10 Times Batman Has Killed in Comic Books

A few days ago, I wrote a post about this exciting new independent sci-fi game about an astronaut trapped in a retro-futurist style space station with nobody else but an A.I. It will be releasing in the next two months. You need to read it if you're into games like Soma, Zork and movies like Moon and Kubrick's Space Odyssey.

Meanwhile....

10. Batman #1, 1940

Batman - the fatal vigilante once hung a mentally ill patient from his batplane. Hugo Strange tests his new range of muscular serum on patients with brain damage. They become super strong mutants and one among them is taken by the scientist's henchmen to assist in bank robbery. Batman patrolling the sky gets rid of the truck driver and sends the vehicle straight to a tree. As the mutant escapes, the Dark Knight performs his first mid-air execution.

9. The Scrap yard

Batman straight up murdered a lot of people in his formative years. In a majority of these instances, he was never forced to do so nor was he pushed into a tricky situation. He just killed them. Not a word of caution. No a moment of clarity. Just topple a stack of cars on a criminal.

Batman has intentionally/unintentionally crushed people to death at the junkyard repeatedly in various issues.

8. Batman was barbaric

That's how he rolled in the Detective Comics until 'the code was introduced'. From snapping necks, pushing thugs out the windows to popping down criminals with his .45, Batman committed fatalities on a normal basis and even threw a guy into a vat of acid and said "A fitting end for his kind." Damn

7. All-Star Batman and Robin No. 7, 2007

While fighting the thugs, Batman throws a molotov on the lot and they instantly start burning. But that doesn't stop Batman from brutally punching the fellas as Black Canary stood watching him and feeling aroused by his actions. Yuck! After a day's work of brutal justice, Bat makes out with Canary with their masks on in the backdrop of burning flesh. Batman Kills. Sure...but this is just wow.

6. Batman #420

Batman has crossed the line many a time. There was a time he left a villain locked in a sewer and starved him to death. The victim was KGBeast, the Soviet Union baddie sent down to take out Reagan.

5. Batman loves to torture

Batman sent Lord Death Man into an eternally painful ride. Death Man is an immortal Japanese crime lord who can put himself in a yoga trance that makes him appear dead. Still, he can experience pain. Although not actual death, it indeed was a badass orchestration of torment - a battered Death Man is imprisoned inside a rocket and sent into space as he suffocates slowly.

4. The case of the Mad Monk

This happened way earlier. So, Mad Monk threatens to turn Batman's girlfriend into a werewolf. Long story short, Batsy shoots him in his sleep.

3. Detective Comics #37

Batman pushed a stupid eager scoundrel into the blade of a sword. Count Grutt decides to take on Bat babe with a sword. He throws the sword like a dagger missing the target and gets stuck on a wooden door - a bad initiative. Now, Batsy makes his move and punches him so hard that the Count oscillates right into the lodged razor.

2. Batman faces himself

Someone dressed as Batman goes on a criminal killing spree. Policeman Tommy Carma worshipped Batman so much that he named her daughter Robin who along with her mother died in a bomb blast set off by the mob. He left the force and became a night watchman but actually he was on a path of revenge. Disguised in a stolen Batman costume, he takes the Punisher's route until the real Bat confronts him and sends him to the asylum.

1. Batman Vs Joker

Let's leave aside The Killing Joke polyptsych and its ambiguous ending. In Batman: Bloodstorm, a vampire Batman sucks Joker's blood, kills him and strikes his heart to make sure he doesn't wake up as a blood sucker. In JLA: The Nail, Batman instantly slays Joker knowing that he murdered Robin and Batgirl. And there's Batman: Two Faces which is kinda sorta complicated. You should read it.

I did not grow up reading comic books. I spent my time playing Cricket, video games and gaining strength to talk to girls. Many (almost all the points in this list) are pretty much well known among comic book enthusiasts. I wrote this as a self-educatory piece so don't get annoyed if you came here to find something new. Batman has done some weird shit over the years. Every comic book reflects on the times and happenings of the world during which it was produced. Each piece of comic book is like a historical time capsule. We've comic books about the Cold war, about SNL, about communism, about reggae & pop, about occult rituals, about every weird niche you find daily on the r/TIL. So, I've decided to read, collect and make a compilation of comic book trivia which you'll find exciting. Many thanks for reading :) And btw, remember that huge Oak tree in Shawshank Redemption, it's gone.