Legendary artist Alex Ross almost brought Batman’s son “Batboy” to comics as a leading hero in the DC Universe’s future. In an homage to the “what if” stories of the Silver Age, featuring the children of main DC heroes, Ross considered the premise as a limited series.
Bruce Wayne has had a handful of biological children over the years, including Helena Wayne AKA Huntress and Damian AKA Robin. However for a long time, Bruce’s only children were his sidekicks. Throughout the Silver Age, many imaginary scenarios were brought into comics, often incorporating the future. Although none of the ideas ever stuck, they were a fun gimmick to consider how the DC status quo could change. Photorealist painter Alex Ross revealed his own idea for such a comic in Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross, featuring his sketches, concept art, and commentary.
Among the conceptual sketches in Rough Justice is a mock-up cover by Alex Ross depicting “Batboy,” the future son of Batman. Sitting inside the Batcave with Superboy peaking around the corner, the fully realized future of the DC Universe appears on his screens. The adult Teen Titans stand in front of the Hall of Justice, implying their status as the new Justice League. Originally pitched by Ross as a two or three issue story moving DC into the distant future, Batboy unfortunately never saw publication.
In Rough Justice, Ross wrote about the pitch saying, ”At the same time I was pitching the Justice series, I was working on a radically different project idea I became obsessed with. Some concepts just take hold of you and capture your imagination despite the fact that they might seem absurd. Conceived as a two- or three- issue prestige series, Batboy was an ambitious send-up of the 'imaginary' stories about the super-sons of Batman and Superman.” Predating the Super-Sons duo of Damian Wayne and Jon Kent, Ross’ concept was the first one on the scene. Ross also had extensive ideas for the backstories of other children belonging to both heroes and villains in the DC Universe.
As seen on the cover, even the Joker has a daughter who follows in his footsteps. While such an idea might not fly in comics today, it’s exactly the type of character who would appear in the Silver Age’s imaginary storylines. Elaborating on the theoretical future of DC, Ross said, ”the maturation to Superwoman and Batwoman for Kara and Barbara; an older Joker with his daughter; other grown JLA children, with Aquaman's son, Arthur Jr. (revived from the dead in my idealistic future); and Flash's kids, the Tornado Twins; early college tutelage by Harvey Dent (cured of his Two-Face persona) for young Master Wayne; the retired-and-loving-it assembly of the older Justice League; the new Justice League in the form of the adult Teen Titans; a baby sister of Helena Wayne; the one still-active original Leaguer, Green Lantern; and the flying Batmobile.”
DC’s future doesn’t currently incorporate Batboy, but it’s ironic that Jon among other heroes are taking on their parents’ mantles in ongoing series. In retrospect, Alex Ross’ ideas weren’t too far off from the actual future.