Comic WI:Batman Used A Gun?

I suppose at first glance, this might seem to be ASB, but I think this place would be better suited for it.

What if in the Comics, Batman allowed himself the use of a gun? Not when he was dealing with petty criminals and robbers, but when he really thought he needed to use on?

For example, lets say the Joker is about to destroy all of Gotham City, and the only way to stop him would be for batman to shot and kill him?

What sort of affect would this have on the story-line, as well as the publics reaction to it? Would Batman still be as popular? Or would it have been banned long-ago? What affect would it have on the rest of the comics industry?

Anyway, I'm surious to hear what you guys have to say on this.

ps- I could be wrong about this, but I believe in some of the early comics, Batman did sometimes use a gun. Can anyone verify this?
 
Well I think the "magic" of Batman is that he is above guns and killing, that he is a "supernatural beast" which is why it makes sense for criminals to fear him.

If Batman survives when the comics are ceonsored then if there was a shooting Batman gets blamed.

Yes he used a gun in the 1930's.
 
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In the early comics Batman not only used a gun, he used the gun that killed his parents.

A gun-using Batman is going to have a hard time when the Comics Code comes up in the 1950's; it's hard to have him regularly use a gun without killing anybody while maintaining any degree of plausibility.
 
ps- I could be wrong about this, but I believe in some of the early comics, Batman did sometimes use a gun. Can anyone verify this?

I own Batman Chronicles volume 1, which reprints the early stories. And I can say that while the Batman did kill in his first few months, typically he did not use firearms to do it. He only used a gun in story twice as far as I can remember. The first time was to kill a vampire, and the second time was when he machine gunned Hugo Strange's Monster Men. There is however, an infamous splash page with Batman holding a smoking gun.

On the whole Batman was far more likely to kill you by breaking your neck, or throwing you off a building, or throwing you into you're own sword then he was to just shoot you.

For the record, a list of victims from the early days of comics

Alfred Stryker: Head a of a major chemical company engaged in murder and extortion Cause of death-being thrown into a vat of acid.
Ricky: Jewel Thief Thrown off a building
Dr. Death's minion: Batman breaks the man's neck with his leg. This is ambiguous because its possible the man was only paralyzed.
The Vampire/The Mad Monk:Shot with a silver bullet
Carl Kruger and numerous associates: Batman flies his plane into their dirigible, makes sure Carl Kruger drowns
Duc de Orttere: Forced to drive off a cliff.
Sheldon Lennox: Ruby idol hurled at head, thrown out of window.
The Count: Thrown into own sword
Hugo Strange's Monstermen: Machine gunned to death from Batplane

In all at least 9 individuals die on panel in 1939. But of those nine, only two die from gunshot related injuries.

So while Batman did use a gun, he didn't really use it often.

Although he did once use a gun to trigger an explosion.
 
In the early comics Batman not only used a gun, he used the gun that killed his parents.

A gun-using Batman is going to have a hard time when the Comics Code comes up in the 1950's; it's hard to have him regularly use a gun without killing anybody while maintaining any degree of plausibility.
Tell that to the G.I. Joe writers. In some of the comic series nobody ever dies even though many characters have guns.
 
Batman with a gun would probably survive the comics code, however he would not have the following or mythic status that he has in the comics community. Without a gun he is a defender of justice, and a man with a strong moral code who uses his mind as much as his fists. With a gun batman is just an armed vigilante who lacks so much of what makes unarmed batman appealing. Like we've seen in OTL there is a big disparity between how popular the punisher is, and how popular batman is. And I think the use of guns is a big part of that.
 
well, a thought that comes to mind is, what if he used a nonlethal Gun?

the original Sandman had a Gas gun, Blue Beetle II had an...air gun/strobe light thing, and some other Heroes had that sort of thing.
so what could Batman have?
 
if Batman keep his gun, there come another problem:
runnig out of villains in Batman Universe, because he kill them ALL
so DC shut down publication in 1960 or start record-breaker event
of the Superhero how kill the most Villains

on other side...
U.S. 1971
Q: Hey men, dit you see Movie "Dirty Harry" ?
A: no intrest man, dat Clint Eastwood copy only the Batman...
or
Clint Eastwood is the Batman in Don siegel 1971 movie about the Superhero :cool:
 
well, a thought that comes to mind is, what if he used a nonlethal Gun?

the original Sandman had a Gas gun, Blue Beetle II had an...air gun/strobe light thing, and some other Heroes had that sort of thing.
so what could Batman have?

His grappling hook. Used properly, it can be a weapon and defensive tool as well as just a grappling hook. I can also see Frank Miller taking advantage of the opportunity to have him shoot the grappling hook through someone's shoulder or something.
 
In one of the later Batman stories, he suffered a heart attack while beating up a mugger and had to use a gun to hold him at bay. This was such an issue for him that he retired soon afterward.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
Then we'd see more successful trend 'Impostor Batman" people who run around trying to be like him. Then Bruce Wayne will be "I'm not the one wearing hockey pants" and they'll be like "Stop staring at my ass you pervert" and he'll shoot them in the face for insulting THE GOD DAMN BATMAN.

Or maybe they'll be target practice for the villains.
Batman-Joker.jpg


Besides, what would Batman have as a gun?

Something that sends out a high-frequency pitch that can have a wide enough cone that it temporarily disables a bad guys hearing. It won't need a silencer because that's what it does to people. It won't even go "Pew Pew".:p

What kind of accessories?

Yes he will have a grenade launcher on the bottom.



