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Batman: Urban Legends #12 introduced yet another Batcave, which raises the question… does the Dark Knight have too many?
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “Bound to Our Will” Part Two from Batman: Urban Legends #12, on sale now from DC Comics.
The Batcave is one of the most iconic hideouts in comic book history, if not the most iconic. It not only serves as Batman’s home, but it’s also the heart of his operation. He would be lost without his trusty Batcave. Which might be why he built so many. Although the original Batcave under Wayne Manor has been an essential part of the Dark Knight’s operation for decades, the countless other caves scattered across Gotham, and the world, aren’t quite so essential. In fact, there are so many of them that it raises the question, does Batman really need so many?
This was something highlighted by the Justice League’s resident magician Zatanna in the story “Bound to Our Will” Part Two (by Vita Ayala, Nikola Čižmešija, Nick Filardi, and Steve Wands) from Batman: Urban Legends #12. When the two were exhausted after a magical mission that went out of control, they needed a place to crash. Batman told his longtime friend that he had a place nearby and she was anything but surprised.
As Batman and Zatanna came to this place regularly to fix a mistake that they made when they were younger, the Dark Knight thought it was a good idea to have a safe house nearby. This one was an abandoned church that he saved from being turned into condos. Although it’s pretty barren compared to his other bases, it still has a large Batcomputer on hand, so it isn’t like it’s totally empty or for only staying the night either. Batman’s logic in having a base here makes sense but Zatanna’s sarcastic tone when he revealed this fact highlighted that he can be a bit overzealous in his preparedness. To the point that he’s too prepared. One of the lesser-known facts about the Caped Crusader is that he has Batcaves all across Gotham, not just under his house.
During the 70s, when Dick Grayson was off with the Teen Titans and going to college, Bruce and Alfred moved out of the Batcave and into the Wayne Foundation building, where they built a Bat-Bunker underneath as their new city-based hideout. Dick and Damian would use this same Bat-Bunker when they were Batman and Robin. However, this one wasn’t the last of its kind.
After Bane surprised Batman in his own home during “Knightfall,” he decided he would be left unprepared like that again and created an excessive number of secret bases all across the city. It’s unknown exactly how many he created. “No Man’s Land” showed where five of the larger backup caves were, named Central, South, South-Central, East, and Northwest, indicating their location. The latter of these is of most note because it’s based under Arkham Asylum, something that was used in the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game for minor equipment upgrades.
Although it makes sense to be prepared, are all these Batcaves really necessary? Those are only the ones named, there are still others. Some were used by allies in need and others remain unknown. Then of course there are the new micro-caves introduced in the recent Detective Comics run. If the point of all these other caves was to be prepared for any eventuality, why does the Dark Knight need to build new ones?
Of course, these countless Gotham Batcaves don’t take into account the ones, like the one in Urban Legends, that exist outside of Gotham. When Jean-Paul Valley took over as the Dark Knight, the Outsiders moved into a Batcave in Los Angeles. Then of course there are whatever Batcaves were created for the Batmen of Batman Inc. scattered across the globe. Most ridiculous of all though has to be the lunar Batcave, which first appeared in DC Rebirth’s Superman #4 (by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke). Why does Batman need a Batcave on the moon when the Justice League already has the Watchtower? With everything he could do with his vast fortune, it seems like a waste.
It’s clear why Batman has too many Batcaves. He wants to be prepared for every eventuality. However, it’s also clear that he’s taken things a bit too far too. He’s just one hero. How many of these Batcaves actually get used? How much time, effort, and resources went into them? It’s another sign of Batman’s methods being outdated. Nightwing is using his fortune in a different way to Bruce and Bruce should follow his lead. Decommissioning some unused Batcaves could be a good start.
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