Tom King's Surprising Parallels Between Batman and Star Trek, Explained

Acclaimed Batman scribe Tom King points to a surprising Star Trek parallel — And he's right.

During a recent appearance on the Word Balloon podcast, hosted by John Siuntres, King touched on the shocking death of Alfred Pennyworth in Batman #77, released in 2019, and the lasting impact of the character's demise. "I will say I think it's an easy [Star] Trek comparison," King said of the specific space that Alfred held in the wider Batman mythos.

"The reason I think a lot of Trek succeeds is because you have that trinity at the center of it of Jim, Spock and Bones. And and and I think the reason a lot of Batman succeeds is that you have Alfred, Gordon, Batman," King explained. "It's the two aspects of Batman's brain that are outside of him."

King expoounded on the parallels drawn between Star Trek and Alfred, citing specific examples. "Like just like you know Bones is Jim's kind of human gut and Spock is his sort of logical side and that's almost one-to-one, like Gordon is is his overreacting human obsessive side and Alfred is more of his hesitation and logical side and it's just amazing that two of the things that have driven so much story have — have this their center. It can't be a coincidence," he said.

King also promised fans that they can expect at least a glimpse of Alfred elsewhere, specifically in the pages of King's own run on Wonder Woman. "There is a Styx run in with Alfred. I got to hint that he's still out there. At least I got to do that because I was the one who killed him all those years ago. And nobody loves Alfred more than me. I adore writing that character."

King added, "I don't know how you write Batman without Alfred. It amazes me that they've done it for so long." Regarding what the future might hold for Alfred, King admitted, "I have no inside information. It could be another 20 years. I thought he'd be back in two months after I did it. It's shocked me that it's lasted this long."

Alfred's History and Impact on the Batman Franchise

Batman's closest confidant and Bruce Wayne's adoptive father figure, Alfred Pennyworth, has been a part of the DC Universe for nearly as long as The Dark Knight himself. The first iteration of the character, Alfred Beagle, was introduced in the closing story from 1943's Batman #16, "Here Comes Alfred," by Don C. Cameron and Bob Kane.

Over the course of more than eight decades, Alfred has been an indelible part of the Batman mythos across dozens of iterations of the story. Tragically, the Alfred of the primary DC Comics continuity, otherwise known as the Prime Earth reality, lost his life at the hands of the hulking Bane in 2016's Batman #77 by Tom King, Mikel Janín, and Tony S. Daniel.

As shocking as the death of Alfred was at the time for many readers, the fact that Alfred had remained deceased (save for brief stints as a zombie and the unliving host to a literal demon) for so long has proven to be even more surprising. Alfred's death has also been revisited on multiple occasions, proving that his absence is one that members of the Batman Family will continue to feel for as long as he remains deceased.

Batman and Star Trek can be enjoyed in television, comic book, and movie adaptations.