Comic Book / Batman '89

The Dark Knight returns.

Bruce Wayne: What do you want from me?

Harvey Dent: With your backing, Bruce... we're going to take down Batman.

Batman '89 is a DC Comics six-issue mini-series. Similar to Batman '66 being a continuation of the Batman (1966) show, this is a direct continuation of Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (while ignoring Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). It is written by Sam Hamm (the writer of the 1989 Burton film) and illustrated by Joe Quinones.

It is some time after the Penguin's rampage, and Gotham remains on a knife-edge. Crime is spiralling back out of control, and gangs of vigilantes have taken to wearing Batman's symbol and acting in his name to restore order — but in addition to lacking his skill, many of them also lack his interest in justice and seem more interested in provoking the African-American residents of the Burnside district. Racial tensions are at a high, as is distrust of Batman; and District Attorney Harvey Dent, with one eye on helping his old neighborhood and another on advancing his political career, has decided that enough is enough; the city can no longer tolerate Batman acting outside the law with impunity. Together with his girlfriend, GCPD Sergeant Barbara Gordon — the estranged daughter of Commissioner Gordon — Dent decides that Batman needs to be taken down. Between being targeted by Dent and the National Guard, the return of an old love, the rise of a young challenger in a mask, a city about to explode and his own qualms about how to best fulfil his pledge to protect Gotham, Batman quickly finds himself with his hands full — but Dent has demons of his own bubbling away just under the surface, and a unfortunate twist of luck will leave the fate of Gotham hanging on the flip of a coin...

A follow-up series titled Batman '89: Echoes is being released in November 2023, debuting a version of Scarecrow based off Jeff Goldblum and focusing more on the mysterious Dr. Q.

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Tropes in Batman '89:

