Stealth Hi Bye / Batman

Batman is a known master of the Stealth Hi/Bye. It's one of his two signature entrances/exits, the other being a Super Window Jump. He does this pretty reliably when talking to Commissioner Gordon or his other allies. In fact, whenever he doesn't, it's usually a sign to Gordon that it's an impostor, or at least that something's wrong.

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Comic Books

• The earliest known example of Batman disappearing on Gordon is in 1972's Detective Comics #424.
• He pulls this off in Batman: Year One. On a motorcycle. During a police chase. With a helicopter. Using a cloud of bats.
• In the Knightfall event, when Jean-Paul Valley stands in for an injured Batman, his failure to mysteriously disappear during one of his talks with Commissioner Gordon becomes Gordon's first clue that he isn't the real thing. Indeed, Gordon is nearly stunned to speechlessness when he turns around in mid-sentence to find Batman still standing there (dialogue from Detective Comics #666).
  Gordon: [...] Not that I... Blame him... My God.
  Azbats: Something wrong, Commissioner?
  Gordon: You're still here.
  Azbats: So?
  Gordon: Usually I turn and you're gone.
  Azbats: I wasn't certain we were finished talking.
  Gordon: That never stopped you before.
  Azbats: I'll be going then.
• He's even been able to pull this off on Clark Kent a few times; e.g., During JLA: Midsummer's Nightmare, where Batman asks the JLA to wait a moment while he goes on ahead to quietly disable a sentry. Superman and J'onn J'onnz both try to follow his progress, but fail. To reiterate: a guy who can hear electrons bump into each other on the other side of the planet and see DNA through a mountain, and a guy who is an Xavier-class telepath and possesses nine senses, both utterly fail to detect Batman when they know where he left from, when he left, where he's going, and when to expect him back. It has been noted in the past, however, that Batman has mentioned that he's gone out of his way to learn how to trick Superman and others (usually more by way of mindgame stealth) — in the first issue of Grant Morrison's run, Superman doesn't hear Batman's heartbeat, his usual way of picking up on him as he approaches; Batman muses that "the device worked". Similarly, Batman has been able to block out telepathic detection on various occasions if he knows about it. And on a number of occasions, other superheroes have asked Superman how Batman could disappear on him like that, and Superman only grins affectionately and says, "Batman loves his little tricks," leaving the impression that Superman has no desire to make an effort to spoil Batman's fun. The few times Superman has truly had to catch Batman, he has been able to do so... usually with Batman chastising him that he took 14 seconds longer than Batman himself expected.
• In Kingdom Come, Superman pulls this, albeit unintentionally, on Batman. Batman proceeds to wryly comment to himself: "So that's what that feels like...." And toward the end of the book, when Clark and Diana are waiting at the diner for Bruce to show up, Clark worries that someone will recognize them. Diana tells him it isn't likely, then Bruce interrupts her by saying that none of them stand out. Clark's response?
  Superman: There you are. You snuck up on me. Me. How do you do that?
• Superman does it intentionally to Batman by showing up suddenly more than once (such as the first issue of Public Enemies (2004)), usually to Batman's annoyance, with Superman noting that he loves being able to surprise Batman like that.
• In Supergirl 2005 storyline Girl Power Batman is the victim of this twice. It first happens when Superman flies out of the Batcave to help Supergirl. Later, Kara sneaks up on Batman when she realizes that he and her cousin are monitorizing her from the Cave.
  Batman: She's broken off the wing. Okay, Clark, if you manage to keep your distance, she might need some hel— I hate it when he does that.
• On one occasion, Batman deliberately subverts this; since they are investigating a crime in the suburbs, with no high roofs for him to jump from and vanish, he simply drives away in the Batmobile, leaving Gordon nonplussed.
• Batman also finds himself on the receiving end of a Stealth Hi/Bye from the Huntress in Justice League America #26 (of the Giffen-DeMatteis run), to which he remarks, "Now I know how Jim Gordon feels...."
• The first character to do this to Batman is The Phantom Stranger, another DC comics nighttime hero (though a supernatural one, so it's not really that he is more skilled than Batman). When Phantom Stranger pulls this on Superman, the latter comments, "At least Batman has a heartbeat to listen to."
• Most members of the Bat Family (Robin, Nightwing, etc.) have done this at one time or another — obviously they learned from the best. Barbara Gordon (then going by Oracle) once pulled this on Catwoman in an art gallery. In a wheelchair.
• In Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl, Batgirl does this to Supergirl after helping her expose Lex Luthor.
