DC Comics has dubbed today Batman Day. The Dark Knight has been fighting crime and serving justice for his 75th year since the 1939 debut of Detective Comics #27. Batman has been a big part of our lives, and was responsible for making us into the comic book fanatics we are today, whether it be through comic books and toys or television and movies. To show our appreciation for the man, the myth and the legend, we have compiled a plethora of Bat-themed lists. We hope that we can inspire you to read more about Batman and his legacy, or even give us some feedback if you agree or disagree with the lists. Sound off below! And click on the picture below to take you to all of our Batman Day articles.
So who are Batman’s best girlfriends? Do you know the name of his first girlfriend? Or that he hooked up with Lois Lane? Read our countdown of the top 15 women in Bruce Wayne’s life to find out more!
15: Pamela Isley
Let’s face it, Pamela Isley AKA Poison Ivy and Batman have never been… together. Poison Ivy has had a strong physical attraction to Batman for a long, long time. This attraction has only recently been requited by Batman. Ivy has even saved Batman a few times, granted an antidote for her own poison, delivered by kisses. While the two have flirted, their relationship has never gone beyond coquettishness.
14: Lois Lane
I know what you are thinking. Lane and Wayne rhyme, so of course their relationship would never work out. Rhyming names is just silly. Oh! How could I forget! Yeah, Lois is actually Superman’s girl. How douchey of Batman! In Superman: The Animated Series, Bruce meets Lois Lane while making a deal with LexCorp. The two immediately fall for one another and briefly date, much to the chagrin of Clark Kent. In just a few days, they get so close that Lois tells Clark that she will be moving to Gotham, and she and Bruce are practically engaged. After getting his cowl pulled off as Batman in front of Lois by a robot in the copy room of the Daily Planet (yeah), she finds out Bruce’s true identity, and Lois decides she can’t be with the Batman.
13: Jezebel Jet
Jezebel Jet is the sexy model who Bruce dated right before Batman: RIP. They both are rich, they both lost their parents, and they both have their secrets. After some crazy tabloid rumors about a tryst in the mountains, the pair start dating. After they both get kidnapped by one of Dr. Hurt’s Bat Men, Jezebel deduces Bruce’s secret. He tell her the truth and takes her to his cave. Ooh, la la! But then it turns out she is a spy for the Black Glove, you know, the same guys who drive Batman crazy and buried him alive. As Jezebel is on her flight back to the African country she owns, her plane is ambushed by Talia Al-Ghul’s Man-Bat ninjas and murdered. Talia then gives Jezebel’s severed head to Batman during a battle. If it wasn’t for the fact she was an evil spy, ahem, and Bruce’s ex was slightly crazy, Jezebel Jet would have been a great gal for Bats.
12: Lorna Shore
In the Lovers and Madmen arc of Batman: Confidential, Bruce meets museum curator Lorna Shore. This happens during his second year as Batman. She happens to be the first person to make him happy since the murder of his parents. Because this is early in Batman’s career, he has yet to make many of his most famous enemies. When a man named Jack, soon to be The Joker, decides he wants to draw out the Batman, he kidnaps Lorna and slashes her stomach, leaving her in critical condition. She eventually recovers, but both she and Batman decide it is too dangerous for her to stay in Gotham City and she skips town, and their relationship.
11: Julie Madison
Julie Madison. She ranks so high on this list because she is the first girlfriend of Batman. Debuting in 1939 in Detective Comics 31 (aficionados will know this is only 4 issues after Batman’s debut), Julie Madison is Bruce Wayne’s fiancé and chief damsel in distress. Julie is a wealthy socialite and actress. She also loves Bruce more than he seems to love her. Bruce can’t keep his second life out of his billionaire life, and often leaves Julie to fight crime as Batman. Eventually, Julie breaks off their engagement, claiming that Bruce isn’t ambitious enough. If she only knew. Julie Madison has made appearances since then, even once as an old woman recounting her time with Bruce Wayne. Even though they didn’t work out, Julie Madison will always be remembered as Batman’s first girlfriend.
