Over his lifetime fighting crime, Batman has gathered a huge group of friends and allies to fight alongside him. This group of heroes is known as the Bat-Family, but while some members have gone on to super stardom, other members have been all but forgotten.
Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and Robin may be household names, but there are some essential Gotham heroes who get no respect for their place in the Dark Knight’s web of associates. Here, then, are the top 10 most underrated heroes who have proved essential to the Caped Crusader.
10 Kathy Kane (aka Batwoman)
Kathy Kane was the first Batwoman to ever appear in comics, back in 1956. Kathy was a wealthy Gotham City heiress and owned a circus, she was inspired by Batman and how he was cleaning up crime and decided to join him using her acrobatic skills and all the gadgets her money could afford her. Her dream was to work with Batman and hopefully start a relationship with him. Sadly, Kathy Kane’s Batwoman met an unfortunate end at the hands of the League of Assassins… or so it seemed. Her character was wiped out by the mass retcon Crisis on Infinite Earths, but she returned in Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham’s Batman Incorporated, revealed to have gone underground to work for the spy organization Spyral.
9 Mary Elizabeth “Bette” Kane (aka Flamebird)
Bette Kane was the niece of Kathy Kane and the two characters were specifically created at the same time to act as love interests for Batman and Robin. Bette Kane appeared in the silver age of comics and was the first Batgirl, though she only appeared seven times before disappearing for a while, then reappeared when she joined the Titans West. Eventually, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bette returned as a pro tennis player with eyes for Robin. Inspired by the Boy Wonder, she took on the moniker of Flamebird, and has maintained ties to Dick Grayson. She was most recently seen in 2023’s DC’s Legion of Bloom’s ‘The Birds and the Bees,’ from Ashley Allen and Isaac Goodhart.
8 David Zavimbe (aka Batwing)
Introduced in Judd Winick and Ben Oliver’s Batwing #1, David Zavimbe is a former child soldier who grew up to become a police officer. Even though his life had been hard and unbelievably unfair, he still believed in justice and the law and did his best to uphold it. After Bruce Wayne announced Batman Incorporated, he set out to recruit David as the Batman of Africa, having followed his anti-corruption efforts. David took up the role and did his best to fight criminals as Batwing. However, David became overwhelmed by unprecedented enemies and began using lethal tactics. After breaking Batman’s rule, he turned his suit in, with Luke Fox taking on the mantle soon after.
7 Julia Pennyworth (aka Penny-Two)
Julia Pennyworth is the daughter of Alfred Pennyworth – Bruce Wayne’s longtime butler and ally. Following in her father’s footsteps, Julia Pennyworth became a spy and helped take down international criminals, which eventually led her to cross paths with Batman. The two worked together most heavily through the New 52 era of Batman’s stories (replacing an injured Alfred), and during Rebirth she worked with Batwoman, but after Alfred’s death at the hands of Bane, Julia cut all ties with the Bat-Family. Julia was last seen during the events of 2020’s Joker comic book from James Tynion IV and Guillem March, where she was investigating Bane’s homeland to gain more information about him.
6 Gavin King (aka Orpheus)
Gotham City has changed the lives of many people and one of them was Gavin King – introduced in Alex Simmons and Dwayne Turner’s Batman: Orpheus Rising #1. Gavin wanted nothing more than to be an amazing dancer, which led to him being brutally bullied, so to deal with it he learned martial arts. Eventually, Gavin was able to achieve his dream and toured the world with a dance troupe, but all he saw was poverty, famine, and corruption. After joining a secret organization and being trained by them, Gavin returned to Gotham City as Orpheus to help protect the innocent from violent crime, which naturally led him to cross paths with Batman. Orpheus and Batman made a plan to install Gavin as the fake crime boss of Gotham in the iconic War Games event, but he was killed and impersonated by Black Mask. Despite being named for a mythic hero who returned from the underworld, he hasn’t been seen since.
