Everyone in the world knows the story of Jesus’ death on the cross and then his miraculous return from the dead.
In real life this has been considered a once in a lifetime (if it even happened to begin with) event, but in comics, specifically Batman comics, this is an all too familiar occurrence.
In actuality it is considered more rare if a member of the Bat-Family has yet to be deceased.
Jason Todd was the first bat character to die. I already explained his death so I won’t go over it again, but at the time readers voted for him to die his death was meant to be a permanent one.
He was dead for about 40 years in real time before being resurrected in the 2004 comic “Batman : Under the Red Hood.”
Even though Jason himself came back twisted, his death served as another reason for Batman & Co. to keep fighting.
Stephanie Brown, like Jason, was meant to die and stay dead, but this proved to be an unpopular editorial choice so writers retconned it.
She was tortured by the Black Mask and presumed dead in the “War Games” comic arc.
Dr. Leslie Thompkins (a doctor and trusted ally of Batman) lied to the Bat-Family about Stephanie dying and fled with her comatosed body to Africa.
Eventually she regained consciousness and went back to continue fighting crime in Gotham City.
Her ‘death’ made her come back stronger than she was before.
Cass Cain was murdered twice; once by her “brother,” The Mad Dog, and a second time by her mother, Lady Shiva. In each of these instances she was revived via Lazarus Pit.
The more significant of these deaths was the one at her mother’s hands.
The two were engaged in a battle-to-the-death, but since Cass doesn’t kill, she threw the match and let her mother win.
Lady Shiva realized that Cass had died on purpose and decided to revive her and give her the opportunity for a rematch.
The two fought, this time Cass won but she refused to kill her mother.
This show of morals strongly demonstrates just how deeply Cass believes in Batman’s teachings.
Damian Wayne was killed at the hands of an adult clone of his named Heretic.
His body was then stolen from his home of Wayne Manor before his funeral by his mother’s assassins, and stolen from them by the intergalactic conqueror, Darkseid.
Bruce, along with Barbara, Jason, Tim and Alfred travelled to Apokolips (Darkseid’s home planet) to retrieve his body.
They ended up using an artifact called the chaos shard, powered by Darkseid’s omega beams, to resurrect Damian from the dead.
Damian’s death is significant because it plays on the idea of the death of the son. Although Batman has many adopted sons Damian is his only biological, and thus his “true” heir.
His death also signifies the love that Batman has for his followers.
He did everything in his power to save Damian from death, and in the aftermath of this Damian did return stronger and as a more well-rounded character (until recent years that is).
https://youtu.be/WJCAAETRfc0 (Jason Todd death)
https://youtu.be/PkJ7U8eKVL0 (Jason Todd resurrection)
**There have also been many faked deaths, or others who have been presumed dead -but unlike Stephanie their deaths were only ever meant to be temporary-; this list includes Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and, I’m sure, many more in the future.
What's the Importance of This?
Well, according to Christianity, “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foreshadowing of our resurrection in the eschaton—or end times.” (https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=ur)
So, if you were to compare this to the many tragic deaths of Batman’s partners it is basically saying that these children die, so that Gotham can flourish.
It all comes back to the idea that “no blood=no harmony.”
The kids sacrifice themselves for the good of the city, much in the same way that Jesus died to atone for the sins of humanity.