• At one point, during the No Man's Land arc, Gordon is in the middle of a What the Hell, Hero? speech to Batman and points out that friends do not walk out in the middle of your sentences. Batman is more open and above-board in his dealings with Gordon for the rest of that arc.
• During the Knightfall storyline, Gordon briefly talks with Robin (Tim Drake), who disappears halfway through Gordon's sentence. Gordon's response: "...I bet it's the first thing he teaches them."
• In The Widening Gyre, Batman and Nightwing are talking, Batman looks away for a moment, and when he looks back, Nightwing is gone. His response?
  Batman: Sonnova... the kid pulled a me.
• Nightwing himself would, during his tenure as Batman, surprise Gordon when he didn't disappear like usual. Unlike with Jean-Paul Valley, Gordon wasn't alarmed...just a little weirded out. The reason Gordon is comfortable with this may be that he's implied to know that Dick Grayson is Batman.
• An issue of Batman: The Dark Knight lampshades and subverts this. Gordon and Batman are discussing the Mad Hatter's latest scheme, with the discussion eventually ending in this exchange:
  Gordon: Oh, yeah. Here's where I turn around and you're gone.
  Batman: Nope. Still here.
  [Gordon turns around, and they stare at each other for two panels]
  Gordon: Okay, then.
  Batman: Right. [turns and leaves]
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns has Batman do this to a regular patrol cop as part of the demonstration that He's Back!. From the film version:
  Cop: Y'know, I saw you once before. Years ago. I was a rookie like schmuck-face there, and...
  Batman: Tell Gordon we have to talk.
  Cop: ...Sure thing, Bats. [he looks away for a moment] But how's he supposed to get in touch with y— (he turns back around, and Batman's gone; the cop looks around for a bit, then smiles] Oh yeah. Now I remember.
• Subverted in Batman: Earth One. Gordon is talking and turns to find Batman gone...only for Batman to call out "over here," as he just moved to the nearby window.
• Wonder Woman (1987): Bats scares poor Ferdinand while he's singing and fixing breakfast, though Ferdinand recovers quickly after grabbing a knife to threaten whomever managed to sneak up on him and offers Bats some food. He's not sure if it's breakfast or dinner by Bat standards.
• From Batman (2016) issue #2:
  Gotham Girl: Wait...Where...? Where is he?
  Gordon: Yeah. He does that.
  Gotham Girl: I'm using ultravision, but I can't...can you...?
  Gotham: No...I...
  [...]
  Gotham: I can see through everything. I can see everything. It's impossible.
  Gordon: It's not impossible, kid. It's Batman.
• In the Alex Ross story Liberty and Justice, Martian Manhunter has his back to Batman but is talking to him telepathically. Batman eventually disappears, and J'onn comments it scares him how Batman is able to disappear from even his mental abilities.
• Batman: Black and White: In the comedic "Batsman: Swarming Scourge of the Underworld", Batsman is depicted as liking to play childish pranks on Commissioner Gordon; his version of the Stealth Hi involves sneaking up behind Comissioner Gordon and popping a paper bag to scare him, and the Stealth Bye involves a really obvious Look Behind You.
• In Batgirl storyline The Attack of the Annihilator, Barbara Gordon sneaks out to put on her costume while her friend Doreen is distracted watching the news.
  Doreen Gray: I don't believe it! It must be some crazy mistake! What do you think, Barbara? Barbara...? I don't get it! She was right behind me a minute ago! Where did she disappear to?
• In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004), Big Barda ushers Superman and Wonder Woman into her house, turns around and finds Batman is already waiting inside.
  Big Barda: Batman...? But... How... Where? WHEN did you get here? [muttering] Why do I even ask...?
• Detective Comics (Rebirth) has a Genre Savvy mayor helpfully leaving his office windows open for Batman to do one of these.
• In the Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk crossover, Bruce Banner actually pulls this on Commissioner Gordon. Gordon seems to inspire this from everyone.
• Batman: Gordon of Gotham: During his Darkest Hour, Gordon is alone in his office and hears a sound behind him. He tells Batman that he was wrong to order him off the case and is ready to take his help...only to realize that all he heard was the wind coming through the open window.
  Gordon: The one time I think you're there and it's just the blinds.
• In the first issue of the tie-in comic to the podcast Batman: The Audio Adventures, Gordon asks Batman why he keeps doing this, Batman actually tells him why.
  Gordon: Gah! Batman, why do you do that every time? Every time!
  Batman: Do you actually want to know, Commissioner?
  Gordon: It-Yeah! I really want to know!
  Batman: It's the principle of the panopticon. I can't always be watching, but you're never certain I'm not.
  Gordon: Okay, I hate that.
• In the comic tie-in for Injustice 2, when Dinah Lance proposes to Oliver Queen while Batman is present, Oliver finds it so awkward that he asks for "that thing where people turn around and he just disappears". The instant he turns around, Batman obliges.
  Ollie: Seriously, how the hell does he do that?

