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And I get it. A loss generally isn’t as exciting as a win. But for someone as hyper-competent as Batman, there is something weirdly fascinating about the times he’s lost. Sometimes it’s because he’s facing an enemy with powers he simply can’t counter, like his brush with the Reverse-Flash. Other times, it’s because he’s fighting a foe just as good at improvisation and planning as Bruce is, like the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of interesting fights where Batman has lost, so read on to discover 5 of them from the Dark Knight’s history.
5. Batman is Beaten by His Own Creation
Batman’s ultimate contingency, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, came back with a vengeance during Chip Zdarsky’s time running the main Batman title. But things really came to a head during the “Mind Bomb” arc when Zur-En-Arrh broke out of Batman’s head and took control of Zur-En-Arrh’s ultimate weapon, the Failsafe android. Batman spent the entirety of Batman #141 fighting and running, hopelessly outgunned by Zur-En-Arrh’s brilliant mind and Failsafe’s weapons. Though Bruce put up a valiant effort, the combined forces of his opponents were too much, and Zur-En-Arrh defeated Batman, imprisoning the hero in Blackgate while Zur-En-Arrh took control of Gotham.
4. Reverse-Flash Came Close to Killing Batman
While Batman has a handful of metahuman villains in his rogues’ gallery, he doesn’t have anyone as powerful as Barry Allen’s archenemy, the Reverse-Flash. During the first story of “The Button” crossover in Batman #21, the Batcave was infiltrated by Eobard Thawne, who came seeking revenge on Bruce for the Flashpoint’s Thomas Wayne killing Reverse-Flash. This issue takes place over the course of only a minute, but in that amount of time, Bruce finds himself beaten to absolute hell. The only reason he doesn’t end up dying is that the Reverse-Flash is transported away after touching the Comedian’s button.
