Beginning in 2006, acclaimed comic scribe/chaos magician/occasional fictional character Grant Morrison embarked on an epic and ambitious Batman story that would take nearly seven years across several different comic book titles to complete. As with much of Morrison’s work, his extended run on Batman was full of several recurring motifs, but perhaps the most interesting throughline in this story has been the constant presence of Bat-analogs – wannabes and replacements, heroes who, by will or requirement, have attempted to become the Dark Knight themselves, and villains who have aspired to supplant him. Morrison uses this device to deconstruct the identity of the Dark Knight and explore precisely what it is that makes Bruce Wayne tick. What does he have that other heroes don’t? Why does this man of all people get to be the Batman?
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