Batmen of All Nations

Batmen of All Nations (also known as the Club Of Heroes)
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #215 (January 1955)
Roster
See:Members

Batmen of All Nations were a group of superheroes who were inspired by Batman to fight crime in their countries. The group first appeared in Detective Comics #215. Later the Batmen of All Nations were renamed the International Club of Heroes, often known as just the Club of Heroes. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, they were named the Dome (see Global Guardians) and were not inspired by Batman but the Justice Society of America.

Grant Morrison featured them in his 2007 run on Batman (#667-669). Morrison revealed the modern period fates of the "Club of Heroes".

“

It was kind of neat looking at what could go wrong with Batman. The Italian guy who was a Mature type film hero has become this big, fat guy who loves eating and trades on his past glories as The Legionary. The Knight and The Squire are still active but it's a grownup Squire and The Knight has his own Squire. The Gaucho has become a serious Argentine superhero who is well respected—he's the real deal. Wingman, who Batman trained in the past is now really pissed off, and doesn't want to admit that Batman ever trained him because he wants to make his own way. — Grant Morrison on 2007 plans for Batman.[1]

”

Fictional organization history

In the 1950s the legend of the Batman has reached the whole world. Many people in other countries were inspired by this to become superheroes themselves. Years later, Batman decided to hold the first meeting with his counterparts in Gotham City.

First, in Batman #56, Batman trained Bat-Hombre but he turned out to be a member of an outlaw band. In Batman #62, he met the Knight and the Squire in England. In Batman #65, he trained Wingman. In Batman #86, he met the Sioux Man-of-Bats and his son Little Raven. Detective Comics #215 Batman invites the Knight and Squire, the Musketeer, the Gaucho, the Ranger and the Legionary. In World's Finest Comics #89, philanthropist John Mayhew invites Batman and Robin, Superman, the Legionary, the Musketeer, the Gaucho, and the Knight and the Squire to award them membership in his Club of Heroes. The Knight and Squire then joined the Ultramarine Corps in JLA #26 and had an adventure with them in JLA Classified #1-3.

Recent history

Left to right: The Musketeer, Dark Ranger, El Gaucho and Raven Red, The Legionary, Man-Of-Bats, and Wingman. From Batman #667

A three-issue story arc in Batman #667-669, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by J.H. Williams III, shows what has become of the Batmen of All Nations.

• The Knight, aka Cyril Sheldrake, Earl of Wordenshire, is the adult Squire, having taken his father's mantle after the original Knight was killed by Spring-Heeled Jack, who forced him to swallow a small explosive. As the Squire, Cyril sunk into depression following his father's death, spending his father's fortune and ending up in the gutter, until given help by a young lady named Beryl Hutchinson and her mother. Upon becoming the new Knight, Cyril has appointed Beryl as his Squire. The new Knight is made to suffer a similar fate to his father by John Mayhew, but Man-of-Bats operates on him and removes the explosive before it detonates.
• The Musketeer was sent to an asylum after he accidentally killed a man in battle. After he was released he wrote a book about the experience and became rich. He recently sold the movie rights.
• Native American Man-Of-Bats and his son Little Raven, who has grown up and changed his name to Red Raven, have a strained relationship. Man-of-Bats has some medical expertise. Red Raven almost dies at the hands of John Mayhew, but is saved by his father, Robin, and the Squire.
• Wingman has changed his look and resembles Batman even more than he originally did. He refuses to admit he worked with Batman and claims he came up with his superhero identity a year before Batman debuted. With his accomplice, billionaire John Mayhew, he kills the Ranger and tries to kill the others. He is later killed by John Mayhew. In Batman Incorporated a new Wingman is shown with his identity a mystery.
• El Gaucho has become a serious superhero in Argentina and has changed his look. By far the most courageous of the group, he is wounded in action but manages to apprehend the traitorous Wingman with one of his trademark Boleadoras, saving the life of Batman. He is shown becoming a new member of Batman Incorporated in the series he is mentioned as having had a history as a secret agent before becoming a superhero.^[2]
• The Ranger changes his costume and methods in order to keep up with the increasingly violent villain community. Now calling himself Dark Ranger, he wields a jetpack and a pulse weapon. He is killed by Wingman, who then steals his identity. Following this, his former sidekick, the Scout, has taken up the mantle as the new Dark Ranger.^[3]
• The Legionary has let himself go and loves to reminisce on his past as a superhero. He is stabbed twenty-three times (à la Caesar) by John Mayhew.

