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| Bat Lash | |
| Aliases: | Batton Lash [1] Bartholomew Lash Bartholomew Aloysius Lash |
| Continuity: | DC Universe |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Type: | Gunslinger |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Human |
| Location: | Texas |
| Associations: | Black Lantern Corps [2] Rough Bunch |
| Relatives: | Lemuel Lash Martha Lash Melissa Lash Thomas Lash William Lash |
| Status: | Deceased |
| First: | Showcase #76 |
| Final: | Weird Western Tales #71 |
| Actor: | Ben Browder |
Bartholomew "Bat" Lash is a fictional pacifist gunslinger and a recurring character featured in western genre comics published by DC Comics. He was introduced as a try-out character in Showcase #76 in August, 1968. This immediately led to short-lived Bat Lash ongoing series, which only lasted seven issues. A six-issues limited series starring Bat Lash was published in 2008.
Biography[]
Bartholomew Aloysius Lash was born in the early 19th century to Lemuel and Martha Lash. He had two brothers named Thomas & William, as well as a sister named Melissa. Martha raised Bart to be a well-spoken and intelligent individual, but his hard-working father preferred to see his son grow up to appreciate the solid efforts of a good day's labor. Taking cues from both of them, Bart grew into the sort of unconventional individual neither parent could have predicted.
As Bart grew older, he demonstrated an apathetic attitude towards violence, preferring instead a life of pure self-indulgence. He was always well mannered and well groomed, and even took to fastening a flower inside of the band of his hat.
Soon after however, Bart's life took a darker turn. Corrupt county officials had swindled the Lashes out of their farmland forcing them to vacate. While Lemuel, Martha and Bart's siblings sought shelter elsewhere, Bart went to the authorities. His efforts to seek justice failed however, and he earned himself the enmity of a corrupt Sheriff's office. An argument ensued – one, which led to a duel between Bart and a local deputy. Unable to talk himself out of the affair, Bart was forced to gun the officer down.
Lash soon found himself a fugitive from justice. Wanted by the authorities, he sought refuge in a small cabin that his family had taken as shelter. However when he arrived, he found that the building had been put to the torch. Both Lemuel and Martha Lash died in the blaze. He gathered his surviving friends and family and brought them to the sanctuary of a convent. From that moment onward, Bart (now calling himself Bat) sought to avenge the deaths of his parents.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Bat Lash was originally conceived by Carmine Infantino and Joe Orlando. Sheldon Mayer was hired to script the inaugural story, but when his script was rejected, it was turned over to Sergio Aragonés for completion.
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
- * An advertising slogan used to promote Bat Lash's first appearance in Showcase read, "Will he save the West or ruin it?"
- Reprint stories from Bat Lash were published in issues #9-11 of All-Star Western, Volume 2.
- Bat Lash also made recurring appearances in issues of Jonah Hex, Volume 1, and Jonah Hex, Volume 2.
- Like most western characters, Bat Lash went through a number of horses. In his first recorded adventure, he rode a horse named Daisy. [3]In later stories, he had a horse named Amarillo.
- Bat Lash also appeared in the DC Animated Universe. Voiced by actor Ben Browder, he appeared in the twelfth episode of season one of Justice League Unlimited titled "The Once and Future Thing: Weird Western Tales".
- Bat Lash #6, his name is spelled as "Batton Lash". This is likely intended as an homage to cartoonist Batton Lash, who created the "Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre" comic strip for The Brooklyn Paper in 1979.
Abilities[]
See also[]
External Links[]
Appearances[]
Pre-Crisis
Post-Crisis
Alternate media |
References[]
- ↑ Bat Lash 6
- ↑ Weird Western Tales 71
- ↑ Showcase 76