Bat-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Depicted as a small, childlike man in an ill-fitting copy of Batman's costume, Bat-Mite possesses what appear to be near-infinite magical powers which could be considered nigh-omnipotence, but he actually uses highly advanced technology from the fifth dimension that cannot be understood by humans' limited three-dimensional views. Unlike Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite idolizes his superhero target and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange and ridiculous events so that he could see his hero in action. Bat-Mite is more of a nuisance than a supervillain, and often departs of his own accord upon realizing that he has angered his idol.[1]
Bat-Mite made his first appearance in Detective Comics #267 (May 1959) in a story titled "Batman Meets Bat-Mite", and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Sheldon Moldoff.[2]
Bat-Mite was retired from the comic in 1964, when editor Julius Schwartz instituted a "New Look" Batman that shed some of the sillier elements in the series.[3]
Bat-Mite appeared in a self-titled six-issue miniseries which lasted from June to November 2015.[4]
Fictional character history
Pre-Crisis
Cover to Detective Comics #267 (May 1959), the first appearance of Bat-Mite, art by Curt Swan.
Bat-Mite regularly appeared in Batman, Detective Comics, and World's Finest Comics for five years. Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk teamed up four times in the pages of World's Finest Comics to plague Superman and Batman together, as well.[5] In 1964, the Batman titles were revamped under editor Julius Schwartz, leading Bat-Mite to stop appearing.[6]
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity reboot, Bat-Mite is largely removed from DC's continuity.[7] He appears in the Elseworlds special World's Funnest before being restored to the main continuity in Superman/Batman #25 (2006).[8][9] Furthermore, Bat-Mite appears as a hallucination that Batman suffers after losing his sanity during Grant Morrison's run.[10]
Powers and abilities
Bat-Mite, as a fifth-dimensional Imp, has nigh-omnipotence, which is shown as near-infinite magical power. Bat-Mite has powers and skills identical to that of Mister Mxyzptlk (but not his weaknesses), such as the ability to manipulate spacetime. He has access to various bat-weapons like his hero, Batman.[11]
Publications
2015 series
Bat-Mite (2016-02-17): Includes Bat-Mite #1-6 and a sneak peek story from Convergence: Supergirl: Matrix #2.[12]
In other media
Television
Bat-Mite (left) as depicted in The New Adventures of Batman.
In Handbook of Comics and Graphic Narratives, Matt Yockey writes, "Bat-Mite pointedly represents the intersection of utopia and trauma in the superhero genre and he signals that the mastery over trauma is an essential step toward realizing a utopian ideal. His home in the 'fifth dimension' and his magical powers locate Bat-Mite in the utopian realm, yet he turns to Batman as his ideal, suggesting that contact with trauma is in fact indispensable to the expression of a utopian desire."[19]
^Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 25. ISBN978-0-345-50108-0.
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; et al. (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 25. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^ abc"Bat-Mite Voices (Batman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 11, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