In the arc, the group is reunited on John Mayhew's island resort in the Caribbean, the heroes were confronted with a disturbing video showing Dr. Hurt (see below), purportedly wearing the severed skin of Mayhew over his face. On behalf of the Black Glove organisation, he challenges the club as representatives of 'good' against his 'evil', destroying their means of transport and threatening to kill them all. The various members of the club are killed or injured in the styles of their various arch-enemies, causing some to suspect that a 'Club of Villains' has been assembled.

In a traumatic flashback, the Knight reveals the reason that the Club originally disbanded, and never succeeded as an international superteam; after losing Batman's commitment, the club was brought down by scandal when the original Knight discovered that Mayhew had killed his wife and framed Mangrove Pierce, an actor with whom she'd been having an affair, for her death. Cast out of the team for his accusations, the Knight lost focus and was murdered by Spring-Heeled Jack; the other heroes went their separate ways, their faith in Mayhew and the team as a whole similarly shattered.

Batman, the Gaucho and Dark Ranger appear to be the last ones left alive, but Batman realises that Dark Ranger is in fact Wingman, having swapped suits with the real Ranger and faked his own death. Wingman has been working in concert with the sadistic Mayhew to do the bidding of the Black Glove, having always been jealous of Batman's prowess; despite injuring the Gaucho, he is defeated by the Argentinean hero and Batman, and executed by the Gaucho's arch-enemy, El Sombrero.

As El Sombrero escapes the island, Batman follows him to unmask him as an impostor, none other than John Mayhew, whose death was also faked by the Black Glove (Dr. Hurt was later to claim that the skin used in the video was that of Mangrove Pierce, who was the star of "The Black Glove", a film which Mayhew produced and directed). Mayhew reveals his motivation behind joining the Black Glove and gambling with lives is his boredom at being an aimless socialite; he appears to escape via an ejector seat, leaving his helicopter for Batman to use to rescue the survivors of the Club of Heroes. Mayhew is summarily killed by the Black Glove in the destruction of his island, having foolishly bet that 'Evil' would win against 'Good'.

Members

• Batman and his sidekick Robin (USA)
• Man-Of-Bats and his sidekick Little Raven (USA–Sioux Indian)
• The Gaucho (Argentina)
• The Knight and his sidekick, the Squire (England)
• The Musketeer (later Nightrunner) (France)
• The Legionary (Italy)
• The Ranger (later Dark Ranger) and his sidekick, the Scout (Australia)
• Wingman (Sweden)

Club of Villains

In the storyline "Batman R.I.P.", the Batman family fights against the Club of Villains, a counter-group specifically built by the Black Glove Organization to destroy Batman, followed by the remaining Club of Heroes members. The Club was composed of:

