Comic readers have made a number of jokes about Batman and Robin over the years. The more family-friendly ones concern how the Dark Knight is accompanied by a succession of replaceable boys in colorful costumes. However, DC just made one of these gags a reality in a dark branch of the DC Universe.
The joke plays out in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #48, by Mark Waid and Marcus To. However, this comic does not follow the adventures of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight as they join forces. Instead, the story is set on Earth-3, an alternate Earth where good is evil and right is wrong.
The story opens with Owlman, the evil doppelganger of Batman, proposing an alliance with Ultraman, the evil Superman of Earth-3. This places the story in the early days of their adventures before they formed a gang called the Crime Syndicate. However, as Owlman returns to his base, he discovers that his sidekick, Talon, has been mortally wounded.
What dark Batman joke just became Earth-3 canon?
Without sparing a moment to mourn, Owlman orders his butler to “fetch me another one.” The next panel reveals a number of boys, confined to a cage, apparently awaiting a chance to become the next Talon. This is a dark take on the joking idea that Batman keeps a number of orphans on-call to become the new Robin. On the twisted world of Earth-3, however, the joke is a reality and Owlman really is that callous.
This is not the first time Mark Waid has thrown out such a dark gag for the sake of a story. Waid also wrote the Boom! Studios series Irredeemable, a dark comedy take on the now cliche idea of a Superman-style hero suddenly becoming evil. Conversely, Waid was also responsible for a Daredevil run that defied convention by having Matt Murdock stop brooding and return to his roots as a swashbuckling vigilante.
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #48 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
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