ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the concept of comic book character and narrative multiplicity that facilitates and incorporates a wide range of Batman variations across time, across imaginative realities, across media formats, and across individual creators. Moreover, the level of multiplicity associated with Batman, the casual acceptance of various types of Batmen existing simultaneously, supports the idea of Batman-inspired characters, imitators, and spin-offs that grant the general concept of Batman access to a range of social issues. The anchoring point of Batman Prime includes such explicit characteristics as his serious personality, his tragic origin story, his secret identity, his ongoing battle for justice, his skills, costume, and gadgets. As digital technologies continue to advance and the boundaries between media formats and narrative entertainments blur, some of the most interesting and detailed cross-media variations of Batman have developed out of video games. Importantly for the purposes of discussing Batman, Crisis on Infinite Earths mirrored the definitive grim-and-gritty version of the character.
