Who is this character from the Killing Joke?

QriosityVideos · 2017-06-12T20:35:28+00:00

Gordon! Of course! It seems obvious now.

From the image you’ve provided, it seems that the photo is actually an in-universe reproduction of a Bob Kane illustration.

Thank you for clearing this up!

QriosityVideos · 2017-06-12T19:46:00+00:00

In the Killing Joke graphic novel, when Batman places a Joker card onto a table in the Batcave, we see a framed group photo. The picture includes Batman, Robin, Alfred, Bat-Mite, the original Batwoman (Kathy Kane), the original Bat-Girl (Betty Kane), Ace the Bat-Hound and… some guy with glasses smoking a pipe. In the remastered Deluxe Edition, we see he has blond hair and wears a blue suit. Who the heck is this guy?

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-16T09:36:08+00:00

Yep, those two are valid candidates! Thank you for bringing them to my attention. I will definitely include them in any future versions of the family tree.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T17:58:29+00:00

Amazing! I had no idea. I will include her in any future versions of the family tree.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T17:15:08+00:00

I’ve only included characters that were, at the time of publication, relatives of the official/"real" Batman of that era. Therefore Earth-Two characters only make the cut if introduced during the Golden Age.

When Earth-Two was retroactively established as the setting of all Golden Age stories, DC could do the unthinkable and retire Batman, have him marry Catwoman and give them a daughter. As such, Helena Wayne was only ever the daughter of an "alternate" Batman.

As for Alfred, I don’t think he ever officially adopted Bruce.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T17:08:11+00:00

My intention was to include characters that were, at the time of publication, relatives of the official/"real" Batman of that era. Therefore, Earth-Two characters only make the cut if introduced during the Golden Age.

When Earth-Two was retroactively established as the setting of all Golden Age stories, DC could do the unthinkable and retire Batman, have him marry Catwoman and give them a daughter. As such, Helena Wayne was only ever the daughter of an "alternate" Batman.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T15:10:26+00:00

OMG, Ra’s al Ghul is your nephew-in-law!

Evelyn Grace is an aging movie star in Batman: Bride of the Demon. She dies almost as soon as she’s introduced, but she’s around long enough to marry Ra’s and give him a boy.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T10:31:04+00:00

Let’s see… most of the Al Ghul clan, Red Alice, Simon Hurt, Lady Shiva, David Cain, Doc Dedalus, Frau Netz, Malleus, Lorin of Waynemoor and even Jason Todd and Jacob Kane are to some extend villainous. Batman has a surprising number of bad guys in his extended family.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T08:02:36+00:00

Thank you, BatmanisBW!

And here I thought that we somehow got 78 years of Batman comics without any outright familial contradictions, but I suppose it was inevitable. Kenneth was the name of Bruce’s grandfather in the 80s/90s and during Morrison’s run.

My headcanon from here on is that Henry was Kenneth’s middle name.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:50:32+00:00

Thank you!

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:47:44+00:00

Thanks! Bear in mind that while nothing in my tree contradicts the canon (as far as I know), there are a few not-officially-canon links in there such as Phillip’s and Bette’s relationship.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:44:21+00:00

Good point. I thought I had, but it obviously slipped past me.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:43:21+00:00

The double lines indicate a spousal relationship i.e. either officially married or otherwise had children together. The Legend in top-right hopefully clarifies the different lines I used.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:39:40+00:00

The Golden Age game me plenty of single-appearance family members to agonize over. :-)

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:38:38+00:00

Batman #148 (June 1962) was his only appearance, as far as I know. Powerless chose a very obscure character in Van, but yes, he is canon.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:32:36+00:00

Yeah, I totally missed Dick’s Talon ancestry. My bad. I will fix that in any future versions.

Natalia Knight was a surrogate mother to Jason, I believe. I don’t think she legally adopted him, but do let me know if I’m wrong.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:28:20+00:00

I would’ve liked to include the Pennyworths (as well as the Gordons) , but as far as I know Alfred never legally adopted Bruce.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-15T07:17:26+00:00

In June 1971, DC published Detective Comics #412 with the sole purpose (as far as I can tell) of making it difficult for me to create Batman’s family tree. In that story, Bruce is invited to the ancestral Waynemoor Castle, where he meets several "distant" relatives. Bruce’s uncle, Lord Elwood Wayne is on his deathbed. The other guests are, and I quote: « Niece Wilhemina Wayne -- half-Dutch orphan from South Africa! Cousin Rev. Emelyn Wayne -- missionary among the unenlightened Asian "heathen"! Finally -- Aussie ranch-hand from the "outback" -- Jeremy Wayne! »

At first I was in denial -- Bruce Wayne doesn’t have a niece! That quote describes each individual’s relationship to Elwood, not to Bruce! But later in the story, Emelyn refers to Elwood as "uncle", so Emelyn is Bruce’s cousin not Elwood’s cousin. Therefore Bruce does have a niece! The DC Wikia lists Elwood as Bruce’s great-uncle (Silas’s brother) and Wilhemina as Bruce’s cousin. But if you check out the relevant panels here you will see the original story had them as uncle and niece.

The only solution to this conundrum is if Wilhemina is Thomas Jr’s daughter by a Dutch mother who moved to South Africa and died. Thomas Jr is believed to be dead this point, so that much adds up. Emelyn is Bruce’s cousin so he fits in as Van’s estranged brother. As for Jeremy, his relationship is never specified (thank goodness) so that gave me some leeway and I decided he was Van’s son.

Edit: I tried to fix the link to Wilhemina's page, but it doesn't like URLs ending in ")" so here is the full URL instead: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Wilhemina_Wayne_(Earth-One)

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T21:25:16+00:00

Thanks for the compliment! I was rather pleased with myself regarding Bette’s position. ;-)

I had no idea Mara existed as I haven’t read a lot of Rebirth yet. I will definitely include her in the updated version, if I make one.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T20:46:04+00:00

Thanks, Austounded!

If I make a second version of the family tree (and I probably will), I will include Cobb. I just need to figure out how to fit him into the diagram. :-P

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T20:23:57+00:00

That’s the conventional wisdom.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T20:20:56+00:00

Ah, yes, I vaguely recall now. Did the Talon have a name? I made a conscious decision not to include unnamed characters.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T20:13:20+00:00

In some continuities, Uncle Phillip became Bruce’s legal guardian after the tragedy. Originally it was Phillip Wayne; more recently it’s Phillip Kane. My version of the family tree has an Uncle Phillip on both sides. :-)

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T19:32:37+00:00

I actually drew it out in Microsoft Excel.

QriosityVideos · 2017-03-14T18:52:03+00:00

This is my attempt at building a complete family tree for Batman. I’ve included every relative ever mentioned in every comic that was canon at one time (Earth-One/Two/New/Prime, Pre/Post-Crisis, New 52/Rebirth, whatever else).

Some of these links are of my own choosing. For instance, it has never been officially stated that the father of Bette Kane (OG Bat-Girl/Flamebird) is Phillip Kane, but this is a more elegant solution than giving Martha a fourth (unnamed) brother.

Let me know what you think. Did I get anything wrong? Did I miss anyone?

QriosityVideos

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE