Brains over Brawns, Pen over Sword
If Superman is the strongest, Flash is the fastest, and Wonder Woman is the fiercest member of the Justice League, what does that make Batman?
The smartest, the richest and the only non-powered founding member of the Justice League.
Despite Batman’s human limitations, Superman had this to say about him,
“Batman… The most dangerous man on earth”
And it is hard to disagree with Superman. Even for those who are not into DC comics, it is common knowledge that Batman is one of the smartest and most resourceful superheroes in the DC multiverse. Almost all major powerhouses in DC comics have sometimes crossed paths with Batman only to taste defeat at the hands of a man dressed as a bat. If you exist in the DC universe, there is a high chance that Batman has developed multiple plans to take you down. It’s surprisingly the most cynical and the fan-favorite quality of the character Batman.
Here are some instances when Batman was able outsmart everyone:
5) New World Order
With the first issue of the 1997 to 2006 JLA comic, there was no better way to kick off the run than by highlighting all the heroes’ abilities. The ‘New World Order storyline focused on showing how terrifying the targeted scheming of Batman can be. After the attack of the White Martians on the Justice League, Batman secretly took them out by using their pyrophobia (fear of fire) to force them to surrender or be burnt to ashes, leaving the White Martians wondering what kind of powers the man dressed as bat actually possesses.
4) The Dark Knight Returns
TDKR is one of the best examples of how a physically diminished aged Batman would act being a former shell of himself. Although it seemed that his fight with Superman has gone awry because of his death, it is later revealed that it was all according to the plan. Batman faked his death to make Superman realize the error of his ways of being a puppet of the government and also to help erase his Bruce Wayne persona to become a full-time Batman and train the next generation of vigilantes. On paper, the plan sounds crazy and impossible but if anyone could pull it off, it would be Batman himself. Also, having Batman’s death telecasted to the public was the only way for him to fool the entire world into believing the end of the man known as Bruce Wayne.
3) No Man’s Land
While Batman is placed in a position to retake Gotham after a cataclysmic event, the series did make it evident that the hero can outsmart almost everyone, even without a plan. From Poison Ivy to Scarecrow and almost entire mad house of Arkham Asylum, Batman slowly dethrones them from their territories in the Gotham City even with the limited supplies he has access to throughout the series
2) Hush
You can’t really prepare for someone you can’t see coming, especially when the person is a trustworthy childhood friend of yours who fakes his own death and surgically makes himself look like a mirror image of you and leaves no stone unturned to put you down. But Batman, being one of the greatest detectives in the DC universe, if not the best, slowly pieces together all the evidence and deduces Hush’s true identity in a very plausible way. The story reinforces how skillful the dark knight really is aside from his brawn and muscle.
Before going to number one, here is an honorable mention:
JLA / Avengers
Yes, this actually happened; a crossover event between the universes of DC and Marvel, where both of them were pitted against each other. Batman and Captain America found each other at the opposing ends. Batman and Captain America engage in a brief tactical scuffle. Batman realizing that Captain America is an enhanced super-soldier uses his devilish tongue to stop Captain America from further engaging the battle with him
1) Tower of Babel
The vast majority of Batman’s moments were aimed at outsmarting super villains but this story marked an interesting event where Batman’s plans were used to put the Justice League out of commission. The freaking Justice League! Batman had developed contingency plans to take out his fellow Justice League members in case they went rogue. Long story short, Ras Al Ghul is able to steal the plans and actively employ them against the Justice League. The Justice League would have been taken down if not for the wit of Batman, who was able to reverse his own plans and save the Justice League. You could say Batman was able to even outsmart himself.
How Batman takes out the Justice League is a tale for another day. For more on Batman taking outsmarting metahumans, be sure to stick around.