• Adaptational Backstory Change: The first time we see the Burnside neighborhood of Gotham in the main universe is Batgirl vol 4 #35, in 2014, when Batgirl moves there. It's known as one of the "trendy" parts of Gotham. In Batman '89, it's introduced in the first issue as Harvey Dent's old neighborhood and part of his poor upbringing; it appears to be based more on low-income, predominantly African-American inner-city areas like Harlem.
• Adaptation Expansion: Hamm uses the opportunity of a story about Harvey Dent to flesh the character and his backstory out further, as most of the scenes in the original script were left unfilmed or excised by other writers, and the plans for Williams' return as Two-Face in Forever never came to be.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In the main DC universe, Harvey Dent actually started out on neutral and then good terms with Batman, allowing Batman to help take down the mobsters that controlled Gotham. Here, Dent believes Batman is part of the problem and wants to take him down. When Bruce tries to convince Harvey to stand down in their final confrontation, he gives him a hypothetical of "the other side of the coin" he could be living instead, where he and Batman were allies from the start.
• Adaptational Job Change: In the main universe, Barbara Gordon was a librarian before becoming Batgirl. Here, she is a Sergeant with the Gotham City PD.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Barbara Gordon was never involved with Harvey Dent in the main DC universe, while here, she is his girlfriend and fiance.
• Age Lift: Barbara Gordon is traditionally portrayed as a younger woman around Dick Grayson's age. In this continuity, she's old enough to date Harvey Dent. This however fits with the depiction of her original age Pre-Crisis, where she was old enough to have a PH.D.
• And the Adventure Continues: While the series ends with a Bittersweet Ending, it also implies that Drake will continue to fight crime (possibly independently of Bruce), as he observes Selina leaving Barbara's apartment while in costume. At the same time, the Bat-Signal turns on as Bruce reflects on what his life would have been like with a family.
• Ascended Extra: Compared to his characterization in the previous Burton entry, Batman Returns (in which he had a grand total of four lines of dialogue), Commissioner Gordon is much more integral to the plot this time around, and takes a direct leadership role during the Burnside riot and subsequent confrontation with Two-Face.
• Big Bad Slippage: Harvey Dent starts as a Hero Antagonist against Batman, but ends up becoming Two-Face.
• Bittersweet Ending: The first '89 series ends with Jim Gordon killed by Two-Face, Catwoman causing Two-Face's death, and Bruce rejecting her, to which she retaliates by delivering evidence to Barbara Gordon revealing Bruce's identity. The need to be Batman is starting to wear on Bruce more than ever, with him wishing to retire and expressing disgust at the vigilante groups that have taken up the symbol of the Bat; he only makes the decision to go out on patrol by flipping Harvey's coin, showing that it's no longer a thing he feels control over, and Echoes confirms he will later retire. On the other hand, Bruce and Drake strike up a partnership, and Bruce helps the orphaned Nyesha Burroughs by setting up a trust in her name and arranging for Drake's older sister to adopt her.
  • Echoes opens to reveal that Bruce was basically forced into retirement by Barbara Gordon after she found a diary her father wrote about his theories regarding Batman's identity; while she respected her father's view that Batman's intentions were good, she made it clear to Bruce that he had to retire as Batman for the future or she would arrest him if Batman was seen in Gotham again.
• Bland-Name Product: In Issue #2, the Batman-themed vigilante boys are seen breaking into a closed store to steal a "Gamestation" console, which is quite obviously designed and named in reference to the real-life Playstation.
• Canon Discontinuity: Since the series takes place after Batman Returns, the Schumacher films are retconned out of this universe's timeline. As a result, Billy Dee Williams' Harvey Dent returns while new versions of Barbara Gordon and Robin are introduced.
• Canon Immigrant:
  • Harvey Bullock never appeared in the Burton films, though an Expy of him did appear in the form of Lt. Eckhardt. Here, he actually gets to make a proper appearance.
  • Harleen Quinzel, who wasn't created until after the Burton films, appears in this series as "Dr. Q".
• Chekhov's Boomerang: The giant metal (decorative) coin from the Lincoln Savings & Loan building that Bruce was referenced in the 1989 film as being fond of inadvertently saves his life during the opening shootout in issue #1, when he uses it for rolling cover while fleeing from the National Guard. He eventually has the broken centerpiece delivered to Wayne Manor in the following issue, where it is (begrudgingly) mounted by Alfred as a display piece in the Batcave. In the final issue, Selina drops the coin onto Harvey (who has Bruce at gunpoint) as a distraction to eventually force him off the edge of the Batcave platform to his death.
• Chekhov's Gun: Bruce and Alfred are still taking care of "Miss Kitty", the cat seemingly left behind by Selina as a gift at the end of Batman Returns. The final issue reveals that Selina has been eavesdropping on the duo the entire time the cat was with them, via a collar with a microphone in it. This allows her to execute her plan of delivering damning information on Bruce to Barbara at the end of the series.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: All over the place, with multiple characters' appearances being based off of real-life potential casting for what ended up being unmade versions or proposed sequels.
