After digging through the closets of Spider-Man and Iron Man, it only became more obvious as to who's array of costumes could use some critiquing next: Batman! The Dark Knight has had some dank threads, and today we're going to talk about the best of them. This is The Panel Biter's Top 5 Batsuits.
5. Mask of Tengu
First appearing in "Batman #509" in 1994, this suit was given to Bruce Wayne by the assassin Lady Shiva, who was helping Bruce retrain in martial arts while an enemy had assumed the Batman mantle. After Bane broke Bruce's back and he had fully healed, he had heard about his replacement's actions and reached out to his old foe Lady Shiva, who helped him hone his skills once again. Not ready to take on his "true mask", Lady Shiva granted Bruce a mask resembling a bat or a Tengu-a Japanese kite demon. Donning the Mask of The Tengu, Batman resumed his training again. I site this as Batman's best ninja suit because of the mythology behind the suit's design. Tying in Japanese mythology while also reaching into his ninjutsu roots. The suit never appeared outside 1994, but is still one of the most badass kung-fu costumes I've ever seen in a comic book.
4. Gordon Batman
The "Endgame" arc saw the figurative death of Batman, and with the Dark Knight gone from Gotham, Powers International decided to capitalize and create a new Batman. In "Batman #40" in 2015, they created a large suit of robotic armor fit with enough speed to match motor vehicles, enough strength to toss a truck, shoulder-mounted gas missiles and taser pistols. Additionally, this mech suit has technology that makes mobility and detection easier. Jim Gordon had been fired from the GCPD for a crime he didn't commit, so to give him another chance Powers International assigned Gordon to be the new Batman, sanctioned by the GCPD and Powers International and given a neat-o blimp base above Gotham. A lot of people hated this change, but I thought is was a fresh direction to take things, an idea that has never really been tackled and a chance to expand on Jim Gordon's character. Plus, Jim is pretty much Samus Aran from Metroid. He has a mech suit, weapons with actual ammo, and a "Zero Suit" mode where he hops out in a skin-tight suit (ladies ;D) and a gun that shoots little batarangs. It's so cool.
3. Azrael Batman
Similar to the interesting concept of a techie-suited Batman Jim Gordon gave us, Jean-Paul Valley's robotic Batsuit represents it's period as well as it's methods. Appearing in "Batman #489" in 1993, this Batsuit was created by Batman's newest ally Jean-Paul Valley. With Bruce out of Gotham recovering, Valley designed a suit that would go beyond Bruce's rules and takes lethality into play. Valley's suit was equip with razor gauntlets, machine guns, and explosives. Bruce/Batman could only defeat Valley/Batman by tricking him into taking off this armor, pushing how powerful it is. I like this suit because of how anti-Batman it is, I like how it was created by the writers to be a sick exaggeration of 90's comics, which were already exaggerated. It's design of being a war-suit and being conceived to cross Batman's traditional boundaries help even it up to Gordon's suit, the only thing giving this suit the edge is it's representation of a darker era in comic books.
2. Batman Beyond
First appearing in 1999's "Batman Beyond" animated series-the sequel cartoon to Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's "Batman The Animated Series"-this suit was designed by an aging Bruce Wayne and after Bruce retired from old age and doubt, a young man named Terry McGinnis eventually was granted this suit and the mentorship of old Bruce Wayne. As the Batman of the future, Terry's suit could fly, simulate super strength, become invisible, produce discs, batarangs and smoke pellets, hack technology, make detective work easy and summon Bat-themed vehicles. This suit is great not only for nostalgia, but because it looks like a natural progression for Batman's appearance. The simple yet bold coloration of black, red and grey keep the suit stylized and affective at scaring criminals. Under the right art, it can even be reminiscent of the very first Batman suit. I never understood how his lips linked with the suit, but overall this suit is iconic to the Batman mythos. Too bad the current Batman Beyond comic sucks.
1. Neal Adams' Batman
First appearing in 1970's "Detective Comics #395", this Batsuit was drawn by Neal Adams to be a serious recreation of the campy Adam West Batman costume. Adams managed to make a blue, grey and yellow suit with long bat ears intimidating. You'll notice it's the only traditional costume on this list, this is because it encompasses the best features of a Batsuit. The blue cowl allows Batman to be darker, but not dull. The yellow and black symbol brings an air of pride to the uniform. Everything about the suit tosses out the criticisms of the sillier Batman and dodges the typical dark and boring designs of the modern Batsuit. It's a beautiful mixture and Neal Adams knew how to make this colorful Batman badass and scary. When blue and yellow scare the crap out of grown men, you know this suit to be the pinnacle of Batman. This is no doubt my favorite look for Batman.
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