JANUARY: Batman – in an example of ultimate trust – removes his cowl to reveal himself as Bruce Wayne to Jim Gordon – who turned away and refused to look – in LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #125.
JANUARY: Lex Luthor to the rescue? Metropolis businessman Lex Luthor leads the rebuilding of Gotham City starting in BATMAN #573.
FEBRUARY: The Joker shoots and kills Sarah Essen, the wife of Commissioner Gordon, in DETECTIVE COMICS #741 (“Endgame”, Part 3).
MARCH: BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS debuts with issue #1. The title would feature 8-page black and white backup stories.
MARCH: A “real” version of Batman is seen in REALWORLDS: BATMAN.
APRIL: The Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl gets her own ongoing series in BATGIRL #1.
JULY: Ra’s Al Ghul takes on the Justice League in the 4-part “Tower of Babel” storyline starting in JLA #43. In the end, Batman is kicked out of the league for betraying the trust of the other members by having kept secret files on how to defeat them.
AUGUST: After BATMAN: YEAR ONE (which omitted Barbara Gordon from the story), Barbara Gordon was retconned as Jim Gordon’s niece. In BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #6, it was established that Gordon had once had a relationship with Barbara’s mother, and Gordon was, in fact, her father.
AUGUST: Hit hard by guilt over a murder/suicide of an informant, Batman faces “himself” in Darwin Cooke’s BATMAN: EGO.
OCTOBER: The Joker gains superpowers from Mr. Mzyxplik in EMPEROR JOKER. This Superman storyline would later be adapted in the “Emperor Joker!” episode of the BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD animated series.
OCTOBER: The Joker’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn, gets her first ongoing series with HARLEY QUINN #1.
DECEMBER: Dick Grayson’s early years as Robin is told in a 4-part story beginning in ROBIN: YEAR ONE #1.
JETT REMEMBERS BATMAN IN 2000
I still wasn’t reading comics regularly in 2000, but Batman was still on my mind and in my heart via the running of my Batman website, “Jett D60s BATMAN 5 Page.” In 2000, the site’s name changed to “BATMAN ON FILM” and the rest is history.
I’ve got to admit that I have not read many of the Batman stories that came out in 2000. However, BATMAN: EGO by Darwin Cooke is a masterpiece and one of my favorite Batman stories of all time. Also, while doing research for this article, I discovered REALWORLDS: BATMAN – I honestly never knew it existed! What struck me the most is the cowl that “Batman” wears in the story was a real toy sold back in the late 1960s…and I have one! Check it out below!
What did you think of Batman in 2000 and what are your memories? Post your thoughts in the comments section below! – Bill “Jett” Ramey
