Batman’s Caveman Duds Evoke Die Fledermaus Memories

Andy Kubert's prehistoric Caped Crusader from the cover of "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" #1 that debuted at DC's The Source yesterday is awesome in numerous ways, but one of its greatest uncolored accomplishments is evoking the spirit of Die Fledermaus.

The affable Batman parody created for "The Tick" animated series, later repackaged as heartthrob Batmanuel (played by "Lost" star Nestor Carbonell, no less!) for the 2001 live-action show, lives on in Bruce Wayne's fairly literal costume.

It's impossible to characterize Kubert's time period-appropriate garb as some kind of imitation given that Die Fledermaus's loosely-translated German name "The Bat" is already an homage, but I really couldn't be happier that it manifested in such a Tick-tastic way, if only to drive me to Hulu for Tick reruns.

What other Batwonders are in store for us as Bruce makes his mysterious march through time? I wonder...

Check Die Fledermaus' style toward the tail-end of the clip.