10: Wonder Woman
The Amazonian Princess did have a thing for The Dark Knight. It’s true that the two haven’t always liked each other. They have had many a fight, but in the Justice League of America comic series, the two had a flirtatious relationship. At one point, they even shared a kiss before saving Aquaman. In JLA #90, Wonder Woman uses Martian Manhunter’s Transconsciousness Articulator and finds herself in a dream state of different scenarios of her life with Batman. To put it lightly, none of them end well. The couple decide to stay friends and nothing more, even though Wonder Woman still feels something for Batman. The two also had a relationship in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited TV Series, leading to an infinite about of fan-fiction. This pair is really controversial, causing some awesome rifts on many a message board, but we personally think the duo are so strong, they are hard to beat.
9: Vesper Fairchild
Vesper Fairchild wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend for long, but their relationship caused a major story arc in the Batman comic series. Vesper was a late night radio host in Gotham. After some prodding from Alfred, Bruce agreed to go to the radio show to boost his appearance as Bruce Wayne in Gotham. Vesper and Bruce form a romantic relationship. After the earthquake in No Man’s Land, Vesper leaves town. She returns and begins investigating Batman. At this point, Bruce feels she may find out who he really is and breaks ties with her. Unfortunately, Vesper is murdered in his home. Bruce is set up for the murder and sent to jail, the story of Batman: Murderer? and Batman: Fugitive. It turns out that Vesper was killed by David Cain, a prominent member of the League of Assassins. While it seems that Vesper and Bruce would never have worked out, their relationship perfectly explains Batman’s relationship patterns.
8: Rachel Caspian
Many a woman has been modeled off of Rachel Caspian, including other list-makers Rachel Dawes and Andrea Beaumont. Caspian was featured in the 4 issue arc Batman: Year Two, the daughter of Judson Caspian. Rachel and Bruce become very close, and he even proposes marriage and considers dropping his vigilante ways. But Rachel’s father turns out to be The Reaper, the original vigilante of Gotham. When Batman decides to go after the murderous Reaper, he enlists the help of the crime lords of Gotham, needing help against the man who used weapons to defeat his opponents. The crime lords comply, but only if Batman works with Joe Chill. Batman decides to kill Chill with the gun he used to kill Bruce’s parents in the same alley they were killed in, but The Reaper shoots Chill first. In a final battle, Batman realizes The Reaper is also Rachel’s father. He falls off a rooftop to his death and Batman swears off ever using guns. Rachel is so distraught she breaks it of with Bruce and becomes a nun. Ouch.
7: Rachel Dawes
Rachel Dawes is Bruce’s childhood friend, the daughter of one of the house servant’s for the Wayne family. Rachel’s character only appears in the Christopher Nolan movie franchise in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Even though Rachel only appears in two films, she made an impact on many Batman fans. Rachel and Bruce used to play around Wayne Manor, but when his parents were murdered, Rachel and her mother left. As an adult, Rachel goes to law school and gets an internship at the Gotham District Attorney’s office. After talking to Bruce about Joe Chill and Bruce’s intention to murder Chill, Rachel tells him that his parent’s would be disappointed in him. It is this conversation that leads Bruce to travel the world and learn about the world of criminals. Upon his return, it is clear the two share a mutual love, but don’t act on it. At the end of Batman Begins, Bruce hints at his true identity. Rachel and he kiss, but she decides they can’t be together while he is the Batman. In The Dark Knight, Rachel is the girlfriend of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Rachel is eventually killed when The Joker makes Batman decided to save Dent or Rachel. Batman picks Rachel, but The Joker deceived Batman by switching the addresses where each victim is located. It is later revealed through a letter that Rachel never planned on choosing Bruce over Harvey Dent because Bruce would always choose to be Batman.
6: Silver St. Cloud
Silver St. Cloud not only has a really cool name, but she is also a really important piece to Bruce Wayne’s insanely complex puzzle. Silver was a rich socialite who dated Bruce. That’s not really why she is important. Bruce Wayne has a way with the ladies, especially rich ones. What set Silver apart (and it wasn’t her hair), was that she figured out his secret. It may not sound that hard, but Silver is one of few who figured out that her boyfriend was also Batman. Also, she is the first woman in the comics shown to bed the Bat. That may seem odd, but considering she was his 1970’s flame, it was a really big deal. Silver leaves Bruce because she couldn’t bear losing her lover while he was saving Gotham. In Justice League of America #159, Batman says he wanted a family with Silver. Awww.
