Comic book fans love joking about how Batman can practically beat anyone if he has the proper prep time, but many fans forget that he did in the iconic Justice League story Justice League of America: Tower of Babel written by Mark Waid released in 2000. Batman is one of the most intelligent characters in DC Comics and always has the advantage even when you least expect it. The Caped Crusader developed a contingency plan against the Justice League which strategically attacked and pinpointed their weaknesses and never told the individual members, including Superman who’s arguably his most trusted and well-known friend among the Justice League. At this point, the members of the Justice League were drastically different compared to the members’ fans know today. The members of the Justice League were: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Martian Manhunter, and Plastic Man. So, what happened? Why did Batman develop these plans?

Many comic book fans don’t know that Tower of Babel is a sequel to the story Silver Age written by Mark Waid, Karl Kesel, Marv Wolfman, Brian Augustyn, Tom Peyer, Bob Haney, Kurt Busiek, and Geoff Johns released in 2000. Silver Age is a 12 part mini-series involving the Justice League of America facing off against the Injustice League who was formed by Agamemnon. Agamemnon swaps the mind of the Justice League and Injustice League so he can achieve his goal of collecting three artifacts that would dominate the universe: the central power battery of the Green Lanterns, a piece of jewel Kryptonite, and Absorbascon from Thanagar. With the Justice League and Injustice League minds swapped, the Justice League must find and defeat Agememno and the Injustice League so they can to their bodies. The Justice League find Agememno but are easily defeated as he was able to find all three artifacts. However, the Justice League is saved by Hawkmen and the Green Lantern Corps who defeat and imprison Agememno in the central power battery. The Justice League’s minds return to their bodies and the Injustice League memories are wiped. Batman develops a contingency plan in case this happens again setting the stage for Tower of Babel.

Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins plan to cause planet-wide chaos using a piece of technology that disrupts the language processing centers of every brain on the planet. But first, he targets the Justice League of America to which Talia Al Ghul discovers and steals Batman’s contingency plan which strategically attacked and pin-pointed the members of the Justice League’s weaknesses. Ra’s Al Ghul activates the plan targeting Batman first before targeting the rest of the Justice League. Ra takes the bodies of Batman’s parents and sends them across the world, only for them to be in Ra’s possession. He then targets the Justice League, now being attacked simultaneously, which has allowed Ra’s plans to go through, though Batman arrives at Ra’s lair to retrieve his parents. After the Justice League is attacked, they recover and plan their next move in defeating Ra’s Al Ghul. Discovering that Ra’s ultimate endgame is a war with atomic nations, the Justice League begins stopping Ra’s and defeating him. The members of the Justice League were unaware that the plans made against them were developed by Batman; and so, the Justice League votes on Batman’s status only for Batman to leave before the voting has finished.

The contingency plan lists the members’ weaknesses: Batman’s weakness is distracting him with hostages or capturing loved ones. Superman’s weakness is Kryptonite though Batman has developed red Kryptonite using Kryptonite that’s been absorbed by red solar radiation which turns Superman’s skin clear. Wonder Woman’s weakness is she’ll never stop fighting and Batman develops a piece of technology injected in her ear that would make her imagine an enemy to the point where Wonder Woman would be exhausted to the brink of death. The Flash’s weakness is seizures and Batman develops a “vibra-bullet” that would make him experience constant seizures. Martian Manhunter’s weakness is fire and Batman develops nanites spiked with magnesium sprayed on Martian Manhunter causing him to c