The people of Gotham City are seemingly fortunate to have Batman as their Dark Knight and protector, but what is the actual cost? Thanks to a humorous line of dialogue between Batman on patrol and his butler Alfred on comms, fans know the answers–and the inside joke made as a result.
It turns out Gotham City banks have created a means by which Gothamites can opt to protect themselves and their assets from any Caped Crusader related mishaps. Read on to learn more about Batman Insurance, its very clever (and meta) name, and the cost/benefit outcome of having such an often destructive vigilante on duty to save the day.
In The Batman Who Laughs #1, written by Scott Snyder with artwork by Jock, the issue begins with Batman in a car chase with smugglers. As they speed across one of the city’s bridges, the smugglers ram into two civilian cars with their flatbed, causing the vehicles and their drivers to careen off the side of the bridge. Thankfully, Batman springs into action, firing cables into the backs of both cars, saving them from crashing into the water below, but still hanging off the sides of the bridge, which will no doubt require costly services to rescue and repair the damages to the cars and the civilians themselves. In response, Alfred suggests that Gotham’s banks should consider offering Batman Insurance Policies. Batman responds that they already do, and their name is quite funny.
Batman fans should find the play on words quite funny, as it’s a meta reference to the classic and iconic Dark Knight Returns story from Frank Miller. Alfred mentions that he should look into getting one himself, which makes sense. If anyone should get a Dark Knight Return, it should be Alfred. While this reveal is pretty fun for fans, the implications of Batman’s impact on the city’s economy is pretty interesting to think about and explore as well.
For example, some fans might have read Batman:White Knight from Sean Murphy and remember the Batman Devastation Fund. In that story, Joker regains his sanity, becoming Jack Napier. Napier’s determined to show the people of Gotham the shortcomings of Batman and prove that he’s an actual detriment to the city. A big part of that plan involves uncovering proof of the Batman Devastation Fund, which is essentially a reserve of 3 billion taxpayer dollars used by the city to repair the damages and destruction left in the Dark Knight’s wake when he saves the day. That’s an insanely large amount of taxpayer money to go towards resolving damages, and it has to make fans think from a purely logistical and economic standpoint: at 3 billion dollars, is it worth having Batman around? To make matters worse, it’s revealed that Gotham’s rich and elite were profiting as a result. According to one elite, Batman often fights in the poorer neighborhoods, which the city would then label as Batman Impact Zones, lowering the price. The rich would then buy up all of those areas and then flip them once the Batman Devastation Fund foots the bill to fix the area.
Thankfully, fans don’t have to worry too much about Batman being an economic detriment for a few reasons. Firstly, White Knight is an Elseworlds story, meaning that it doesn’t take place in the main DC timeline. Even so, something like the BDF could still exist. Also, something like Dark Knight Returns don’t seem like too much of an issue in contrast, and more of something smart for the people of Gotham to invest in for security’s sake if they choose to do so.
Secondly, fans shouldn’t forget that Batman is billionaire Bruce Wayne. There’s been plenty of examples where Bruce has used his wealth and resources to better his city and home, which certainly helps even the scales. A great example would be in the current Batman series from James Tynion IV, where Bruce has been trying to update and renovate several buildings and infrastructure around Gotham. Even in White Knight, Napier discovers that while the Batman Devastation Fund does indeed exist, the money isn’t from the taxpayers, but from Bruce Wayne’s various companies. Batman fans should take comfort in the knowledge that Bruce Wayne himself makes sure that the Dark Knight rarely leaves damage in his wake unchecked or repairs unpaid for.
