Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: batgirl, Batman, Birds of Prey, Comics, dc, new 52

Bat Times, They Are A Bat Changin'

It's hard to be a Batman fan these days if you want all your New 52 timelines lined up like an exact chronology. Which all Batman fans do.

We were originally told that five years before the present, when the Justice League were formed, Batman had been active as an urban legend for some time. Which is how they managed to fit in four Robins in that time.

In Batman #0 however, we found that six years before the present, Batman wasn't… Batman yet. Just Bruce Wayne, without a Batman suit, teched up, going in disguise, leading towards the figure he would become. He hadn't even had his first Robin. Which is not a lot of time to squeeze four Robins into, even if one is a Red Robin.

In Batman And Robin #0, we saw the toddler Damian dressed in the Bat cape and cowl that Bruce Wayne had left with Talia Al Ghul, after they'd done the deed and conceived the boy. In the present day, Damian is ten.

You can see the problem there. But it gets worse.

In Batgirl #0, Barbara Gordon was in the Batgirl suit for a year before retiring to go to university, whereupon she was kidnapped and crippled by the Joker. Four years later she returned to the Batgirl identity.

But now Birds Of Prey #0 has thrown a slight spanner in the loop. Birds Of Prey #1 established that Batgirl and Black Canary had known each other for years, #0 is set a year before that, with their first meeting. And, yes, with Batgirl in the suit, at a time when she should have still have been in the chair.

Some people are already trying to write Batchronologies of the DC New 52. I wonder how they'll square this batcircle?

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