Alternative Universe Batman

I stumbled across this website, which shows some different takes on Batman.  I'll show case my top five, but if you want more click on the link.  A few of the Batman (Batmen?) are pretty gory, so not for the light hearted.

One of the more interesting concepts is the Steampunk Batman.  Steampunk is a genre rife with novel uses of technology and some of it is quite crazy.  I can easily see a Steampunk Batman in the vein of League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen.  The Victorian era can definitely add more fuel to many of Batman's Rogue Galleries, as it was a time of strange advancements and asylums. You could go way overboard with this or try to stick as close to technology that was available.  Furthermore, you get the opportunity have Batman brush shoulders with Jack the Ripper, Van Helsing or Sherlock Holmes for a real genre mashup.

Next we have a Renaissance Batman. It was a time of enlightenment, so the World's Greatest Detective could easily be innovating on ideas.  It was also a martial time, so it nice to see Batman with a sword and shield. With a few centuries to cover and no one quite so good at history, we could have an Assassin Creed II moment of Batman just happening to brush up against all of the important historical figures. Yes, all of them.

Viking Batman because why not Viking Batman? Start off with the Conan feel of Batman growing up to hunt down the man who killed his parents. I can easily see a reinterpretation of Beowulf in the making here - Ra's as Grendel, Talia as Grendel's mother, Damien as his son who he has to eventually face down. The idea of Batman wielding axes and taking names just calls back to my enjoyment of Conan comics in my early teens.

Then we got the Batman whose aesthetic reminds me of Infinity's Nomads.  I just had to put the painting down, considering our blogs interests.  With Infinity having AI reconstructions of historical figures, I don't see why they don't have reconstructions of fictional figures as well.

Lastly, Robo-Batman. Because Robots? I mean, they already gave him Green Lantern's ring, so why not just a skip across to the other comic business and take Tony Stark's suit.

If you liked those designs and want to see more, but are daunted by the prospect of scrolling back up; well, here's the link again.