Find out everything you need to know about Luke Fox the black Batman. A report by Bleeding Cool says DC is planning to replace Batman with a black man. Rich Johnson says that in the summer of next year, 2020, DC Comics is planning to give us a black Batman. According to Johnson, this doesn’t mean Bruce Wayne is turning black like Rachel Dolezal but someone else is going to be wearing the Batsuit.
This move comes after several high-profile characters have been replaced by people of color. Captain America is now black in the movies. Nick Fury is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Plus, Doomsday Clock revealed that Rorschach is now a black man named Reggie Long. So who is the new Batman going to be? The article says it’s not going to be Duke Thomas the vigilante and a member of the Batman Family. Johnson speculates on a few other options like Black Lightning. But the most likely candidate is Luke Fox / Batwing.
The news has copies of Batwing #19, Fox’ first appearance as the superhero, selling for almost $100.
But first the history of black Batman.
Has Batman Ever Been Black?
Bruce Wayne has always been a caucasian. But there have been a few prominent members of the Batman family who have been black.
In 1973 there’s a backup story in Batman #250 called “The Batman Nobody Knows!”. In it, Bruce Wayne takes several underprivileged children on a camping trip and they talk about who they think Batman really is. Among them in a little black boy named Ronnie who thinks Batman is really an African-American dude he describes as “Muhamed Ali, Jim Brown, Shaft and Superfly rolled into one”.
The Short-Lived Career of Blackwing
Charles Bullock is the second black man to wear the cape and cowl. In Adventure Comics #464 (1979) Cary Bates and Don Heck created Blackwing. He was only seen briefly in Adventure Comics but got a starring role in Wonder Woman #294 (1981).
Bullock existed in another reality from Bruce Wayne named “Earth-2”. In his reality Batman had gotten old and retired. But Bullock admired what the hero had done and decided to emulate him.
Unfortunately, it ended with a savage beating and he decided he could do more good supporting another hero. Wayne’s daughter the Huntress (Helena Wayne). He never wore the cape and cowl again.
Stan Lee Creates a New Batman
Then, 2001, Stan Lee did a series of comics for DC where he reimagined their most popular characters. In Just Imagine: Batman #1 (2001), with art by Joe Kubert, he introduced a very different Batman. The Dark Knight is the alter-ego of a man named Wayne Williams. He’s an African-American guy who’s father was a policeman killed in an ambush.
Wayne goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit and vows revenge.
While there he learns new skills from a fellow prisoner who’s also a scientist.
After being released from prison early for saving the warden during a riot he becomes a wildly popular professional wrestler known only as “Batman”.
This Batman wears a costume inspired by early designs of the caped crusader by Bob Kane. Wayne earns enough money as a wrestler to become a costumed crime-fighter. He enlists the newly released scientist in prison to build him gadgets like night-vision goggles and a cape that allows him to fly. Wayne gets revenge on Handz but decides to continue his life as a vigilante.
Who is David Zavimbe the “Batman of Africa”?
After that Batman Incorporated #5 (2011) introduced David Zavimbe as the “Batman of Africa”. Zavimbe is a child orphaned by HIVAIDS who becomes a former child soldier. Eventually becomes a policeman in the fictional city of Tinasha, within the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bruce Wayne is so impressed by him that he makes him a part of his international “Batman Incorporated” initiative to put Batman-like figures in countries all across the world to fight the criminal organization known as Leviathan.
He calls himself “Batwing” and goes on to star in his own solo comic. The comic lasted 34 issues from 2011 to 2014 and is the first black Batman and the first DC comic to star a character in Africa. Batwing fought villains from both ends of the spectrum from international super-villains to Congo’s corrupt police force.
The character is Grant Morrison’s nod to the black Batman in the 1970s and even uses a jetpack like the child’s dream. He’s a fantastic character and the comic explores interesting stories they could never touch in the traditional Batman comics. But that’s not the end of Batwing.
Who is Luke Fox AKA Batwing?
In Batwing #19 (2013) David retires as Batwing before going on a tear to tie up the loose ends in his crime-fighting career.
Lucius Fox makes a new Batwing suit and his son Luke becomes the new Batwing. He’s an MIT graduate, genius, skilled engineer and cage fighter. Luke and his father don’t get along and it’s clear that the guy is very different from his father. Especially when he decides to move to Africa without revealing his true intentions.
After the comic series ends Batwing fades into the background but does come back a few times. In the year-long limited series “Batman Eternal” Luke helps Jim Corrigan investigate what’s happening in Arkham Asylum. In Batgirl #45, Luke Fox begins dating Barbara Gordon and they fight crime together as Batwing and Batgirl.
After the events of “DC Rebirth” and the reboot, Luke joins the team that the World’s Greatest Detective and Batwoman set up. In Detective Comics #944 (2016) he joins Batman and Batwoman to fight “The Victim Syndicate”.
The character still isn’t widely known outside of the fans but that’s changing. He recently appeared in the 2016 animated direct-to-video movie Batman: Bad Blood voiced by Gaius Charles (Friday Night Lights).
Plus, he’s scheduled to appear in the upcoming CW series Batowoman played by Camrus Johnson (The OA).
If the rumors are true we may have a brand-new Batman and it’s awesome to see.
What do you think of the idea of the Black Batman? Should Luke Fox become the caped crusader? Let us know in the comments below!
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