Fans of Batman and his vigilante family will never reach a consensus on who kicks the most ass, but a top ten list from acclaimed writer Tom King has become a major reference point for readers who want to make the case that their favorite Gotham hero deserves more credit.
While it wasn’t the first time he depicted the character, Tom King is heavily associated with the Dark Knight thanks to his 2016 run on Batman, which ran eighty-five issues not including annuals, and is currently playing out its originally intended ending in the non-canon Batman/Catwoman, with Bruce and Selina’s relationship having been a huge focus of King’s tenure. Tom King’s time on Batman saw Nightwing shot in the head, Alfred Pennyworth murdered by Bane, and Bruce jilted at the altar by Catwoman, but for many fans, ranking him after two of his own proteges remains the cruelest thing King ever did to the Dark Knight.
In a 2017 Tweet, Tom King presented his top ten of the Bat-Family’s fighters in response to a fan question. King makes it very clear that the ranking is his own personal opinion, prompting fans to argue over the results and post their own lists, though it’s hard to deny that the acclaimed writer (who also worked on Vision, Mister Miracle, and current maxiseries Human Target) doesn’t bring a little extra authority to the discussion. Famously, Batman appears third on the list, coming directly behind the first Robin and current Nightwing Dick Grayson, with Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl claiming the top spot.
Cassandra is generally agreed by fans to be the Bat-Family’s most dangerous fighter, having trained as an assassin from childhood. That Cassandra eventually beat Lady Shiva in direct combat suggests she may be DC’s greatest hand-to-hand fighter, especially since her expertise in body language allows her to predict her opponent’s moves. Dick Grayson is a more controversial figure to place above Bruce, despite the fact he’s beaten Batman in combat in the past. One of the most compelling facts supporters of Dick Grayson bring to this debate is that he received the one advantage Bruce Wayne didn’t: he was trained by Batman.
Damian Wayne’s inclusion after Batman is one fans might now question. Like Cassandra Cain, Damian was raised to become an assassin, and the events of the Lazarus Tournament suggest he’s grown into one of the most lethal people on the planet. Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, takes fifth place. Her military experience has seen her prove highly effective in close-quarters combat, though her childhood training lacked the intensity of the fighters above her. Helena Bertinelli’s Huntress places sixth, ahead of Jason Todd’s Red Hood, with the often-lethal vigilantes perhaps taking a hit due to their preference for ranged weaponry and easy kills. Duke Thomas (the Signal), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), and Tim Drake (Red Robin) round out the top ten – still some of DC’s greatest fighters, but more cerebral in their approach to crime-fighting, and therefore perhaps less prone to leading with their fists.
Five years later, Tom King’s ranking still has solid logic behind it, but that doesn’t make it definitive. For one, Harley Quinn’s tentative membership of the Bat-Family means she likely deserves to steal a spot somewhere in the middle, and Duke’s growing control of his powers make him harder to place, given they’ve become part of his combat style. After ditching his father’s rules, Damian is more dangerous than ever, and Red Hood recently swore off firearms, meaning that in another five years, he may have put in the fight training to radically climb the list. Thankfully, Batman‘s family are continuously changing and evolving, meaning that as compelling as Tom King‘s list is, fans get to keep on debating for as long as there are comics.
