Batman: Leatherwing
Encyclopedia
"Leatherwing" is a DC Comics
Elseworlds
story published in Detective Comics Annual #7 in 1994
. Written by Chuck Dixon
and illustrated by Enrique Alcatena
.
This story features Batman
as a pirate of the high seas. A sequel to the story was published in Batman Chronicles
#11.
Capitana Felina is having an argument with some of her crew, disputing some of their share of the booty when suddenly the Laughing Man intervenes, kills the rebellious crewmembers and offers to Felina an alliance: She is to seduce and distract Captain Leatherwing's and the Laughing Man will follow his ship to the secret port, where they will pillage it and become rich beyond their wildest dreams.
While hiding inside the ship, Robin overhears talk of mutiny among the crew. He informs Captain Leatherwing, who gladly engages him as a buccaneer despite the fact that Robin is a clandestine passenger. Alfredo disapproves of the whole idea, and Leatherwing tells him that they will keep Robin until they again hit Kingston. While sailing, the Flying Fox sees a Spanish Galleon. It contains Felina, dressed as a Spanish Condesa by the Laughing Man. Seeing a woman in distress, Leatherwing leaps to save Felina, who has been thrown overboard and is about to be eaten by sharks. The Laughing Man's disguised ship gets away, and the trap begins.
Despite Alfredo's words of warning, Captain Leatherwing allows Felina to watch him sail the ship at night. While Captain Leatherwing shows Felina how to steer, they kiss and then sleep together. When again left on her own, Felina decides to double-cross the Joker. She tells herself that if she becomes Leatherwing's bride, she will be the Queen of the Pirates, and she will not have to share any of her treasures with the Laughing Man. Leatherwing's excitement over the thought of proposing to Felina makes him forget about the Princess and Felina sees her embracing Leatherwing. Felina is filled with rage and escapes from the Flying Fox determined to destroy Leatherwing. Robin follows her and is captured while Capitana Felina and the Laughing Man prepare their assault.
Robin denounces Felina for betraying a man that loves her. He reveals to her that the Princess means nothing to the Captain. Felina realizes her mistake and alerts Leatherwing with a cannon shot. As the two ships battle, Leatherwing and the Laughing Man fight. Leatherwing gains the upper hand, but the Laughing Man has a trick up his sleeve. His sword dissimulates a pistol, which he fires into Robin who jumps in front of Leatherwing. Fuelled by rage, Leatherwing kills his adversary by impaling him to his ship's mast with his cutlass and defeats the opposing ship. He then orders the ship to be plundered and scuttled, and gives the Laughing Man's crewmen the choice of whether to join him or sink with the ship. Thanks to Leatherwing's skill at surgery, Robin makes a full recovery, and Felina and Leatherwing make a great couple, pillaging and robbing ships all over the seven seas. The final image seen is of The Laughing Man's corpse under the sea, still impaled to his ship's mast.
with three other Elseworlds stories:
, Batman recruits several different versions of himself from the multiverse to help him defeat Owlman
and a large alliance of supervillains. One of these alternate Batmen clearly resembles Leatherwing, the only difference being his fluorescent green afro.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
story published in Detective Comics Annual #7 in 1994
1994 in comics
-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...
. Written by Chuck Dixon
Chuck Dixon
Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
and illustrated by Enrique Alcatena
Enrique Alcatena
-Biography:Alcatena became famous in his country during the 1980s collaborating for local magazines like Skorpio and Nippur. He also worked for the children's magazine Anteojito where his work was mostly surreal fantasy full of mythology...
.
This story features Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
as a pirate of the high seas. A sequel to the story was published in Batman Chronicles
Batman Chronicles
The Batman Chronicles is a series of comics published by DC Comics from 1995 to 2001, which lasted 23 quarterly issues and a series of collections.-Publication history:...
#11.
Characters
Familiar characters from the Batman mythos are adapted to fit this tale of pirates.- Captain Leatherwing (BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
): captain of the Flying Fox, he is employed by King James of England to pillage rivaling countries' ships, though he keeps a share for himself and his men. He wears a costume to protect his family name, since England would be appalled at one of her children running about the seas like he does. He raids ship and collects gold in the hope that he will one day have enough to buy back the land of his parents, which were stolen from him when they were murdered. - Princess Quext'chala: daughter of King Hapa of the Caiman indios. Batman rescues this princess from Panama from Spaniards. In gratitude she wishes to marry him.
- Alfredo (Alfred PennyworthAlfred PennyworthAlfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure...
): Captain Leatherwing's faithful servant and navigator. He is Italian and always vigilant. He is in a state of constant disagreement with Captain Leatherwing regarding his trusting in others, namely Robin Redblade and Capitana Felina, but means well. - Robin Redblade (RobinRobin (comics)Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
): 'Prince of the Urchins and bloody terror of the Kingston docks'. This orphan living in Kingston robs citizens of the town to feed himself and other homeless children ('urchins'). He dreams of becoming a pirate like Captain Leatherwing. - The Laughing Man (The JokerJoker (comics)The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
): deformed and insane, his ship is called the 'Pescador'. - Capitana Felina (CatwomanCatwomanCatwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
): once a Contessa of Spain, she abandoned her life on the shore for the adventures of the high seas. Her ship is called The Cat's Paw. Oddly, Contessa is an Italian title, the Spanish title being Condesa.
