Apparently, Batman writer Tom King just wants to see the world burn. Why else would he post a ranking of Bat-family members, according to fighting skill, and place the Dark Knight himself THIRD on the list?
Tom King is a smart man. A skilled writer. And yet he tweeted out the aforementioned list earlier this week, in response to a reader query.
Most common comments:
1. Where’s Barbara, you idiot?
2. Jason’s too low, you idiot.
3. Tim’s too low, you idiot.
4. Cool list, you idiot!— Tom King (@TomKingTK) February 22, 2017
Predictably, folks have had a lot to say about it. Me, I’m totally fine with the top half of that list. But that lower five? I’d bump Tim Drake up to #6, since he’s trained with master killer-for-hire Lady Shiva in at least one continuity and is generally written as smart enough to improvise on the fly.
I’d keep Jason Todd — who has spent time with the League of Assassins in some storylines — Duke Thomas and Stephanie Brown at #7, 8, and 9 respectively, and slide Helena down to 10. Duke and Stephanie probably know enough to take on multiple thugs and mid-list villains but I don’t see them having multi-disciplinary acumen. As for Helena Bertinelli (the current version), she’s likely very sneaky and/or vicious, but is generally too impulsive to be strategic.
It’s your turn, Bat-fight fans. Jump into the comments and re-jigger this top ten list as you see fit. Remember: (1) let’s be polite here, and (2) anyone can beat anyone if the writer wants.