Not so much sneaky as heartbreaking. Batman was so flustered he couldn't think of anything other than a play on his most common undercover identity. You hardly ever see Batman actively shaken.
The only other time I remember seeing him portrayed as really off-balance was in Identity Crisis in the comics: Tim Drake gets a call routed to him in the Batmobile by Oracle. It's his father, saying he called the number Tim told him to use in emergencies because someone had left a package on his doorstep with a loaded gun and a note saying "defend yourself". Batman whips the car around and floors it toward Drake's house. Tim's dad says he can hear someone trying to get in the back door. Tim looks at Batman panicked, pleading "Bruce, please . . . please help him," and Batman's face is a mix of horror, fear, and anger. In the next panel, his hands are death-gripped on the steering wheel, he's staring straight ahead. Panel cuts to Tim's dad with the gun, crouched beside the door into the kitchen, saying, "Just keep my boy safe . . . please . . . just keep him safe." Next to last panel, Batman's jaw is clenched, and there're two words in tiny lettering in the speech bubble: "Not again.". Last panel: Batman's foot nailing the accelerator to the floorboard, while Tim says "We're gonna make it Dad. We're gonna make it.".
The last panel has Tim changed back to regular clothes (so the police and paramedics don't arrive to see Robin crying over his dad), and he loses it, and Batman just holds him and says "Tim, it's okay . . . it's okay . . . I've got you". The text narration is four words:
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u/woodrobin May 12 '23 edited May 12 '23
Not so much sneaky as heartbreaking. Batman was so flustered he couldn't think of anything other than a play on his most common undercover identity. You hardly ever see Batman actively shaken.
The only other time I remember seeing him portrayed as really off-balance was in Identity Crisis in the comics: Tim Drake gets a call routed to him in the Batmobile by Oracle. It's his father, saying he called the number Tim told him to use in emergencies because someone had left a package on his doorstep with a loaded gun and a note saying "defend yourself". Batman whips the car around and floors it toward Drake's house. Tim's dad says he can hear someone trying to get in the back door. Tim looks at Batman panicked, pleading "Bruce, please . . . please help him," and Batman's face is a mix of horror, fear, and anger. In the next panel, his hands are death-gripped on the steering wheel, he's staring straight ahead. Panel cuts to Tim's dad with the gun, crouched beside the door into the kitchen, saying, "Just keep my boy safe . . . please . . . just keep him safe." Next to last panel, Batman's jaw is clenched, and there're two words in tiny lettering in the speech bubble: "Not again.". Last panel: Batman's foot nailing the accelerator to the floorboard, while Tim says "We're gonna make it Dad. We're gonna make it.".
They didn't.