There is probably no cliché Batman fans hate more than ‘BIFF! ZAP! POW! COMICS ARE NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE!’ It’s bad enough that you don’t realize comics haven’t been *just* for kids for a very looooong time… but do you actually have to stress it with a reference to a 50-year old TV show?
That said, I do love bombastic sound effects. As much as I mostly talk about writers and artists in this blog, Batman comics wouldn’t be nearly as cool without the onomatopoeia of talented letterers like Jim Aparo, Ben Oda, John Costanza, Todd Klein, Willie Schubert, and Tim Harkins, among many others.
So, to celebrate Gotham Calling’s first anniversary, here are 50 images of Batman loudly kicking all kinds of people (and aliens and demons) in the head:
Detective Comics #438
Detective Comics #444
Batman #243
Brave and the Bold #115
Detective Comics #490
Batman #358
The Brave and the Bold #180
Batman #365
Detective Comics #549
Batman #382
Batman and the Outsiders #17
Batman #393
Batman #400
Detective Comics #572
Detective Comics #579
Detective Comics #585
Legends #2
Detective Comics #590
Son of the Demon
Detective Comics #592
Detective Comics #594
Detective Comics #595
Detective Comics #602
Detective Comics #625
Batman #431
Batman #464
Legends of the Dark Knight #12
Legends of the Dark Knight: Jazz #1
Red Rain
Legends of the Dark Knight #40
Legends of the Dark Knight #46
Legends of the Dark Knight #48
Batman #541
Legends of the Dark Knight #58
Batman Annual #18
Batman Black and White #2
Legends of the Dark Knight #88
Legends of the Dark Knight #97
The Batman Adventures #36
The Batman Adventures Holiday Special
Legends of the Dark Knight #148
Legends of the Dark Knight #153
Legends of the Dark Knight #159
Gotham Knights #48
Gotham Adventures #31
Batman and the Monster Men #1
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #6
Batman ’66 #1
Batman Black & White (v2) #2
Batman ’66 #8
But of course, the most famous Bat-kick in the head of all time is actually silent:
The Dark Knight Returns #4
NEXT: Batman, the stripper.