Time to just go over Batman’s Supporting Cast a wee bit.

Now we’ve already talked about a few of these folks prior to now so lets go down that list really quickly.

And you would think with that full a cast, we would not have that many more people to discuss, well you would be wrong.

Lets start with Batman’s parents, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne.  Two of Gotham’s most loved philanthropists and through their foundations and Dr. Wayne’s lifesaving worth, there are very few Gothamites who have not been touched by their good deeds.

The parents of Bruce Wayne may not appear in every story, however there is no doubt that the two of them are the driving force in Batman’s world.  Upon leaving a movie theater the family walks through an alley to get to their vehicle.  On the way they meet a lone gunman in the shadows, Joe Chill.  Joe’s robbery attempt goes wrong when Thomas fights back and Chill shoots and kills him.  This causes Martha to cry out and Joe kills her to silence her.  Leaving a young Bruce Wayne with his murdered parents, Batman is born to ensure that this does not happen again.

When Batman goes through that part of town, now known as Crime Alley, he may actually have traumatic flashbacks to this event from his childhood.

No, rich man is complete without his right hand man, and there is no doubt that Alfred Pennyworth is the ultimate in right hand men.

Alfred runs Wayne Manor with an efficiency that is admired by all.  He cooks, cleans, and deals with Master Bruce’s guests when the Master is… unavailable.  Alfred also has a background in the British Intelligence Corps making him a formidable opponent for whomever would wish to target him for kidnapping (which happens once in a while).  Alfred is also Batman’s mechanic and emergency triage doctor for nights when the Batman comes home broken and bloody, which happens a bit too much for his liking.

However, lets not overlook that Alfred practically raised Bruce after his parents were killed, making him a surrogate father figure in Batman’s eyes.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Batman’s private doctor for when Alfred cannot stitch him up.

Dr. Thompkins was a colleague of Dr. Wayne’s and she is a hard core Gothamite.  Determined to make a better place for the downtrodden, Leslie opened a clinic near Crime Alley to assist those who had no means of getting medical treatment.  She also is one of the few people able to put Batman in his place, so to speak, as Leslie is one of the few people in Gotham without a mask on who knows who Batman is.  If Alfred is the surrogate father, Leslie is the surrogate mother.

Lucius Fox, the man who basically runs Wayne Enterprises for when Bruce Wayne is no longer available.  Lucius is a shrewd businessman with an eye for making a good deal, but retains his moral compass, which is good as he fends off the corporations of LexCorp and Stagg Industries and always sees that WayneCorp comes out on top.

Vicki Vale, one of the most prominent of Bruce Wayne’s romantic interests.  While there have been many women on Bruce Wayne’s arm at a time, one of the most famous is Vicki Vale.  Ms. Vale is a photojournalist of some fame who came to Gotham to pursue “The Bat”, little did she know that would get the attention of Mr. Bruce Wayne.

Matches Malone, the gangster, one of the most prominent of Batman’s secret identities.  When Batman has to go undercover into the mob circles, he becomes a fictional man known as Matches Malone.  Always with a match in his mouth or striking one off a cover of a book of Matches, he is able to go places that as Batman, he could not.  This gains Batman some significant intelligence about what is going on in the underworld.  Since many characters in the Batman mythos believe Matches to be a separate character, I placed him in the “Supporting Cast” group.

When Dick Grayson gave up being Robin in favor of a more adult identity in the guise of Nightwing, Batman eventually said yes to a new sidekick, realizing that a Robin would help temper his drive and ambition.  Jason Todd became that new sidekick, but unlike Dick he became rebellious and angry towards the villains instead of taunting them and throwing out the odd pun.

Jason is truly an example of “meta-fiction” in its earlier days and we will get to his tale a wee bit later.

Now for two truly great, yet many think, silly elements of the Bat Mythos.

Good Boy!  If Superman can have Krypto, then the Caped Crusader can have Ace the Bathound.  Ace is a German Shepherd dog with a keen sense of smell and protective of his master to a fault.

And then, there is.. well Bat-Mite.

The interdimensional imp known as Bat-Mite is Batman and Robin’s greatest fan.  Always wanting to help and almost always managing to make a mess of things, Bat-Mite is one of those cute holdovers of the campier Batman stories that I enjoy.  Being of the same race as Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite is actually capable of many major works of matter transformation that make him seem like a magical being.  We are luck that Bat-Mite’s heart is in the right place, wherever that may be at the time.

Next Up:  Amazons & Atlanteans