  • Any characters already appearing from the movies are drawn to look like the actors — Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent, Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman; Commissioner Gordon still resembles Pat Hingle, but his design is updated slightly to be more in line with the Gordon of Batman: The Animated Series.
  • Similarly, Harvey Bullock, who never appeared in any of the films, is modelled after Robert Costanzo, his B:TAS voice actor.
  • Barbara Gordon is Tim Burton regular Winona Ryder at the time, appearing to be in her early 20's.
  • Drake Winston/Robin, true to the original plans for Returns, is Marlon Wayans.
  • The GCPD Detective trying to track down Harvey Dent after his transformation into Two-Face is Harrison Ford in a case of I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine ( and a possible actor allusion considering Tommy Lee Jones, who was Two-Face in Batman Forever played Deputy Marshal Samuel Girard opposite Ford in The Fugitive.)
  • Madonna, heavily considered for the role in the would-be Batman Unchained, is "Dr. Q"/Harleen Quinzel, with a Smylex grin later distorting her face as Harley Quinn.
  • Scarecrow, also in line with ''Unchained” casting rumors, is patterned on Jeff Goldblum.
  • Chuck Lantz, ACN's station manager, is very clearly Harvey Fierstein, down to wearing an identical shirt and tie to his appearance in Independence Day when he's first introduced.
  • Arkham inmate Maynard who may be the Riddler resembles Martin Short.
• Continuity Nod: The batarang Penguin planted to frame Batman in Batman Returns shows up in the police evidence file. It gets taken by Two-Face and used as a Chekhov's Gun in Issue #5 when Harvey throws it at Batman, causing him to accidentally shoot a Tranquilizer Dart at Commissioner Gordon and allowing Two-Face to leave taking him hostage.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Drake makes short work of the four young Batman-inspired vigilante boys when he sees them robbing a neighborhood store; they end up tossed in an alley dumpster.
• Death by Adaptation: Commissioner Gordon, Carmine Falcone and Two-Face are killed off in the series.
• Destructive Saviour: Batman stops the criminals from stealing the armored cars and saved $31 Million... but ended up causing $26 Million in damages, as Harvey Dent points out. Also, a security guard inside one of the armored cars was killed in the fall and another is in stable condition with a skull fracture.
• Disney Villain Death: Two-Face ends up dying by falling down into an abyss of the Batcave.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Dent at one point speculates that Batman is actually a former group of black ops mercenaries because he can’t believe that one man could be capable of everything Batman can do.
• Hope Spot:
  • Issue #3 begins with Dent, in defiance of his typical origin story, carrying Drake out of the arsonist fire unscathed, becoming a celebrated national hero, and winning an almost-uncontested race for Governor. He's just about to take down the group of mercenaries he always suspected were posing as "The Batman" with the help of Barbara, the new GCPD Commissioner, when Jerome appears to bring him back to reality; as his fantasy begins to dissolve around him, Harvey wakes up to Bruce and Drake dragging his badly scarred body out of the fire instead. From then on, he's haunted by the what-if of that perfect outcome, and the causality that led him here instead of there.
  • The same thing happens in Issue #6, when Bruce's last-ditch plan to convert Harvey back to the side of good involves explaining a scenario where the latter rests up for several months, Batman quietly retires, and Bruce lends all his money and resources to help Harvey ultimately clean up Gotham "the right way". Harvey seems to be on the verge of taking it (via Bruce's rigged coin)... but Selina spoils the plan by dropping the giant coin on him at that exact moment.
• Imagine Spot: The epilogue of the final issue has Bruce being woken up after a dream where he'd imagined the perfect family life — one in which his parents were still alive, he was married to Selina and had two children (and adopted the orphan, Ayesha) — and reflecting on the toll his work has taken on his personal life.
• Impaled Palm: In the final issue, Harvey's hand is impaled as it falls onto the hook of a crane Selina lowered down in an attempt to save him.
• Irony:
  • The details of Harvey Dent's Hope Spot in #3 — a brave rescue from the garage fire, being lauded for heroism, approached to run for political office, etc. — do in fact start occurring... but for Bruce Wayne, not Harvey himself. And Bruce would rather it wasn't, because it risks throwing light on his nocturnal activities.
  • Just like in Batman Forever and The Dark Knight Two-Face falls to his death, only this time it wasn't Batman's doing (not to mention this Batman initially being much less concerned for the lives of criminals than he is in those two films).
• It's a Wonderful Plot: Played very, very darkly. While convalescing in the hospital, Harvey is visited by the "ideal" self he dreamed of becoming the night he was scarred, and shown what might've been if things had gone differently — getting killed as a baby if the drunk driver hadn't hit his young mother instead, getting sentenced as an adult and becoming a repeat offender if he'd goofed off one night with his friends instead of studying, and being hailed as a national hero if he'd saved Drake from the fire. Instead of giving him hope, the idea of his will and choices alone bending the universe into two starts to drive him insane.