Comic Strips

• A MAD strip deconstructs the whole concept. Batman is actually hiding behind the trash cans just a few feet away, which makes for some very awkward explanations when Harvey Dent finds him there.

Fan Works

• Batman did this to Shlubb and Klump in A Dark Knight over Sin City while they were in a holding cell.
• Infinity Crisis: Pulled on, of all people, Batman when he's barking orders and turns to find Oliver has already gone. "Huh. So that's what that feels like..."
• In the Alternate Ending of No Dawn No Day, Cassandra Cain does this to Batman (Damian Wayne) — she appears in the Batcave, punches him in the face, and departs.
• Referenced in Bruce Has a Problem. Harvey Bullock drops by Gordon's office to see if he wants any food, and finds him pulling at his office's floorboards. Perplexed, he asks the Commissioner why he's doing that. Gordon replies:
  "To make them squeak."
• In "Wayne Manor", part of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Hearts series, eight-year-old Bruce Wayne is already good enough at this to catch out a secret agent who's trained to be alert to his surroundings.
• A Shadow of the Titans naturally makes use of this when Gordon shows up during the Gotham Arc. He and Batman are discussing the mutated Kitten's murderous rampage, only for Gordon to realize mid-sentence that Batman's disappeared. He swears that one day he'll catch him leaving.

Films — Live Action

• Batman Film Series:
  • Batman (1989):
    • When Batman faces off against Jack Napier in the Axis Chemical factory. Jack Napier bends down to pick up his gun. When he straightens up and looks again, Batman has disappeared. A few seconds later, he reappears out of nowhere.
    • After Bruce Wayne has been shot by the Joker and apparently killed in Vicki Vale's apartment, he somehow manages to get out of the room without her seeing him.
  • Actually happens onscreen in Batman Forever. The execution is, unsurprisingly, somewhat disappointing (unless you interpret it as Batman disappearing by walking offscreen).
• The Dark Knight Trilogy:
  • Subverted in Batman Begins as Bruce Wayne stumbles out the window and falls (very painfully) down a stairwell (hey, it was his first time). Of course, this is before he was actually Batman. In response he asks Lucius Fox to develop his batsuit wings, so he can make a quicker and smoother exit by gliding off rooftops — once he puts on the suit, he does it flawlessly several times throughout the rest of the movie.
  • Later in Batman Begins:
    Scared Thug: WHERE ARE YOU?!?
    Batman: [Hanging upside down behind him] Here.
    [Thug turns around and manages a startled gasp before the screen goes black]

  Parodied in an SNL digital short with Andy Samberg as Batman and Steve Buscemi as Commisioner Gordon.

  • In The Dark Knight, Batman uses this to achieve what basically amounts to a *Click* Hello without a gun.
    The Joker: A little fight in ya. I like that.
    Batman: [Appearing from nowhere] Then you're gonna love me.
    [Fighting ensues]
    • It should be noted that this Stealth Hi occurred in the middle of a crowd of frightened cocktail party guests spread across a very well-lit room, and neither the guests, the Joker, his men, nor Rachel Dawes showed any sign they knew he was there.
    • Lampshaded on the roof of the police station, when Harvey speaks to Batman, turns to Gordon, and then looks back to see Batman having done what he does best. With a shrug, Gordon says, "He does that." This and the dialogue is based on an incident in the mainstream comics, incidentally. Note that Gordon is looking directly at Batman when this happens. To make it more amusing, imagine Gordon was actively complicit in that one. Just imagine the Bat making a shushing motion and giving him a wink before stealthing out to mess with Harvey.
  • Batman is on the receiving end in The Dark Knight Rises when Catwoman escapes using this while he is distracted by a police helicopter.
    Batman: So that's what it feels like.
• DC Extended Universe:
  • In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batsy pulls this on Lex Luthor in prison near the end. The guards tell Luthor the warden wants to see him... then the lights start flickering, and they're suddenly gone while Batman is feet from him. Batman then leaves just as stealthily, despite the only visible exit being a long corridor.
  • Justice League pushes this even further, as poor Gordon gets this treatment from the entire team... except Flash.
    Flash: Oh, wow, they just — they really just vanished! Huh? Oh... that's rude. (speeds off)
• In The Batman (2022), this is only used once because Batman just realized he needs to be somewhere else in a hurry. Otherwise, he walks on and off of crime scenes with Jim Gordon, the pair of them partners in the war against crime in this movie. He doesn't even appear out of nowhere to startle criminals, often signalling his presence with ominous footsteps, the rev of the Batmobile's engine, or exploding through the skylights.

