Batman’s best punch ever has a wild DC backstory

Batman has had his share of iconic fights, with Superman, Bane, Ra’s al Ghul, and even Darkseid. But ask a comic shop employee to finish the sentence “Remember that time that Batman punched…” and nine out of 10 times they’ll say “…Guy Gardner.”

This will not make sense to anyone else, because most people who’ve never been inside a comic book shop (and decent number of those who have) have no idea who Guy Gardner even is. Batman never did it again after the incident when he punched Guy Gardner.

Batman doesn’t usually find himself in situations that call for punching a Green Lantern, but it’s not unheard of. And sure, the moment that Batman decked Guy Gardner, the third Green Lantern, was a funny one, but Batman’s been funny before. For comic book geeks to remember a moment for the next 36 years, it must be something more.

This punch remains one of the superlative moments in superhero comics because it is the essence of 1988’s Justice League International — The OfficeDC Universe. It’s the only superhero workplace comedy to ever be truly worthy of the name, and Batman clobbering Guy Gardner is its crowning moment. This was only possible because DC Comics editors forgot to include the Justice League.

For a new DC, a Justice League is needed

In 1988, there wasn’t a corner of the DC Universe that wasn’t, on some level, smack in the middle of reinventing itself, given carte blanche to buck its continuity. The rest of DC Universe engaged in celebratory celebrations of updating 50-year-old characters for the 1980s as they pleased, but Keith Giffen was facing severe restrictions.

They’d been assigned to craft the first Justice League book of DC’s new era, but they weren’t allowed to use… basically any of the Justice League.

It was good to know that the Martian Manhunter wasn’t harmed and was available for anyone who wanted him. All the rest was terrible news. Four of the seven original Justice League members — Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman — were in the middle of significant retreads, overseen by folks like John Byrne and George Perez, the company’s biggest talent. While they were still unbaked, the editors and creators of these items refused to lend them out to any other team. The Green Lantern office deigned to offer the least beloved of Earth’s three Green Lanterns. It was legendary Batman group editor Denny O’Neil who took pity on Giffen and Maguire, and let Batman come out to play.

The rest of the characters were left to the editors, who searched the web for big names or editorially valuable characters. Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel were iconic characters that belonged to other comics publishers, but they have just been integrated into the DCU. Jack Kirby was the original Jack Kirby for Mister Miracle. Black Canary and Doctor Fate had a long editorial history with the Justice League — not to mention that typically artist-not-writer Giffen brought in J.M. DeMatteis, the author of Doctor Fate, was assigned to pen Justice League International’s dialogue.

A Few Who-Is-?ThisIt was nothing new to see a Justice League book featuring?-man super heroes. Before Hollywood began to transform more and more superheroes into household names, books with “Avengers” or “Justice League” in the title were CreatedTo be held back by a mixture of also-rans and bestselling heroes. Some readers who purchased a Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, or Hulk book might become obsessed with the Aquaman, Wonder Woman or Doctor Strange characters. This could lead to enough money for a standalone series.

However, the 1988 Justice League didn’t have a mix. There was only Batman. Giffen Maguire, DeMatteis, and Maguire responded to this by throwing out the entire superhero team’s playbook.

Fawlty Watchtowers

The overarching tone of superhero comics in the late ’80s was ushered in, in no uncertain terms, by Watchmen The Dark Knight Returns. Those years saw soaring sales for Punisher’s, Wolverine’s, and Daredevil’s bloodiest stories, as the industry pivoted toward the tastes of adult fans, on a roller coaster that would ride all the way to the X-treme X-cesses of the 1990s. Even the bestselling team books operated in the realms of high operatic drama, like the X-Men’s Inferno — comics were NotYou should be open to all things light and fluffy.

However, it should be noted that Justice League International didn’t deliver superhero action. In the first issue, the League rescues hostages at the United Nations. The story ends when the League is no longer in control. The classicA 1980 terrorist leader with generic nationality takes his own life when his suicide bomb doesn’t go off. (Or, as the readers will see, was coerced into it by Maxwell Lord).

