It Isn’t a Joke: Batman Really Does Know Everything And DC Comics Is Finally Explaining Why That Is

If anyone truly knows everything about everything in the DC Universe, it has to be Batman. He’s not the smartest character under the DC Comics banner, but he’s not far from number one. His World’s Greatest Detective moniker is derived from the immense level of knowledge he holds as a crime-fighting genius – and it’s all by design.

Gotham Adventures #56 by Scott Peterson, Tim Levins, Terry Beatty, Lee Loughridge, Albert T. De Guzman, and Harvey Richards gets to the root explanation as to why and how Batman knows everything. The answer is simple: the why is because he thinks he has to, while the how is by doing intense research to prepare for a scenario that he needs to know.

Upon further analyzing his reasoning and how it’s affected his (and the Bat-Family’s) adventures, it becomes evident why Batman is such a great detective.

Batman Seeks Knowledge For One Simple Reason: Just in Case He Has to Know

How Gotham Adventures #56 Reveals This Truth

Gotham Adventures #56 – set within the world of Batman: The Animated Series – focuses on the Riddler, or more specifically, a Riddler impersonator, which becomes evident when Edward Nigma looks utterly befuddled after the Dark Knight interrogates him about a riddle that doesn’t belong to him. Upon further investigation, the Caped Crusader and his Boy Wonder, Robin (specifically Tim Drake, Batman’s most trusted Robin), discover that Arkham Asylum has one missing inmate: Kim.

Before Batman can track Kim down, Batman then discovers that the Riddler – enraged that anyone would dare copy him – broke out of Arkham Asylum to confront his wannabe. While Batman and Robin try to solve Kim’s riddles, the Riddler confronts Kim directly at his hideout (his address, which the Riddler found online). A fight ensues, and Kim admits that his five riddles were inspired by the five senses displayed in the movie In the Realm of the Senses, directed by Nagisa Ōshima.

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As the Riddler criticizes that no one, not even Batman, would have the wherewithal to understand a riddle from such an obscure reference, Batman shows up to apprehend both men. To the Riddler’s surprise, he underestimated Batman. Kim asks Batman if he knows who Nagisa Ōshima is, to which Batman gives a detailed description of his biography, though he admits that he never saw one of his movies (he’d rectify that by issue’s end). When asked why he knows so much about him, Batman says: “In case I had to.”

How Does Batman Know and Remember Everything?

Memory Retention Is a Superpower

Ever since at least the Silver Age, it’s been established that Batman has eidetic memory (better known as photographic memory). His memory retention is practically Bruce Wayne’s superpower, allowing him to slowly replay moments in his head bit by bit, down to the very last detail, whether he saw it happen days ago or even years ago. Furthermore, years’ worth of memory can be stored in Batman’s head like a memory palace (much like Sherlock Holmes), allowing him to save and access it whenever necessary and at a moment’s notice.

Ergo, if he needs to remember something he learned ages ago, even something as obscure as where Nagisa Ōshima was born as a post-WWII Japanese director, Batman can pull that information out of his head at a moment’s notice. Even more impressive is how the same skill has become commonplace for other members of the Bat-Family. For example, Barbara Gordon shows off how her own photographic memory works like a computer in Batgirl #35 by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, Babs Tarr, Maris Wicks, and Jared K. Fletcher.

Why Exactly Does Batman Try to Know Everything?

A Good Detective Always Stays Prepared

Batman tells Kim in Gotham Adventures that he learned such useless information in case he had to, but the question remains of why he would prepare for something so hypothetical. Some might wonder why he spends so much time researching information that he may never actually need. He happened to be prepared to know about Ōshima by chance, but it was a slim chance. It’s hard to understand why one would spend hours learning anything on a whim for the slim chance it could be useful. Simply put, this is what separates Batman from other super-geniuses and detectives: he’s always prepared.

In some cases, like when he wrote out plans on how to kill the Justice League just in case, Batman may be a little too prepared. However, even in being overly prepared, a good detective needs to be prepared. Doing such extensive research for any and all hypothetical scenarios and maintaining a photographic mental account of all that information justifies Batman’s position as the World’s Greatest Detective. There may be others out there more skilled or smarter than Batman, but none willing to be as mentally prepared as he is.

Gotham Adventures #56 is available now from DC Comics.

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Batman

One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.

Created By

Bob Kane , Bill Finger

Alias

Bruce Wayne

Alliance

Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family

Race

Human

FIRST APP

Detective Comics #27 (1939)

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