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You’ve probably heard of Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter Talia, and how obsessed she is with Batman. In fact there are multiple story variations where she either takes advantage of him or rapes him. Only someone like Batman could be good enough to be the father of her child. But when was Talia al Ghul’s first appearance? What lead to her appearing, and why?
We see her appear for the first time in Batman 232 , but only at the end. The story begins with Robin, Batman’s sidekick, kidnapped. While investigating his disappearance Ra’s al Ghul shows up with his assistant in The Batcave. That’s right, he discovered Bruce Wayne was his true identity through, frankly, common sense. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the only two rich people in town. Ra’s wants Batman to investigate the kidnapping of his daughter Talia al Ghul who he claims was kidnapped by the same person. He obliges, discovering the photograph has some rare herbs on it that are only present in a certain area of the world.
During this long and dangerous journey Ra’s insists on coming with his assistant. They go on a mountain expedition involving snow and dangerous climbing. They even encounter men shooting at them. Earlier a leopard attacks Batman, which he has no problem snapping its neck. All of this danger seemed suspicious from the start. It didn’t take Batman long to realize that it was all a scheme. Ra’s admits that it was all a big test to prove the worth of his future son in law. This is when we see Talia al Ghul’s first appearance as she kisses him on the cheek.
I hope you weren’t hoping for this story to continue in the next issue, because it oddly doesn’t. I also hope that, despite Talia al Ghul’s first appearance, you weren’t planning on having Batman 232 in your collection because it goes for a pretty penny (Affiliate Link). Another thing that is rather strange is that at the start of the comic we see Robin shot with two guns. The following page shows that he was just kidnapped. As far as I can tell the story never explains this. The art was done by Neal Adams and Dick Giodano. Adams’ unique style just adds to the value of this comic, and his run on Batman has made him a legend.
What do you think of Talia al Ghul kissing Batman during her first appearance? Leave a comment with your thoughts.