Any denizen of the internet has almost undoubtedly come across the seemingly ubiquitous meme of Batman slapping Robin, which usually comes with humorous word bubbles explaining the reason The Caped Crusader is assaulting The Boy Wonder. But why did Batman slap Robin and where did this panel come from in the first place?
The image is ripped from the pages of World's Finest Comics #153, released in 1965. The story is one of DC's "Imaginary Novels," basically a "What If?..." story that finds Batman and Superman as mortal enemies. Thomas Wayne is still alive in this tale and has just created a cure for Green Kryptonite. A young Bruce Wayne is thrilled when Superboy arrives and asks for the serum, anticipating an attack from Lex Luthor, but Wayne says he hasn't done enough testing and Superboy, frustrated, flies off. That night Bruce finds his father dead in his lab, and the serum missing. All he sees of the killer is a streak of red and blue as he flies out of the window with super speed. This event - and not a mugging in Crime Alley - is what leads Bruce to dedicate his life to fighting crime - and bringing the Kryptonian to justice.
The years pass as Bruce trains himself to become the Batman, eventually taking on Dick Grayson as his ward. As Batman plans a trip to Metropolis to take down his foe, Robin interjects, insisting Superboy (now Superman) would never have killed an innocent. And then came the slap heard 'round the internet.
Batman uses the hypnosis machine he apparently has to wipe Robin's memory, preserving Wayne's secret identity, before severing the partnership. The rest of the story sees Batman obtaining a belt that allows him to fly, partnering with Luthor - even revealing his secret identity to the villain - and eventually sacrificing his life to save Superman once he realizes Lex and his... Superboy-shaped flying robot were responsible for his father's death. It's weird.
The comic as a whole has largely been forgotten by now, but that singular panel has taken on a life of its own, inspiring countless memes, spoofs, and re-imaginations, though for some reason they're almost always mirrored from the original.. There's the classic, and maybe most famous "MY PARENTS ARE DEAAAAAAAD!" take on the panel. But that's just the beginning.
The image got the Lego Batman treatment at one point, with Michael Cera's Robin being the victim to Will Arnett's Batman this time. Kevin Conroy's Batman got his licks in when someone gave the image a decidedly Batman: The Animated Series upgrade. And The Dark Knight himself has seen some comeuppance over the slap, having been retaliated against by both Batgirl and The Boy Wonder himself.
The image became so prolific, it even crossed comic book universes. Marvel and its fans have had some fun depicting the now-classic strike, with a variant cover of All-New Wolverine #4 seeing Laura Kinney's X-23 laying the smackdown on Deadpool after The Merc with a Mouth inquired after Logan's health. And when Wolverine himself got in on the fun in a piece of fan art, let's just say Robin probably would have preferred just a slap.
There is a rabbit hole's worth of examples someone could fall down with the countless variations on the versatile meme. Creative fans can even make versions of their own with meme-generating sites. Whether the meme is tired at this point or not, it is pretty amusing that the most noteworthy part of a story involving Batman's death is one single panel that's just become internet humor fodder.