Even Alfred himself has previously died – in 1964’s Detective Comics #328, when he was crushed by a falling boulder after saving Batman’s life – only to return to life a couple of years later, in Detective Comics #356. Of course, the possibility that Alfred could return to life is hardly an impossible one in superhero comics, especially considering that Batman has been assumed dead more than once, and Damian Wayne has also died multiple times. If Alfred was to suddenly be discovered alive, what would happen to that inheritance? What would happen to the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation?Īlfred Pennyworth's previous dances with death Image credit: DC Not only did he lose one of his two core father figures, but as the current Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo run on Nightwing has revealed, Alfred left a sizable inheritance to Dick in his will, allowing the hero to create the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping those in need. (We’ll come back to the League of Lazarus Tournament soon enough.)ĭick Grayson’s life was perhaps the one most heavily impacted by Alfred’s death, however. It’s not just that Bruce Wayne had to struggle through the Joker War and the Scarecrow’s strategic Fear State plans without the wise counsel of his father figure, nor that his diet had almost certainly gone downhill over the past couple of years without a faithful butler to prepare his meals having to watch Alfred’s murder left deep emotional scars on Damian, distancing himself from his father and getting involved in the League of Lazarus Tournament in the process. The impact Alfred's death has had on the Bat-FamilyĪlfred’s death has been a big deal across the Bat-Family of comics in the past year or two. Well, maybe Alfred’s appearance either denotes a flashback inside the issue to a time before he died, or else, it’s entirely symbolic of something else? That’s certainly possible the first issue of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest features characters who have yet to show up in the series itself – I don’t know about you, but I’m particularly excited at the possibility of a Darkseid appearance he’s right there underneath the “T” of the logo – so, maybe when it comes to these Mark Waid-written books, we shouldn’t be taking everything quite so literally just because of a cover appearance. (Damian is also wearing the Robin costume he adopted for his new series on the cover, to underscore the fact.) Robin miniseries launching in September takes place in the present-day DCU, and the appearances of both Flatline and Talia would appear to bear that out. Sorry, folks that’s not it – Mark Waid and DC are very clear that the five-issue Batman vs. Robin also takes place before Alfred died? Robin is a spin-off of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, which takes place at some unspecified time in the past of the DC Universe in that title, Alfred Pennyworth isn’t just not dead, he’s an important player who became even more important with the end of the series’ third issue. Let’s get the obvious possibilities out of the way first. is DC really resurrecting Alfred Pennyworth? (And if so, how?) It was a shocking moment, and unexpectedly, it was one that seemed to stick: four years later, Alfred Pennyworth is still dead. He died when Bane broke his neck right in front of Damian Wayne, to illustrate the cost of defying Thomas Wayne and Bane’s despotic reign of Gotham City at the time. I mean, Alfred was technically killed by Bane, but King, Daniel, and Janin were the men truly responsible (although King has since said it was intended to be a misdirect but DC pushed for the character's death to be real). Who’s currently very dead.Įxcept, perhaps that's not the case a newly-released preview for the issue seems to feature Alfred walking up to the door of Wayne Manor looking particularly alive and well, if a little damp.įor those not entirely up-to-date with Batman continuity, Alfred was killed in 2018’s Batman #77 by Tom King, Tony Daniel, and Mikel Janin. Alfred 'Heart of the Bat-Family, Dry-Witted, Hyper-Competent, and Good at Sandwiches' Pennyworth. Robin #1 cover by Mahmud Asrar and Nathan Fairbairn | Image credit: DCĪs in, the late Alfred Pennyworth. And on the left, that’s Flatline, Robin’s maybe-possibly-girlfriend from the current (and wonderful) Robin series, and then there on the right is… Wait. Look, there’s Talia al Ghul, swords drawn and ready for battle. The cover is a thing of wonder, showing the title characters in mid-leap, battling against a backdrop of the background players in the story. Robin miniseries earlier this year, we unveiled Mahmud Asrar and Nathan Fairbarn’s amazing cover for the first issue. When Popverse exclusively revealed details of DC’s upcoming Batman vs.
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