Everyone loves a good old fashioned photobomb, right? This is where a picture is about to be taken and someone pops right in. Actually those in the picture or the person taking it usually don't really care for them. It turns out this has happened in comic books...a lot. There has been many major events where a certain Caped Crusader happened to be seen in the image when he wasn't supposed to be there. Publishers have managed to have his presence removed before the comic has gone to print to avoid any explanations.
For example, remember the Death of Superman?
When Superman battled Doomsday and Lois Lane was in tears, it wasn't just Jimmy Olsen in the background taking a picture. Batman was there as well. The question is, when did he get there? Was he there for the entire battle? Did he just sit back and watch or was he trying to come up with a plan?
This wasn't the only time Batman showed up unexpectedly.
Remember when the Avengers first discovered Captain America had been frozen? It turns out, Batman was there as well!
Why was Batman there? Could it be that Batman was crucial in finding Captain America's body? The reason we've never seen or heard mention of this could be because the team (and Marvel Comics) wouldn't want Batman to get the credit.
There was also the time Wolverine got his Adamantium ripped out of his body by Magneto during the Fatal Attractions storyline.
You would think Batman could have done something to prevent this from happening. Instead, he just sat back and watched as Logan was in pain.
Then there was Civil War. That got to be a messy situation for many of the heroes. Plenty of bad decisions were made, including Spider-Man revealing his identity to the world.
At least here, it looked like Batman was trying to stop him. He probably already deduced what a mistake reveal his secret identity was and how it could mess up his life (and continuity). If only Peter had listened or if Batman was a little quicker.
It turns out Batman was around during another moment in Civil War as well.
Here, Batman's just being a jerk. He's actually laughing as Cap and Iron Man fight and all the heroes are lying around unconscious. This seems out of character for even Batman.
Another moment Batman seemed too late to do anything about was the Death of Gwen Stacy.
Here, you can see that Batman is upset. He knows what it's like to lose someone close to you. But again, was he too late in arriving or was he just sitting back and watching?
Why was Batman present during all these events? It's not like he's a member of the Watchers. Batman has just been present in many major events. I wouldn't say it was a conspiracy. It's probably more likely that he tends to observe a lot in order to make his preparations. Everyone always says he can defeat everyone with enough prep time. This is what he's doing. Watching how everyone moves and operates in case he ever needs to make a move against them. This is why he's always prepared.
How did all this really come about? It really started last week when the "Can Batman Really Defeat Everyone?" video went up and this image was used:
I was challenged to "find" more images with Batman photobombing. So here you go.
76 Comments