• Justified Criminal: Batman sees a criminal running from the proprietor of a shop he robbed and follows him back to his apartment... only to find that the criminal didn't steal any money, just baby food and diapers (which the proprietor shot at him for) for his baby. All Batman can do is ask where the criminal's mother is before he's distracted.
• Just in Time: Selina has apparently developed a knack for arriving to help Bruce exactly when he needs it the most, as evidenced in the final issue during the confrontation with Harvey. It's then revealed that she knew to do so because she'd been spying on Bruce and Alfred for months, via the microphone she planted in Miss Kitty's collar.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Issue 3 features Harvey's alternate "Ideal" self visiting him in his dream while in the hospital. It's not clear from this exchange if he's truly an alternate self of Harvey or just a product of his mind. This particular universe has been confirmed as as part of the multiverse during the Arrowverse special Crisis on Infinite Earths and the dream Harvey produces a newspaper featuring Wayne's heroism that the Main Harvey could not have possibly seen at the time. However the world that Harvey dreams about at the start has Batman as multiple people and Bruce Wayne as a mere backer, something that Harvey incorrectly believes, giving evidence that his ideal self is a hallucination.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Numerous to The Dark Knight Returns:
    • One gangster in the first issue appears to be a Joker-themed Mutant from that series.
    • Issue #2 features a group of young Batman-inspired vigilantes who dress in clothing featuring the Bat-Symbol, with one even calling himself "Batman", calling to mind the Sons of Batman from that series.
    • In issue #3, when he's informed that Bruce Wayne dragged him out of a burning building while he was unconscious, Harvey Dent sardonically replies "The White Knight returns".
  • Harvey Dent was previously opposed to Batman on principle in Beware the Batman.
  • Batman uses a giant penny from the Lincoln Savings & Loan building to shield him from the bullets. As fans of the main universe Batman know, he has a giant penny in the Batcave from an early adventure; sure enough, in issue #2, Bruce has the giant penny delivered to Wayne Manor (much to Alfred's confusion).
  • Bruce's "underarmor" clothing looks exactly the same as that of the Kenner Batman Returns figure modeled after a similar concept, "Quick Change Batman Armor". The fourth issue of the series even has a direct nod to the cartoon image from the front of the packaging, via a sequence where Bruce holds his cowl and cape in the exact same manner while talking to Alfred about a riot the night before.
  • Drake's Robin costume has a hood, similar to Damian Wayne.
  • In issue #4 Robin perches on a gargoyle in a manner similar to Tim Drake from one of Brian Bolland's drawings◊.
  • Two of the Joker rioters from the first issue resemble the Dee Dee twins from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
  • On Halloween, we see a man dressed as the Joker who's clearly modeled after Prince and his Gemini character from the "Partyman" and "Batdance" music videos.
  • Alfred now sports a thick mustache like his main universe counterpart. Commissioner Gordon's appearance has also been retooled to be a cross between Pat Hingle and the traditional comic Gordon.
  • In addition to the obvious reference points from the Tim Burton movies, the comic also draws some subtle references to Batman: The Animated Series, which was heavily inspired by the Burton movies. The suit Bruce Wayne wears in several scenes is similar to that worn by his cartoon counterpart in that show, and Commissioner Gordon is similarly drawn in a way which merges Pat Hingle (who played him in the films) with how he was drawn in the cartoons.
    • Harvey Dent believes that Batman is actually a group of mercenaries set up by Gordon, which is a theory put out by Two-Face in the Batman: The Animated Series episode Almost Got ‘Im.
  • Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face after half his face is corroded by car battery acid while he's passed out on the floor of a burning building, which is incredibly similar to how he became Two-Face in The Dark Knight. The scarred half of his face is even portrayed in a similarly realistic manner as in that film (though his hair still retains the white of his classic portrayals). His damaged side eventually turns blue and he subsequently dons an asymmetrical suit colored black and white, just like in Batman: The Animated Series.
  • Catwoman's new costume mixes elements from her original movie costume with her '90s Jim Balent design, alongside elements from the Animated Series version as well.
  • In Harvey's Hope Spot mentioned above, Barbara presents him with confirmation that "Batman" is actually a group of black ops mercenaries, including pictures of four of the "Batmen" — who are all drawn to resemble George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Val Kilmer.
  • Drake figures out that Bruce is Batman by analysing certain tics, similar to Blake in The Dark Knight Rises.
  • Harvey Two-Face dies by way of falling off into the abyss, much like his Batman Film Series successor counterpart in Batman Forever.
  • By the time of Echoes, Bruce Wayne has retired as Batman but there have been at least four people attempt to go into action in makeshift Batman costumes similar to those used in The Dark Knight.
