Batman: Alfred’s death is nothing new and will not last long

Alfred Pennyworth’s death in Batman No. 77 may have been a shock, but it isn’t the first time that the beloved butler has died in the comics.

Prepare for some spoilers if you are not up to date on your Batman reading.

Recently, in Batman No.77, we witness Alfred’s death at the hands of Bane. The sheer magnitude of this event has caused it to hit the news and, in the process, stirred up some fans. Sorry people, but this is not the first time. Yes, you are reading this correctly. Alfred’s death right now is nothing new.

It is June 1964, and we see Alfred Pennyworth in Detective Comics No. 328. A boulder is falling on the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin. The butler arrives on his motorcycle, pushing the two out-of-the-way. And thus it leads to Alfred’s death.

Theories exist that Alfred’s original death was the result of the Comics Code Authority. While that’s certainly not the most outlandish theory, why does it take ten years for DC Comics to respond to this?

Well, we must remember that the Comics Code Authority was, in many ways, a reaction to Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of The Innocent of the same year – which claimed that Batman and Robin represent the gay fantasy of two men together, along with their own male butler. Of course, this is the overall thesis of Dr. Fredric Wertham. Furthermore, this is hardly true at all, and Wertham is something of a quack. With the removal of Alfred, they bring in Aunt Harriet, prior to the Adam West show.

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Personally, I do not believe this theory since again, why respond a whole decade later? By the time of Alfred’s death, he is something of a staple now in the Batman mythos. His character appears in both Batman serials and is twenty years old, publican wise. Batman and comic fandom is nothing in the sixties as it is now. Fans now write the comics, back then it was professional men with little to no interest in the comics nor the characters. According to them, it is only a job. The way they see it they only killed the butler, and hence Alfred’s death holds little to no weight for them. Negative fan reaction exists for Alfred in 1964. One fan deems it an ‘injustice’ and another wants the story”null and void.”

Alfred returns from the grave in Detective Comics No. 356 in October of 1966. Alfred’s death lasts only two years. In fact, during this time Batman and Robin, meet a villain by the name of the Outsider. We have a big giveaway in how the Outsider knows too much about the dynamic duo that only one person can know. Big surprise, the Outsider is Alfred!

Since then, we have yet to see the death of Alfred, save for “Elseworlds” tales such as Batman: Vampire or Injustice . Alfred has too much of a fanbase to allow for a permanent death. Who knows the reasoning this time. Some believe the original death of Alfred is in line with his return as the Outsider. Hence this is all part of a huge plot. We have no proof of this, save for some letter columns. Yet they do not write comics in the sixties, as they do today. Long, drawn-out arcs were not common back then with big crossovers and more.

Long-story-short, Alfred’s death is not going to stick. When does a death really ever stick in comics, save for maybe Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man? No doubt, some fans already see this, and this is their problem with Alfred’s death in Batman No. 77. What do you think?