Plot
The story begins with Leatherwing's crew pillaging a Spanish galleon, Leatherwing convinces the captain to surrender Princess Quext'chala, who was held captive while the ship was sailing for Spain. While Leatherwing gives his share of the loot to the crown of England, he hides the rest in Vespertilio (Bat's) Cay, his secret port. The location of this port is desired by many of Leatherwing's enemies, including the Laughing Man, who squeezes out the port's location out of a man called Don Vendugo by strapping a cannon to his chest. While it is stationed at Kingston, Robin sneaks onto the Flying Fox and hides while Leatherwing sails to Panama to return the princess to her father. To the Captain's surprise, he accidentally accepts a bracelet from her, and they are considered married according to her traditions.Capitana Felina is having an argument with some of her crew, disputing some of their share of the booty when suddenly the Laughing Man intervenes, kills the rebellious crewmembers and offers to Felina an alliance: She is to seduce and distract Captain Leatherwing's and the Laughing Man will follow his ship to the secret port, where they will pillage it and become rich beyond their wildest dreams.
While hiding inside the ship, Robin overhears talk of mutiny among the crew. He informs Captain Leatherwing, who gladly engages him as a buccaneer despite the fact that Robin is a clandestine passenger. Alfredo disapproves of the whole idea, and Leatherwing tells him that they will keep Robin until they again hit Kingston. While sailing, the Flying Fox sees a Spanish Galleon. It contains Felina, dressed as a Spanish Condesa by the Laughing Man. Seeing a woman in distress, Leatherwing leaps to save Felina, who has been thrown overboard and is about to be eaten by sharks. The Laughing Man's disguised ship gets away, and the trap begins.
Despite Alfredo's words of warning, Captain Leatherwing allows Felina to watch him sail the ship at night. While Captain Leatherwing shows Felina how to steer, they kiss and then sleep together. When again left on her own, Felina decides to double-cross the Joker. She tells herself that if she becomes Leatherwing's bride, she will be the Queen of the Pirates, and she will not have to share any of her treasures with the Laughing Man. Leatherwing's excitement over the thought of proposing to Felina makes him forget about the Princess and Felina sees her embracing Leatherwing. Felina is filled with rage and escapes from the Flying Fox determined to destroy Leatherwing. Robin follows her and is captured while Capitana Felina and the Laughing Man prepare their assault.
Robin denounces Felina for betraying a man that loves her. He reveals to her that the Princess means nothing to the Captain. Felina realizes her mistake and alerts Leatherwing with a cannon shot. As the two ships battle, Leatherwing and the Laughing Man fight. Leatherwing gains the upper hand, but the Laughing Man has a trick up his sleeve. His sword dissimulates a pistol, which he fires into Robin who jumps in front of Leatherwing. Fuelled by rage, Leatherwing kills his adversary by impaling him to his ship's mast with his cutlass and defeats the opposing ship. He then orders the ship to be plundered and scuttled, and gives the Laughing Man's crewmen the choice of whether to join him or sink with the ship. Thanks to Leatherwing's skill at surgery, Robin makes a full recovery, and Felina and Leatherwing make a great couple, pillaging and robbing ships all over the seven seas. The final image seen is of The Laughing Man's corpse under the sea, still impaled to his ship's mast.
Connections
The alternate version of Batman differs from the original in a number of ways and contains references to works of fiction:- Though most incarnations of Batman refuse to kill, this one only wants to spill the least amount of blood possible.
- In this story, Batman is British, and Alfred is Italian. In regular continuity, Batman is American and Alfred is British.
- Traditionally, Batman refuses to use guns because his parents were murdered with a firearm. In this tale, Leatherwing's parents were murdered at sword-point, but he has no problem with using a sword.
- Batman's ship, the Flying Fox is a reference to ZorroZorroZorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
, who in regular continuity was a major influence in Bruce Wayne's choice to become a masked hero. Zorro's name means 'fox' in Spanish and a flying foxPteropusBats of the genus Pteropus, belonging to the megabat or Megachiroptera sub-order, are the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as the fruit bats or flying foxes among other colloquial names...
is a species of bat. Also in regular continuity, there is a Golden Age hero called the Flying Fox who essentially replaced the Golden Age BatmanBatman (Earth-Two)The Batman of Earth-Two is a parallel version of the DC Comics superhero, who was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters which had been published in the Golden Age of comic books...
. - A sequel story, also written by Chuck Dixon, was published in Batman Chronicles #11 called The Bride of Leatherwing. The story is done in prose with comic illustrations, and features Capitana Felina as the main character.
- According to Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, the timeline that this story takes place in was originally known as Earth-494.
- In Final CrisisFinal CrisisFinal Crisis is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and...
Secret Files #1, it was revealed that on the Nazi-dominated Earth-10, a member of Overman's Justice League is Leatherwing, an alternate version of Batman.
Collected editions
The story has been collected in a trade paperbackTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
with three other Elseworlds stories:
- Superman/Batman: Alternate Histories (60 pages, 1996, Titan BooksTitan BooksTitan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
, ISBN 1852867159, DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, ISBN 1563892634)
Other media
In the season finale episode "Game Over for Owlman!" of Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
, Batman recruits several different versions of himself from the multiverse to help him defeat Owlman
Owlman (comics)
Owlman is the name of several fictional supervillains that appear in comic books published by DC Comics who are the intended reverse counterparts of Batman. Owlman first appeared in Justice League of America #29 , and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky...
and a large alliance of supervillains. One of these alternate Batmen clearly resembles Leatherwing, the only difference being his fluorescent green afro.