5: Vicki Vale
Face it, Vicki Vale is Batman‘s answer to Lois Lane. Introduced in 1948, Vicki Vale was a photojournalist for The Gotham Gazette. In the comics, Vale was a minor character and sometime love interest of Bruce Wayne until 1963. Throughout her run in the series, Vicki often suspects that Bruce and Batman are one in the same, but Bruce always fools her into thinking otherwise. She never finds out his true identity. Vicki is perhaps most famous for being Bruce’s girlfriend in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film, portrayed by Kim Basinger. She and Bruce get hot and heavy quickly, but The Joker takes an interest in the blonde beauty. After a horrific night at an art museum in which everyone is killed by The Joker except Vicki, Bruce decides to tell Vicki the truth. At the end of the film, Vicki waits at Wayne Manor for Batman to return home. While Vicki has never had a lasting impression on audiences, most fans know of her because of her portrayal on the big screen.
4: Andrea Beaumont
Although Andrea Beaumont was introduced in a Batman animated film and only made a few cameos in other mediums afterwards, her legacy lives on over 20 years later. You may remember a little movie called Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm. Ok, it really is the most famous and popular Batman animated film in existence. Andrea Beaumont was Bruce Wayne’s first true love. They met while both visiting graves; her mother’s and his parents’. After having a serious relationship, Bruce proposes to Andrea and even decides not to go through with his plan to become a vigilante. When Andrea’s mobster father finds out he will be killed soon, he takes Andrea and goes into hiding. Bruce’s loss is what pushes him into becoming Batman. After some years later, and the death of Andrea’s father, she returns to Gotham to avenge his death, even donning a masked costume. The similarities between Andrea and Bruce are countless, but their difference is what sets them apart; Andrea is ok with killing people in order to gain peace. Eventually, Andrea figures out that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but it is too late for them to reconcile.
3: Talia Al-Ghul
O.K. Here’s the deal. I am not going to sugar coat this one for you folks. Talia Al-Ghul is bat-shit crazy. In case you were wondering, the pun was totally intended, but I do use it in my every day vocabulary. To put it in a nutshell, Talia is the quintessential girlfriend who you never take home. When you break up, you may want to go into hiding, or even change your name because she will find you and you new lover and destroy you both. Also, don’t ever let her drug you. Talia is the daughter of Ra’s Al-Ghul, leader of the League of Assassin’s. Ra’s gets it in his head that he wants Batman to become his heir and tries to marry him to Talia. Even though Batman isn’t too down with the idea of going to the dark side, he still finds Talia attractive. This turns out to be a huge mistake. Talia and Batman have sex, and then she uses his goods to make a test tube baby, Damian Wayne. She is always on the fence about who to follow, Batman or her father, but in the end it turns out that her father always wins in her eyes. And let’s not forget that she plotted Jezebel Jet’s murder and brought her head back for Batman to see. C-R-A-Z-Y. So why is she number 3? Well, she is the mother of Batman’s child, so we have to give her some credit for that.
2: Justice, Itself
Justice. No, that isn’t the name of a girlfriend, but the actual idea itself. Batman loves Justice. It is what he lives for. In the 75 years that Batman has existed, only one lady has stayed close to his heart. Many of his lady lovers choose not to be with him because of his alter-ego, and the others he decides not to be with them for the same reason. It’s true that he really could give up the cowl. But women are not what Bruce Wayne lives for; justice is what Batman lives for. Sorry women of Gotham City, but the most handsome and richest bachelor in town will never love you as much as he loves the smell of Justice.
1: Selena Kyle
So maybe Batman does love Justice more than he loves Selina Kyle. But he really does love her alter ego, Catwoman. Unlike all the other lover’s Batman has had, Catwoman really understands him. And even though she has had her times of being the villain, the two have always had a thing for each other. From the original comics, to Julie Newmar, to Batman Returns, and to Batman: Heart of Hush, these two have been off and on for decades. There are even universes and parallels that suggest Bruce and Selina had a daughter together, who grew up to be Huntress. Perhaps Batman and Catwoman’s love affair works because they really get each other. It has long been known that Bruce Wayne considers his alter ego to be Bruce Wayne, and Batman is who he really is. Catwoman knows that, and feels that way about herself, too. Plus, their kiss in Hush is just too hot to deny. These two creatures of the night were absolutely meant for each other. Meow!
all photos are credit to DC Comics.
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