• Dr. Simon Hurt: A deranged psychiatrist heading the Black Glove to destroy Batman, body and soul. He claims to be Thomas Wayne and wears the Bat-suit that Bruce's father once wore to a costume party; later, Batman accuses him of being Mangrove Pierce, an actor who was framed for murder by John Mayhew. Hurt denied this, stating that he had skinned Pierce alive and worn "him to Mayhew's party", which probably refers to the events of Batman #667-669 (see above). From Batman's final entry in his Black Casebook (see Batman #681), it is implied that Hurt is in fact the Devil, as others had previously claimed.
• Le Bossu (Guy Dax): A French villain dressed as a hunchback, with henchmen dressed as gargoyles, whose real identity is brilliant neurosurgeon and 'family man' Guy Dax. He uses the Bossu identity to indulge his violent fantasies. He is shown to admire the Joker, until the latter disfigures him with a razor. He sees his disfigurement as an opportunity to give up his old life and become a sadistic monster permanently.
• Pierrot Lunaire: A foe of the Musketeer who dresses as the Commedia dell'arte character Pierrot. Owing to the tradition of mimes, he never speaks.^[4]
• King Kraken: A masked deep sea diver whose weapon of choice is a high voltage electric rifle. A foe of Wingman. He believes that "henchmen are for wussies".^[5]
• Charlie Caligula: A madman whose schemes are inspired by Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire. A foe of the Legionary. He was briefly tortured and left for dead by Batman while the crimefighter was in his "Batman of Zur-En-Arrh" persona.^[4]
• El Sombrero: Archenemy of El Gaucho, a lunatic in a luchador mask who designs death traps for anyone who's willing to pay. John Mayhew posed as him in order to attempt at escaping culpability for his crimes shortly before the Black Glove executed him. The real Sombrero was believed to be murdered by the Joker, but was later revealed to be alive in Batman, Inc.
• Jezebel Jet: A wealthy woman of African descent who had lost her parents. She is said to own an African province. Pretended to be in love with Batman.
• Scorpiana: A sultry assassin who uses a blue scorpion as her calling card. A foe of El Gaucho.^[4]
• Swagman: A gunman who speaks in an Australian accent and wears a costume based on the clothes of Australian bandit Ned Kelly. An enemy of Dark Ranger.^[3]
• The Joker was briefly recruited by the Club as the maître for Batman's danse macabre.

Other versions

• A different version of the Batmen of All Nations appears in the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come comic series. The members of this group include "Cossack, the Champion of Russia", "Samurai, the Champion of Japan", and "Dragon, the Champion of China". They were joined by "Batwoman, a Batman admirer from the Fourth World".

• The International Delegation of Masked Archers (also known as The Green Arrows Of The World) were a similar group based on Green Arrow rather than Batman. They appeared in Adventure Comics #250 (July 1958), in a story very similar to the Detective Comics story that introduced the Batmen of All Nations. The members included:
  • Ace Archer (Japan)
  • Bowman of Britain (United Kingdom)
  • Bowman of the Bush (Africa)
  • Green Arrow (America)
  • Phantom (France)
  • Unnamed Green Arrows of Austria, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Spain.

• The International Sea Devils were a similar group based on a team known as the Sea Devils.
  • Miguel (South America)
  • Molo (Africa)
  • Sikki (India)

In other media

Television

• The Club of Villains are featured in a cameo appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Knights of Tomorrow!". Pierrot Lunaire, El Sombrero, Swagman, Charlie Caligula and Scorpiana all appear as part of montage showcasing villains that were defeated by the future Batman and Robin. The Batmen of All Nations appear in the episode "Powerless" with Musketeer voiced by Diedrich Bader, El Gaucho voiced by Jeff Bennett, and Legionnaire voiced by John DiMaggio. They faced another counter-group formed by The Joker called "The Jokers of All Nations" (made up of a Jokerized Inuit, a Jokerized Hockey player, a Jokerized Scotsman, a Jokerized Cossack, and a Jokerized Sumo wrestler). Batman and the Batmen of All Nations fight the Joker of All Nations and managed to defeat them.

References

1. ^ Wizard Entertainment
2. ^ Batman Incorporated issue six
3. ^ ^{a b} Batman #681
4. ^ ^{a b c} Batman #668
5. ^ Batman #669

External links

• Cosmic Teams: The Club of Heroes
• Review of Batman #667
• Batman #667-669 "The Black Glove" (1st Appr. of El Sombrero & 1st mention of The Black Glove)
• Batmen of All Nations at the Comic Book DB