'Even Batarangs', huh? OK, then...

[TheDarkestHorse]

tell me, do they actually come back to him? I've only ever seen them plug up guns and stick in people's arms. If they don't come back, aren't they really just 'Bat-shurikens' or something?

[Forsaken_One]

"Batarangs" sounds better than "Bat-shurikens" or "Baturikens" or whatever. So they're batarangs.

Besides which, it isn't like they use the name that often, any more than they call it the Batmobile in the comic.

[OzBat!]

Plus, it's not true that all boomerangs come back. There were more than a few different types, and many of them had one-way mission parameters: some types designed for hunting, and some war boomerangs, especially come to mind.

[The Mirrorball Man]

The old DC Heroes RPG made a distinction between the batarang (a big bat-shaped thing with a line that could be used as a weapon or a grappling hook) and the razorwings (bat-shaped shurikens). Doesn't that distinction exist in the standard DCU?

[Joker2503]

I think the distinction exists, they just don't use the names. Batman has some that come back and some that don't. Only he can tell the difference.

[PrimalScream]

in hush batman says that he can't always collect the batarangs thst he loses during some battles. so i think that they do come back 2 him some of the time abit like cap's sheild

[PrimalScream]

in hush batman says that he can't always collect the batarangs thst he loses during some battles. so i think that they do come back 2 him some of the time abit like cap's shield.

[trickster]

in hush batman says that he can't always collect the batarangs thst he loses during some battles. so i think that they do come back 2 him some of the time abit like cap's shield.

Not necessarily. Maybe he just doesn't bother to pull them out of the badguys' hands :) . Anyway, boomerangs don't come back after they've hit something.

[Birdcat]

Realisticly I'm sure that it all depends on how you throw it. There's probably times when he didn't care whether or not it came back to him, he just wanted it to hit its target.

[marshal99]

Reminds me of the time Batman and Capt Boomerang had a throwing contest against one another - the batarang vs the boomerang. :)

[twilight]

Most of the time with real boomerangs you have two types;

1)The one that returns to you're hand-The trick one.This is the one natives whip out to impress tourists.

2)The one that'll break you're ribs-Hunting one.The first one which was actually used to kill things.

[Absalom]

IIRC, all bumerangs return to your hand if they miss the target and don't hit anything.

[Zdex]

In "The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told", there's a re-print of Detective Comics 31, 1939, the story was called Batman vs the Vampire... that's the introduction to the batarang, the caption says:
"The flying batarang - modeled after the astralian bushman's boomerang" and the picture shows Batman throwing it, and it flying back to his hand.

[Forefinger]

I remember seeing batarangs returning to his hand if they didn't hit anything in the comics. I have an mental image of this happening, I think the image was drawn by Norm Breyfogle.

[TheDarkestHorse]

It would actually make sense for the batarangs to come back, since that would help them tie the cord around things, and then the small sharp 'razorwings' are what he uses to stab hands and plug guns. Guess I forgot there were two different kinds.

[Sean Whitmore]

I don't know if this counts as coming back, but Norm Breyfogle drew plenty of cool scenes where Batman bounced a batarang off of a thug's head so hard that it flew back into his hand.

And let's not forget that Batman often loads his batarangs up with electric charges and explosives and other crap for when he's fighting JLA-level badguys. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want THOSE coming back to him if he misses.


SEAN