However, the rest of the book would be comedy — quippy dialogue, humorous miscommunications, and plenty of pratfalls — all based on personality clashes within the League. These heroes were not part of an all-American, united front. Alan Moore had Owlman write it in the pages Watchmen, “Dressing up in a costume takes a very extreme personality, and the chances of eight such personalities getting along together were about 75 million-to-one against.”

Justice League membership feeds Mister Miracle’s career as a showman, or later addition Booster Gold’s ability to make sponsorship money, or Blue Beetle’s ambitions to climb superhero leadership ranks, or simply puffs up Guy Gardner’s ego. Half the League is there for their careers, not because they’re unwilling to superhero alone. Batman is half the way out, even though Gotham City has been his obsession for years. The majority of the team treat it as a job. Justice League InternationalA superhero comic book turned into an office comedy.

Every workplace needs an asshole.

Batman’s greatest punchline

Guy doesn’t hit the floor in Justice League International #5, but Giffen, Maguire, and DeMatteis begin building to that inevitability from the very first panel of issue 1, which shows Guy sitting in the dark like a weirdo, rehearsing a speech in which he’ll declare himself “commander-in-chief of the spanking new Justice League.” In his mind, his sheer animal magnetism will allow this to pass without objection. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

For five issues, Guy’s ego is matched only by his ability to say exactly the wrong thing at every possible moment, and when criticized, double down on it. Guy makes fun of nuclear catastrophe. He’s low-key a Reagan Republican. He is a snitch on his female coworkers and calls other cowards who suggest diplomatic solutions. Everyone hates him.

His only real obstacle is his terror at Batman. Under that fear is a feeling of helium resentment, which is trying to free its balloon prison. This is what happens in issue 5. This is the story in issue 5.

Guy snaps — we come on the scene in medias res, as if to say, “We don’t have to explain why he’s mad. He’s an asshole!” — and when Batman still refuses to hand leadership of the League to him, Guy pulls his power ring off and prepares to throw hands. It’s obvious by both the comic laws and Batman’s humor that this is what happens. It’s the aftermath of this superheroic clash that sells the moment as only Justice League International can.

Other Leaguers’ reactions range from dismay to joy at having not seen the scene with their own eyes to a happy catharsis. Then they leave Guy’s flopped-out body on the floor and cross the room to have a much quieter version of their usual team meeting.

Television tried valiantly to accomplish the same thing as Maguire, Giffen and DeMatteis. The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow arguably fits this mold, as well as Disney Plus’ She-Hulk, HBO Max’s Harley Quinn, and NBC’s doomed Powerless. While some of these efforts are entertaining, they all skew towards one side or another, whether it’s action comedy or pure parody.

There’s never really been anything that was so earnestly a flagship superhero-team book and so earnestly a sitcom at the same time. Where it was perfectly normal for the Justice League to spend an annual expanding into an international web of headquarters facilities at the behest of their secretly-a-villain PR manager who’s being advised by a superintelligent computer from the planet Apokolips — and perfectly normal for them to (in the same issue) do a whole bit that is just straight-up an unauthorized Fawlty Towers crossover.

Like Batman’s fist meeting Guy Gardner’s face, it’s a combination that has never been equaled.

Justice League International Vol. 1

These prices were correct at the time of publication.

J.M. These humorous stories by DeMatteis reimagined Justice League of America, and were published for the first-time since the original comic-book publication.

Blue Beetle and Green Lantern Guy Gardner are part of the DC Universe’s team that battles the Cluster spaceship colony. Then, Mister Miracle must be tracked down to Apokolips, where they will find him. Our heroes must face the new Queen Bee, as well as Lobo’s return when they arrive on Earth. Collects Justice League #1-6 and Justice League International#7.