I guess I’ve been on a bit of a DC infinite Heroes kick of late, so let’s at the Justice Society of America’s resident pugilist-turned-crimefighter Wildcat!
Inspiration for the project came from The Brave and the Bold #127. This back issue from 1976 has Batman teaming up with Wildcat to stop the villainous El Zapatero who is running a smuggling ring specializing in humans among other things. The art in this book was done by the late Jim Aparo. His work on the title during this period is just awesome. You can find some of his original art for sale over at the Artist’s Choice.
I made two other versions, a little more effect heavy, but I like the unedited version. Here are the other two for your viewing pleasure.
So why would I make a pitting the two against each other? It turns out that they have a history with each other.
Remember how young Bruce Wayne went off on a journey to train himself to be the worlds greatest detective and hand-to-hand combatant? He made it a point to train with Wildcat, who as Ted Grant was one of the top professional boxers in the DC Universe.
Whether Wildcat knows Batman’s secret identity is unclear to me. They could have trained together under the guise of Bruce Wayne wanting to learn from Grant just as easy as Batman learning from a legendary hero. Who knows. So who would win in a fight?
Obviously Batman, as his fighting style is a bit more varied than the primarily boxing-based Wildcat. But all Wildcat needs is to land one punch and the dark knight will be looking at the stars.
Ridiculously Awesome 