DC’s We Are Yesterday Crossover Reveals Heartbreaking Reunion

DC’s All-In publishing initiative has been very successful, with both the Absolute book and the mainline books making readers very happy. DC announced the first All-In crossover known as “We Are Yesterday”, crossing through Justice League Unlimited and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, as the first All-In crossover. The gist of it is that Gorilla Grodd gained the power to use his telepathy temporally at the end of Absolute Power, getting in touch with his past self and the Legion of Doom to try to destroy the Justice League. This has led Batman, Superman, and Nightwing to switch places with their past selves, as Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #39 sees them continue the battle against Grodd. However, time travel has many problems and one of them is a heartbreaker for Batman and Nightwing: meeting their father figure Alfred Pennyworth.

Alfred is one of the most important characters in the Batman mythos, if not the most important character. Alfred helped make Batman’s mission possible, keeping him alive through the worst times imaginable. The death of Alfred was a massive shock to the system of the Bat-Family, and Batman and Nightwing seeing their old friend again has a huge effect on them. The loss of Alfred still hurts both Batman and fans, and World’s Finest #39 points that out brilliantly.

Alfred’s Death Came at One of Batman’s Lowest Moments

The death of Alfred came in the story “City of Bane”, which was the culmination of Tom King’s Batman run. Throughout King’s 85-issue run, he had set up Bane as the greatest threat to Batman, the villain working behind the scenes, using the powers of Psycho-Pirate to help him control villains like the Joker, stacking the deck against Batman. This culminated in Bane taking Gotham City from Batman and the Bat-Family, warning them that if they tried to enter the city and were found, he would kill Alfred, who he had kept in the city. Batman listens to Bane’s ultimatum, but unfortunately, one member of the Batman-Family doesn’t: Damian Wayne. Damian is caught by Flashpoint Batman (that’s right Flashpoint Batman; King’s run is wild in the best possible way) and Gotham Girl and brought before Bane. Bane breaks Alfred’s neck, something Batman learned when he finally got to Wayne Manor for the final battle against Bane and Flashpoint Batman. Since then, readers have been wondering when and if DC was going to bring Alfred back to life — it wouldn’t be the first time that Alfred came back from death, although before his death was always faked — but so far the published has made the death stick.

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Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #39 brings the return of Alfred, as the Superman, Batman, and Robin of the past (World’s Finest is set in the past and has been telling some of the best superhero stories currently being published) meet their future counterparts and switch places with the present versions of themselves, albeit Nightwing instead of Robin. The present versions find themselves in the old Justice League Satellite, and quickly use the Satellite’s teleportation system, so as not to interfere with the timeline too much. They take themselves to the Batcave, where they soon meet Alfred. Batman reacts to seeing the man who raised him alive, and Superman reminds them of the consequences of letting on too much of what they know about this Alfred’s future. Nightwing immediately jumps into action, quickly distracting the butler from seeing Batman’s reaction. Superman quickly grabs Batman’s hand and pushes him back, telling Alfred that they’re on a time travel mission and they’ll explain later. Batman is known for his stoicism, but that facade cracks upon seeing Alfred. There’s a chance that Batman might have even cracked even more if it wasn’t for the quick-thinking of Superman and Nightwing.

The Loss of Alfred Will Always Haunt Batman

The loss of Alfred was shocking to fans. If there’s one character that everyone thought would always be a part of Batman’s life, it’s Alfred. The butler has been Batman’s surrogate father since the night the Waynes were murdered. The love between the two of them has become one of the most important parts of the Batman mythos. Alfred kept Batman going in basically every way possible; he fed him, he kept the manor clean spotless, he sewed up Batman’s injuries, and basically kept the home fires burning. No one expected Alfred to be killed in “City of Bane” — comics are all about page turn moments and this one almost certainly got a lot of fans to yelp — and the character has been sorely missed, both in-universe and beyond.

Batman seeing Alfred in World’s Finest #39 was the last thing Batman expected or even thought about. Superman and Nightwing are able to keep Batman from breaking; there’s a rather large chance that he would have done something that made Alfred suspicious. There’s even a chance that Batman could have spilled the beans to Alfred. It didn’t happen, but the heartbreak of this moment will stay with Batman for a long time.

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #39 is on sale now.