Since the character debuted in 1939, Batman has always kept his secret identity as Bruce Wayne underneath the cowl. However, the 90s started to change this standard.
The first example of this happened during the Knightfall story arc, when Jean-Paul Valley took over the cowl. Although, one of the more loved and long-lasting new Batmen to emerge from the 1990s was Terry McGinnis’ Batman Beyond (or Batman of the Future). Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, Terry McGinnis’ Batman would be set in a future in which Bruce Wayne has had to retire. While this appeared to be a fresh take on the Batman mythos, a Batman of Tomorrow had been done decades before.
In issue 187 of Batman from 1966, the 80-page special featured the first appearance of a Batman of Tomorrow. During a public appearance, Bruce Wayne injures his arm and finds himself unable to track down the villain of the piece, an evil makeup artist. Batman and Robin come up with the genius idea to call the ‘Batman of Tomorrow’ on some kind of futuristic telephone system, so that he can take the present day Batman’s place. Fortunately, the Batman of Tomorrow receives the call in the year 3055 and travels to the past in order to stand in while Batman’s arm heals.
Rather than Terry McGinnis in the Batsuit, this future Batman is actually a blonde man known as Brane Taylor. While the suit is obviously very different from the Batman Beyond suit fans have come to know and love, it still packs some of the same abilities that the Beyond suit does. The Batman Beyond suit turns invisible, has built in strength enhancing abilities, jet boots, and even wings.
Similarly, the Batman of Tomorrow shows that he also has his own jet boots, as well as the ability to turn invisible. After some hijinks in which the Batman of Tomorrow struggles to ride a horse and Vicki Vale becomes suspicious of the Batman of Tomorrow due to his non-stop flirting (bordering on harassment), they’re able to stop the evil makeup artist. Bruce Wayne’s arm even heals in time to dispel Vicki Vale’s accusation that he isn’t the real Batman.
While this Batman Beyond is far less exciting than the Terry McGinnis version, it is interesting that the suits both have invisibility and jet boosts, even if they do look drastically different. Perhaps this comic had some inspiration behind Timm and Dini’s creation, after all, the working title of Batman Beyond was Batman Tomorrow.