperor (talk) 00:34, 20 July 2009 (UTC))

Well, that would be an interesting discussion. You mean, like a sections called "Impostors" or some such? - Arcayne (^{cast a spell}) 04:56, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes - it was something I was pondering over Captain America (set index) (where you have people like Anti-Cap) and there are probably numerous Spider-Man impostors (anyone with a long run of comics, powers that can be imitated and a face mask has probably had a number of impostors). (Emperor (talk) 13:13, 20 July 2009 (UTC))

Well, the loss of identity/perversion of identity seems to be a recurrent one - Dark Reign is a good current example, as was Secret Invasion before it. That said, it bears pointing out that Strange did this in the 70's, and that sort fo stuff didn't happen that often outside of a single comic.

Do you think this would be better addressed in the Comics Wikiproject?It would seem a better avenue to build something more durable, at least consensus-wise. - Arcayne (^{cast a spell}) 13:55, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

2-ish¢...

The list of "protracted" and/or "notable" usurpers incorporated into the SIs makes a degree of sense. As you point out, it's a recurring trope.

I'm also thinking that the "currently jettisoned from continuity" and direct AVs could also be moved here. Robin (comics) has a couple prime examples of this with the old Earth-Two Robin and Carrie Kelly. Sort of the "most likely searched for" AVs.

And just a thought on Strange... IIRC that story line got replayed a once or twice after the initial run. - J Greb (talk) 21:28, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Hugo Strange

He assumed both Wayne's and Batman's identity during the "Strange Apparitions" storyline ( in Detective Comics #469-476, 478-479). - Arcayne (^{cast a spell}) 04:37, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Merge proposal

This is a thoroughly unnecessary page as Batman deals conprehensively with the topic of the fictional character (including notable story arcs where Bruce Wayne is replaced) as all Featured Articles are supposed to do, in an objective, out-of-universe fashion. Also, it's unlikely to expand beyond a stub, which makes merging more appealing. WesleyDodds (talk) 04:26, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Not necessarily...

Part of the reasoning to have the SI is to reduce material directly relating to the "other" Batmen getting sunk into the Wayne article.

Also, Set Indexes are like Dab pages - they are not expected to be more than what would be the Stub/Start state for a normal article.

- J Greb (talk) 14:40, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

But all details about Batman should be dealt with in Batman. All of these other characters taking over the persona has been temporary circumstances; keep in mind that while in the main DC titles Dick Grayson is Batman, Bruce Wayne is still Batman in Batman Confidential, assorted miniseries, the Johnny DC titles, and the Batman: Brave and the Bold TV series. In an out-of-universe context, Batman is recognized as Bruce Wayne; anything else is a slight detour. In the case of Azrael, Dennis O'Neil has made it clear that the character was always meant to be a temporary replacement meant to contrast with the "real" Batman. This page gives undue weight to relativley minor publishing events. Also, I don't see how the disambiguation title is helpful. At first glance I had no idea what it meant. WesleyDodds (talk) 11:21, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

And hell, i just realized how the topic of this page is handled in a more succinct manner in Alternate versions of Batman. It's twice as redundant. WesleyDodds (talk) 11:24, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

1. There was some discussion of this at Talk:Batman/Archive09#Batman is NOT exclusively Bruce Wayne and Talk:Batman#Which Batman?.
2. A good chunk of your reasoning is exactly why as set index was suggested: The Batman DC primarily markets outside of the comics is the Wayne character and, for all intents and purposes, everyone expects the publication stun of "Dick as the Bat" to be finite in length.

This does not clearly illustrate how this validates the existence of this page. WesleyDodds (talk) 00:39, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

1. As I understand it, set indexes are limited to topics of a specific type. In this case it's the characters that are, for good or for ill, in current continuity as having been identified as "Batman". This is unlike Batman (disambiguation) which collects all of the articles that use, or could use, the title "Batman". To be honest, the tophat "This article is about the superhero. For other uses, see Batman (disambiguation)." should have been altered to This article is about the superhero. For other characters, see Batman (set index). For other uses, see Batman (disambiguation)."
2. IIUC "undue weight" is an argument used with section within larger articles and generally not to the entirety of an article. Even less to dabs or SIs.

Yes, Undue wiehgt can apply to whole articles, if they are content forks. WesleyDodds (talk) 00:39, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

1. As for Alternate versions of Batman... That one needed clean up prior to this SI popping up. The "Film and television" section really shouldn't have the list since it is part of what went, or should have gone, to Batman franchise media. By the same token, the "Modern continuity depictions" should have been dropped with "Alternate universes in modern continuity" moving "up" a level.

- J Greb (talk) 14:42, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

• Keep this emerged from problems arising over the Batman article (as linked to above) as it essentially deals with Bruce Wayne and not the Batman alias. Equally these don't fit in Alternative versions of Batman (which, like all the others should be focused on alternate universe versions) but got inserted in there in a very clunk way. We have numerous set indexes like this to cope with the problem of multiple aliases (the first two arising from the same reason): Captain America (set index), Green Goblin (set index), Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics), Spider-Woman, etc. and is very much in line with the work done there and, as mentioned, arose from a genuine need as a solution to a tricky problem. (Emperor (talk) 14:30, 27 August 2009 (UTC))

Why Not Just Delete this Page Completely?

I don't see how it adds anything not covered in Batman's page, or the pages of Dick Grayson Tim Drake, and the rest.

It has enough problems as it is. Why not put the poor thing out of its misery?