Literature

• In the Knightfall novelization, Batman appears in Gordon's car, implicitly having snuck in while he was out. Gordon asks him if he's a ninja, and Batman says yes. After their conversation, Gordon brakes at a stoplight, makes a few quips, and turns around, only to find that Batman is gone. In defiance of several laws of physics.

Live Action TV

• Batman (1966): Batman and Robin don't do this since they are friendly and like mingling with the police and civilians. Instead, Batgirl is the one who appears and disappears without a trace, baffling the Caped Crusaders every time.
• Gotham has Bruce already doing it as a child.
  Alfred: Haven't I told you to stop creeping up on people like that?! It's bloody rude!
  • In the first episode of Season 4, Bruce does this to Gordon in broad daylight in the middle of the GCPD. It being the first time, Gordon looks amusingly confused and befuddled instead of annoyed.
  • He does it again, in the same circumstances, to Bullock midway through Season 5. Unlike Gordon, Bullock is genuinely impressed with Bruce's skills.

Video Games

• Batman: Arkham Series:
  • You can pull this off yourself in Batman: Arkham Asylum. It's difficult (because getting spotted means you'll generally be at a disadvantage in stealth sections), but pull off an inverted takedown, then leap away into the night, and all the remaining bad guys will freak out.
  • To get a medal in some of the Predator Challenge maps there is a requirement to appear out of nowhere to scare a terrified enemy. The poor thug nearly has a heart attack as the player pops up out of a floor grate, drops from a vantage point, or simply walks behind the thug until they turn around.
  • In the ending of Batman: Arkham Origins, Gordon has Batman at gunpoint in more or less broad daylight, and, while still aiming at him, answers his police radio. When he lets it go, Batman has done what he does best.
  • In the opening moments of Batman: Arkham Knight, he pulls this, after he hears of a missing patrol car from Commisioner Gordon's walkie talkie. Hilariously, he didn't fly away or anything. He's just on a gargoyle right under him.
    Gordon: Every damn time.
    • At one point during the game, you play from the first-person perspective of Gordon, and Batman pulls one on you, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere when you're not looking.
  • In the Matter of Family DLC for Arkham Knight, Batgirl and Robin pull this off at the end, leading Gordon to remark that "It must run in the family."

Webcomics

• This Shortpacked! strip ponders what would happen if Gordon simply refused to look away...
  • ...and this fan edit shows an alternate solution.
• According to JL8, Bruce was able to pull this off even as a child.

Web Original

• What if Gordon caught Batman while he was doing it?
• This YouTube video reveals that Batman's secret is... a really big vent.
• Batman does it to Superman◊, who immediately spots where he's hiding with his X-Ray Vision, but decides just let Batman have it for once and acts surprised to Batman's joy.
• This is another parody of Batman's tendency toward this.
• Another Batman fan-comic◊, though its not him doing it for once.
• In Sesssion #19 of Super Therapy!, Batman is just suddenly sitting on the couch, next to the Joker, startling him.