5 Onyx Adams
A former League of Assassins member, Onyx Adams gave up her life of murder and joined a monastery, but when an evil villain began causing trouble for the monks, Onyx had to team up with Green Arrow to bring the villain down. This set Onyx on a path to becoming a vigilante, working with both Green Arrow and Wonder Woman. She returned to the monastery for a few years but was called upon again by Batman to act as a bodyguard for Orpheus during their War Games plan.
Onyx was also involved in the events of Under the Red Hood, where she fought against a newly revived Jason Todd. This means she was there for several major Bat-Family events, and yet she vanished throughout the New 52 and Rebirth. While Onyx recently reappeared in Tini Howard and Nico Leon’s Catwoman #41 comic series, she has yet to reunite with the Bat-Family.
4 Harold Allnut (aka Mr. Fixxit)
As comics have gone on Batman has become more and more proficient at what he does and relies on fewer people, but this wasn’t always the case, Harold Allnut for example used to play an integral role in the Bat-Family that is now all but forgotten. Batman needs his Batmobile to be in top shape for any time he has to take it out at a moment’s notice. Nowadays in comics, it’s just assumed that Batman is the one who does all the maintenance on his car, but that duty used to belong to Harold.
Harold Allnut used to be a henchman for Penguin, building him all manner of deadly machines, but after the Penguin betrayed him, Harold came to work for Batman. Harold was an unbelievably skilled mechanic and was in charge of fixing up the Batmobile or any of Batman’s gadgets that needed it. Harold was originally killed by Hush (after years on the sidelines), but after the Flashpoint reboot, he was last seen in Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr.’s All-Star Batman #3. This means Harold is out there alive somewhere, but for some reason avoiding his former allies.
3 Jason Bard
Jason Bard has gone through multiple iterations in DC lore, but is generally portrayed as a former Gotham detective who now works as a Private Detective. Bard is one of a handful of people whose detective skills Batman respects, and he actually hired Bard to investigate crimes during the day, when his own methods are less effective. This role was short-lived however, and Bard was reimagined in Batman Eternal #1 (from Jason Fabok and a host of writers), starting out as a political enemy to Commissioner Gordon, but has also been a love interest of his daughter Batgirl. Bard remains criminally underrated, primarily because while he’s a capable crime-fighter, he lacks a compelling costumed identity.
2 Bat-Mite
An imp from the fifth dimension, Bat-Mite has reality-warping powers akin to Superman’s enemy Mr. Mxyzptlk. However, rather than acting as a rival, Bat-Mite is actually a huge fan of Batman, wanting to help despite a lack of respect for the rules of mundane reality. Introduced in Detective Comics #267 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff, Bat-Mite is easily Batman’s most powerful ally, but his playful and inattentive nature make him dangerous to draw on. Bat-Mite doesn’t exactly fit Batman’s gothic aesthetic, which might explain why he hasn’t been seen in years. Bizarrely, Bat-Mite actually exists in the DCEU, thanks to an offhand reference in James Gunn’s Peacemaker.
1 Leslie Thompkins
Leslie Thompkins was a major supporting character for Batman back in the day, providing emergency medical care to him and his allies, despite disagreeing with their vigilante quest. While Alfred was Batman’s surrogate father, there’s no denying that Leslie was his surrogate mother. Leslie has known Bruce since he was a child and has done everything she can to help him, not just as Batman but as a person. Yet despite this important role she played in his life, she’s all but disappeared in recent comics. While Leslie has been seen in alt-universe stories, she’s missing in action in DC’s mainstream reality, despite family upheaval and Alfred’s death meaning Batman needs her more than ever.
While Batman may like to present himself as a loner, he actually takes every opportunity to bring talented, trustworthy people into his family. However, as this list shows, he’s just as adept at letting them get away. With many of DC’s comics focusing on Gotham, it makes sense to bring these underrated Batman allies back to prominence, especially since many of them bring unique talents to the Bat-Family and help close plotholes – such as who is keeping the Batmobile in working order.
