What is The Batman Nobody Knows?

By Alex Wiggan

Published in 1973 by DC Comics, The Batman Nobody Knows is a short story which first appeared in Batman issue #250. Written by Frank Robbins, with art from Rick Giordano, The Batman Nobody Knows sees three kids give their interpretation Batman, with wildly different accounts.

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What happens in The Batman Nobody Knows?

Bruce Wayne takes three underprivileged children on a camping trip. As they gather around the campfire, the conversation turns to Batman. Each child then takes it in turns to describe how they view Batman.

The first child claims that Batman is not human and has X-ray vision; while the second believes Batman to be a tech-assisted African American, with super strength. The third child describes Batman as being ten foot tall, with enhanced hearing on account of his bat ears.

After the three children have finished their descriptions, Bruce Wayne decides its time Batman paid them a visit, so appears in costume at the camp. But the children misunderstand the situation and assume Bruce has simply donned a makeshift costume as a gag, because there is no way he could be the real Batman.

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Is The Batman Nobody Knows worth a read?

At just six pages in length, which is incredibly short, The Batman Nobody Knows is most certainly worth a read. I mean, who doesn’t have time for six pages?

The story is also worth a few minutes of your time because it influenced a number of Batman tales including Stories (issue #94 of Legends of The Dark Knight), as well as the Batman: The Animated Series episode, Legends of the Dark Knight.

In 2008, The Batman Nobody Knows inspired a segment of the animated feature Batman: Gotham Knight. The segment, called Have I Got a Story For You, sees three children discuss their view of Batman.

Although it is a fairly jovial tale, The Batman Nobody Knows is a good little story with a great mix of humour and heart. It should have been developed into a full-length comic, but the fact that it inspired so many other tales just demonstrates how good the idea is.