Western Animation

• In the animated adaptation of Flashpoint Paradox, Flash takes off running the second Batman (Thomas Wayne, not Bruce) turns around to look at something else.
  Batman: Hm. So I'm finally on the other end of that trick.
• A subversion in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Bats tries to pull this on Andrea in her apartment, but she already knows he's there due to the open window. Played straight with the Phantasm, who can arguably pull this stunt off better than even Batman.
• Played for Laughs a few times with Batman in The LEGO Movie. On one occasion it leads to a Right Behind Me gag.
• Skewered in LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout when Superman fills in for Batman.
  Gordon: Oh. You're still here.
  Superman: Why wouldn't I be?
  Gordon: I dunno. I... thought you'd be gone.
  Superman: You were still talking. That'd be incredibly rude! Besides, what if you said something important?
  Gordon: Well, I try not to save any important information till the end. [...] So that's what it's like to finish a conversation. Not bad.
• Batman: The Animated Series has Gordon getting frustrated.
  • "One of these days I'm going to nail his feet to the floor..."
  • "One of these days I'm going to put a bell on his neck..."
  • In one episode, Batman is able to get away while a roomful of people are watching him — during a lightning flash. He doesn't have time to close the window behind him, but then, he seldom bothers with that.
  • At the beginning of The Cat and the Claw Part II, Batman fades in from the shadows and walks forward, resulting in this exchange:
    Contact: [gasps, practically having a heart attack]
    Batman: You're late.
    Contact: Can't you ever walk up to someone normal-like?
  • Mad Love borders on Offscreen Teleportation: The Joker falls from a building but lands on a moving train. We see it taking him away from the 'camera' as he laughs and blows a raspberry, presumably at the off-screen Batman — only for Batman to somehow appear directly behind him without the Joker seeing him move.
  • In another episode Nightwing fails to do this ("You should work on your stealth, I heard you three rooftops away"). Dick also wanted Bruce to know he was coming.
  • In the episode "Zatanna," Zatanna pulls this on Batman at the end of the episode. That episode also features what might be his first one ever in a flashback — Zatanna cuffs 'John White' to a wall, then comments "If you were a real escape artist, you'd be out of those cuffs and out the door by [turns around]... now."
  "Now you see him... now you don't."
• Batman Beyond:
  • In the episode "A Touch of Curaré," Commissioner Barbara Gordon tells Batman that he should go, but by the time she turns around, he's already gone, leading her to remark, "Like old times." Another episode has the police wanting to question Batman about Inque (after they shot at both of them); naturally, Batman's nowhere to be found.
  • In "The Curse of Kobra", Bruce goes to see his old ninja instructor, and gets a thrown cleaver in his walking stick. When Kairi admonishes him for sneaking up on people, Bruce admits it's an old habit.
  • In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, after meeting Terry McGinnis, the adult Tim Drake remarks, "Some things never change".
  • Also subverted at times, such as when Tim and Barbara notice Terry is around before he gets to the "hi" part. He can get away unnoticed, but it's pretty hard to sneak up on one of the Batchildren.
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold:
  • At one point Batman is able to vanish from the Flash, making him quip that Batman is "the only guy around with a faster getaway than me."
  • One episode reveals that Batman has a very intricate system of tunnels that travel throughout Gotham and are hidden in very weird places. He can go under a fire hydrant and come out of a hot dog cart halfway across the city.
  • Specifically, when entangled by Plastic Man, Batman throws a smoke bomb and, when the smoke clears, Plastic Man is left in one big knot and Batman is safely in one of his tunnels.
    Plastic Man: How does he do that?
  • And in "The Mask of Matches Malone!", Black Orchid does it to Batman. He comments that now he knows how Jim Gordon feels.
• Subverted once in a Justice League episode. Amanda Waller explains why she and Cadmus thinks the Justice League are a menace to the world, causing Batman to just walk out the door, saying nothing. And accidentally triggering the alarms on his way out.
• Young Justice:
  • Robin, naturally, having inherited his mentor's ability. He usually signals the "hi" with a laugh — Word of God is that, when Batman first taught him how to do it, it was so much fun he just couldn't stop laughing.
    Kid Flash: I forgot how much I hate it when he does the ninja thing.
  • In "Downtime", Aqualad seems to have picked up this trait from Robin.
  • Batman is still the master. In the first season finale, a mind-controlled Batman pulls this on Robin twice in the same fight. And the first time, he utilizes Robin's own smoke bomb.
  • Batgirl and the third Robin both use it, too. Tim apparently can do it with people watching, even!
• In a Static Shock that crosses over with Batman, Static does a light flash and disappearance, prompting Batman to remark, "The kid has style."
• In Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, featuring the Adam West version of Batman, stealthily disappearing from Commissioner Gordon's office instead of simply walking out is one of several out-of-character moments after Batman is turned evil.
• Used for a quick joke in Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when the Turtles and Bat-Family seem to pull this on Commissioner Gordon:
  Gordon: Sure, leave before I finish talking. That never gets old.
  Michelangelo: I'm still here. (Gordon yelps and reveals that Mikey was standing behind him, just out of sight)
• Batman: The Long Halloween: Batman of course does this a few times, but the most notable incident is at the beginning when Alfred does it to Bruce.

  Bruce: I hate it when he does that.

• Beware the Batman:
  • Bruce does it himself, of course, but once he was watching a "Magpie" suspect from a rooftop. He looks away for a second, then looks back. The suspect is gone from her office building, and a fully-suited Magpie is right next to Batman. Because the suspect isn't actually Magpie.
  • Silver Monkey pulls this trick on Katana in "Family", though it could have been in part of her being distracted by her video game.
  • In "Instinct" Tatsu even pulled this off on Burr. Jason even questioned if she thought that she was Batman.
• Batman: Under the Red Hood: A rare case where the trope is Played for Drama instead of being Played for Laughs. Batman makes one to Ra's al Ghul after he relates how he resurrected Jason Todd using the Lazarus Pit.

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