  1. Bat Grenades, which have a small guidance system that after launch if you fired them higher than 45 degrees they become guided suicidal bats. And he programed them to play the national anthem before they swooped down and exploded.
  2. Smoke Grenades; Bat-smoke, which is black, but tastes like chocolate. No reason other than Batman likes the taste of chocolate. It seems it works for distracting people as well, bad guys will be "What....chocolate smoke?" and won't see the fist.
  3. Netting. Batman will have grenades that become nets or some sort of entanglement device that explodes and gets someone tangled up to capture them. We will call this the Bat Garbage Bag if it's like a large net that you can drag the criminals in.
  4. Bat Tracking Beacon. Yes, it will be able to fire a small capsule that will explode before it hits the target putting on a tiny little homing beacon.
  5. Rubber Buckshot. For when they're is a need to make them hurt quickly and leave them well enough for be interrogated. Works well with the smoke grenades for clearing rooms; pop in a smoke into the next room go in with the non-lethal pellet spray.
  6. Tear Gas. Yeah, Bat man is a BITCH with this stuff. The Joker called in a bomb threat to one orphanage directly to Batman and the Nuns didn't believe him, they were frightened of him and he had to use TEAR GAS on the ORPHANAGE... when the Joker was fibbing the whole time and used the time to rob a Wayne Enterprises Laboratory on a secret island.
    Female_Joker__by_AsukaSaruwatari.jpg

    In TTL the Joker is a Chick, much more devious.:eek:;)
Anyways he also has a wide range of other accessories. Things like a flame thrower, Extra-strength grappling gear, and taser attachment on the underside if you take off the grenade launcher.

He uses not only different scopes and designators for each mission but also he built a computer into his gun that hooks up to his mask. Which now has to be a gas mask permanently because you know, he's a bitch. However due to this computer no one else can use his gun.


Does he ever run out of ammo?

Not for the sonic weapon, taser, grappling hook or computer (they are hooked up to a rechargeable battery in the suit through the fingertips and arm) but for grenades he has a limited supply. but the grenades and flame-thrower are much too bulky to carry an 'unlimited supply' per engagement. However knowing Batman he has several supply depots in Gotham
; Some of them are penthouses on the tallest apartments, others are in unmanned naval vehicles he can call up to the docks.

Does Batman still use the Bat Mobile?

Yes, and nowadays he might take it out for a spin for old times, but he really travels in style on the tops of the subways, which because of terrorism threats can be justified to have AA guns installed in hatches on the roof. However what he doesn't want to tell you is that he stole that idea from the Russians, he was wealthy enough to bribe their Military for that classified weapon; when a terrorism alert happens the first thing to happen is the windows get covered, then the missiles pop from the top in racks of 12 in a 6x2 MRLS configuration.
He can guide them with his costume after launching, so often enough he's found bombarding the Joker after she's hijacked a missile train of her own.

3.jpg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhY_QswbL2o

Holy Shit what do the Gotham City Cops think of this?

The Boys in Blue? Let's just say they've got new uniforms to deal with this crazy shit.


exterminator_2.jpg
 
Simply answer: Then he wouldn't be Batman.

There is an issue where he came pretty close to beating the Joker to death.
 
His grappling hook. Used properly, it can be a weapon and defensive tool as well as just a grappling hook. I can also see Frank Miller taking advantage of the opportunity to have him shoot the grappling hook through someone's shoulder or something.

Doesn't count.
It's still potentially lethal.
The Gas gun Sandman used was a Sleeping gas gun and Blue Beetle's BB gun couldn't kill even if it was point blank.

and I'm surprised Miller didn't try to do that already.
 
His grappling hook. Used properly, it can be a weapon and defensive tool as well as just a grappling hook. I can also see Frank Miller taking advantage of the opportunity to have him shoot the grappling hook through someone's shoulder or something.
I am reminded of Watchmen, where Rorschach did use his grappling hook gun in exactly that manner.

There is an issue where he came pretty close to beating the Joker to death.
He's come close to that a lot of times, usually whenever Joker kills/nearly kills one of his sidekicks or close friends. However, considering the fact that by this point if one takes all the storylines and super-crossover events into account Joker's body count is well into the millions it is increasingly absurd that Batman or somebody else hasn't killed him yet.
 
Doesn't count.
It's still potentially lethal.
The Gas gun Sandman used was a Sleeping gas gun and Blue Beetle's BB gun couldn't kill even if it was point blank.

and I'm surprised Miller didn't try to do that already.

To be fair, if "potentially lethal" rules it out, then there's absolutely no way to create a gun for him. Given the right conditions, anything can be lethal. That sleeping gas gun? Hit someone with it, they pass out, bash their head against something, and don't wake up. BB gun? Shoot one up someone's nostril. Hell, all it takes is swinging the butt-end of the gun at someone in the right spot. The general idea was that the grappling hook's in character for him to have, and would be, under normal conditions, non-lethal.

And yeah, I was half-expecting someone to point out that it actually did happen, and I just didn't read that one. I suspect I did get the idea subconsciously from Rorschach.
 

Sachyriel

Banned
To be fair, if "potentially lethal" rules it out, then there's absolutely no way to create a gun for him. Given the right conditions, anything can be lethal. That sleeping gas gun? Hit someone with it, they pass out, bash their head against something, and don't wake up. BB gun? Shoot one up someone's nostril. Hell, all it takes is swinging the butt-end of the gun at someone in the right spot. The general idea was that the grappling hook's in character for him to have, and would be, under normal conditions, non-lethal.

And yeah, I was half-expecting someone to point out that it actually did happen, and I just didn't read that one. I suspect I did get the idea subconsciously from Rorschach.

What about the tear-gas to evacuate the orphanage? Too much?
 
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