• "Not So Different" Remark: When meeting with the civic leaders of Burnside, Bruce responds to their skepticism about his motives for contributing to the improvement of the area by noting that despite his wealth and privileges, like many of the residents there he too has lost loved ones to violence. Played with, in that after the meeting they remain skeptical of him but at least show willingness to give him a chance to prove his sincerity after that point.
• Only One Name: When we first meet this universe's version of Robin, he's only referred to thus far as "Drake". However, issue #3 confirms it's not a reference to Tim Drake, as his full name is revealed to be Drake Winston.
• Prophetic Names: Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face in a district known as "Burnside".
• Race Lift:
  • Like Batman (1989), Harvey Dent is African-American. In the first issue, he visits his old neighborhood and discusses with his old mentor how he wants to give black children someone they can look up to that's not an athlete.
  • True to the original plans for the character, Drake Winston/Robin is African-American.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: James Gordon tears into Harvey Dent before being shot.
  James Gordon: Tragedy doesn't change you, Harvey. It reveals you. Maybe she's finally seeing what you always were—a spineless opportunist. No real sense of right and wrong...just a finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing. Now you've got your little coin to tell you what you can and can't do— —As if you're not responsible for your own choices. If you weren't such a pitiful weakling, you'd be—
  Two-Face: (shoots James Gordon) Happy now, old man?
  James Gordon: Yes, Harvey...Thank you... You've done me a...a big favor. She loves you. She'd forgive anything...find an excuse for what you've done...but she'll never forgive you...for this...
• Ripped from the Headlines: While trying to shoot and capture Batman, the National Guard accidentally hits and kills an African-American youth who had, unbeknownst to them, stolen baby food and diapers from a neighborhood store to provide for his infant daughter; as a result, the African-American community of Burnside believes the shooting was racially-motivated and develops a deep distrust of the Gotham Police Department (and police in general). While the whole scenario is highly evocative of the George Floyd incident and the amplified Black Lives Matter movement that followed, the time period and Gotham's status as a racial powderkeg make it more of an analogue for the 1992 L.A. riots.
• Secret Test of Character: Drake is certain (and has multiple good reasons to believe) that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but since Bruce refuses to admit it no matter how much he prods him, he resorts to drastic measures: he's got a test tube of battery acid, and he will disfigure Wayne if he doesn't reveal the truth. Bruce immediately goes into action mode — feinting, flipping him into a bookcase and breaking the coffee table over him — until Drake manages to throw the tube in his face, revealing that it's water. Bruce, already impressed with his tenacity, decides to team up with him as a partner.
• Shout-Out:
  • On Halloween night, several Gothamites wear costumes based on Tim Burton's other works. These include Lydia Deetz, Miss Argentina, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and The Martian Girl.
  • Drake is an Ice-T fan, and listens to "The Hunted Child" on his headphones during his limo ride to Wayne Manor.
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: In spite of his underprivileged life, Drake still holds onto some hope for humanity. He tells Bruce that his dark and sinister presence might be good for scaring the bad guys, but he needs to reassure the innocent that he's protecting them.
• Spared by the Adaptation: The first issue of Echoes reveals Alicia Hunt survived her apparent "suicide attempt" Joker mentioned in the original movie, and went on to have her face restored after all the scarring she received.
• Take That!:
  • A subtle one to the Batgirl (2011) volume which featured Burnside as a trendy hipster section of Gotham. Since this comic is set in 1989 and shows Burnside is both one of the poorer sections of Gotham and has a predominantly black community, it subtly implies Burnside in the modern era comics only got "trendy" thanks to white gentrification.
  • When Drake first sees the Batcave, Bruce jokingly tells him that he's going to imprison the youth here, but at least the food will be good.
• Thanatos Gambit: Already knowing that Harvey's willing to kill after seeing him gut-shot Bullock, and that there's a chance he himself won't make it out of this, Gordon chooses to taunt Harvey until the bad side recklessly shoots him at point-blank range. As he lays dying, he tells Dent that — while Barbara would be able to forgive his actions out of love — she'll never want to see the man who murdered her father again.
• Villainous Legacy: While the Penguin is dead and the Red Triangle Circus Gang are gone, they still cast a shadow over the narrative thanks to the damage their frame-up did to Batman's reputation.
• Your Days Are Numbered: A particularly cruel and realistic version — both Bruce and the EMTs point out on the night of the Royal garage fire that even if Harvey survives the night, the sulfuric acid fumes he potentially inhaled could rot away his throat and lungs, killing him by respiratory failure within six months.

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