DC Finally Confirms Batman Had Two Fathers

Warning: spoilers for Batman: The Detective #1

In the latest Batman series, DCComics leaves no room for doubt that Alfred Pennyworth was more than a butler and legal guardian for Bruce Wayne, but as much a father as Thomas Wayne. Over the course of this first instalment, readers enter the mind of Bruce Wayne through his inner monologue, as Gotham’s once favorite son does his best to reconcile his intensified survivor’s guilt with the loss of his last remaining tie to his life before he put on the cape and cowl. 

In 2019, the Bat-family was united in a shared trauma when Alfred Pennyworth was killed at the hands of Bane. The event occurred in Batman #77, by Tom King, Mikel Janín, and Tony S. Daniel, as part of the “City of Bane” story arc. Much like Bruce, Damian Wayne was forced to watch his adoptive grandfather’s neck be broken by the same man who infamously crippled his father decades ago. The compounded layers of paternal trauma accrued in the lives of the two remaining members of Wayne family is calamitous. Two years later, readers are finally getting a sense of just how deep the pain of this loss goes when Batman comes face to face with the spirit of a Victorian highwayman: James Craddock, aka Gentleman Ghost. 

From writer Tom Taylor and artist Andy Kubert, Batman: The Detective #1 has taken Batman out of Gotham City for good. Now on the shores of Alfred’s homeland— England—the World’s Greatest Detective is investigating the crash site of downed commercial aircraft when Gentleman Ghost appears on the scene. Drawn to the scent of fear—upon which the restless spirit sustains himself—Craddock converges on the Dark Knight. During this encounter, Gentleman Ghost reaches his incorporeal claws into Batman’s chest and seizes the mortal’s heart looking for the Caped Crusader’s fears. Here he makes a startling discover. At the core of Bruce Wayne’s being, his literal heart, is one fear which trumps all others and it stems from the pain of being orphaned not once, but twice. This revelation puts a definitive perspective on the gravity of Alfred’s death and the enormity of the place he held in Bruce’s life.

What’s more, the story points out an interesting commonality between Alfred and Thomas Wayne. As Batman reflects, “Both my fathers were medical men,” referring to the fact that Thomas Wayne was a practicing physician and, in his life before the Waynes, Alfred was a medic in the Air Force. In the context of the scene in which this observation is made, Batman is protecting a convalescing Knight in London from a heavily-armed squad of terrorists, and mentions he has no mercy for those who would attack a hospital. This point offers insight into just how deep the conflation of the two father figures goes in the psyche of Bruce Wayne. Not only did the two men take on a paternal role, but they shared a common ethos and skillset which has shaped Bruce’s vision of the world. 

Thankfully, Batman was well equipped to deal with this hungry poltergeist, and gave Gentleman Ghost a beating he won’t soon forget. The lore of the Dark Knight is a foundational part of DC Comics, and his origin story is one of the most iconic in modern storytelling. It’s high time that Alfred Pennyworth—the man standing dutifully in the shadow of the bat for decades—be explicitly recognized for what he really was: a loving father. 

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