Batman is The World’s Worst Superhero:
Regarded as one of the world’s greatest superheroes of all time, Batman is an idol to many. He fights crime and is ready to face insurmountable odds to get justice for the people who deserve it. He will readily go the extra mile no matter how painful if it means doing the right thing. He is an inspiration. Through sheer skill and human dedication, he has managed to earn a place amongst the Gods. If that does not demand respect, we do not know what does. But DC Comics has made a surprising revelation. They have made Batman agree to something that will piss off a lot of fans.
SPOILER ALERT: Major Spoilers for Batman #91 by James Tynion IV up ahead. Enter at your own risk…
The newest supervillain to join the Rogues Gallery of Batman is the Designer, a mysterious opponent with a past and origin shrouded in mystery. As Batman finds a way to get inside the Designer’s skin, another twist in the tale after a chance encounter with Deathstroke in Batman #91 is ready to throw his whole world into topsy-turvy town.
The previous issues showed us how Catwoman revealed the Joker changed as a villain after he met the Designer. Batman also had such an insight into his character when Deathstroke leaps into the Bat Plane, trying to pick a fight with the Dark Knight. It is there that Batman realizes that’s why he is at fault for most of Gotham’s worries. Bruce Wayne became Batman to become a symbol of hope and strike fear at the hearts of evildoers. But in his quest to become the scourge of the criminal world, Batman ended up becoming the very thing he set out to eradicate. He started scaring the innocents of Gotham City as well, the people he had sworn to protect.
That is not an easy thing to digest. Batman is not someone who would admit to this amount of guilt in a split second. Throughout his lifetime, Batman has had the luxury (or curse….whatever you might call it) of having a long enough life to keep fighting the bad guys on a daily basis.
He has had many upheavals rock his life. Starting with the death of his parents, the murder of Jason Todd, his unruly and rebellious son Damian Wayne, the revelation that there could be not one but three different Jokers, the events of Dark Nights Metal which led Batman to the discovery of a rogue prophecy surrounding the tainted Wayne Legacy, as well as the recently failed marriage he had with Cat Woman, the guy has been through an awful lot of stuff. The only anchor in Bruce Wayne’s life, something he is ready to make all these sacrifices for is the Cape and the Cowl.
Now top says that the Cape and the Cowl of Batman which was supposed to help people ended up becoming an instrument of fear and hatred for the masses should not be taken lightly. Batman is a man of many talents, chief amongst them being that he is a wonderful observer. He can see the nooks and crannies of any circumstance and use his meticulously well-developed deductive skills to decipher any situation. If Batman says something this grave, you can be pretty sure he has had ample time to come to this conclusion and he sure does mean business.
But can he end it? Can he end his rampage and slow down so that the people of Gotham do not end up hating him even more? Can he regain back his position as the symbol of hope and harmony, what he originally wanted to become? The answer is more complicated and the solution is pretty impossible.
As Deathstroke increases the intensity of his attacks, Batman asks him to stop and let him explain. He explains that Batman was wrong when he tried to use theatrical elements to address crime-fighting needs and vigilantism. The world could have been a better place without it if Bruce just let the authorities do their job and not take the law into his own hands. But the situation is already out of control. With the emergence of Batman came a new breed of criminals.
These criminals were not some petty cat burglars or bank robbers. They were just as ‘theatrical’ as Batman. After fighting a skilled superhero, they became battle-hardened criminals and veterans of the game. If Batman is an unstoppable force, these villains the immovable object.
So it is not that Batman does not want to stop. Even though he sees the need very evidently, it is just that he cannot stop. It is because the villains that surfaced after the rise of the Caped Crusader in Gotham City will never slow down. For Batman to halt, the bad guys within his Rogues Gallery, which are indirectly Batman’s doing – his Frankenstein’s Monster per se, need to slow down as well. And that is easier said than done.
People have been discussing for decades whether Batman being the protector of Gotham City was actually beneficial to the world or was counter-productive. Batman himself admitting the flaws in his actions and his dedication to moving forward even though he knows what he might be actually doing more harm than good leaves many things to the imagination! Batman is no longer the antithesis of evil.
He is a necessary evil, who will fight crime to a standstill and help protect the world from enemies he himself created in the first place. He always wanted to help the people. He wanted to give the world a fresh start, one that could give the next generation a future he never was lucky enough to have.
Batman must keep on doing what he is doing. After a lifetime of trying to wipe the Gotham’s slate clean, it is time he does something about wipe away the smudges from his own.
Deathstroke and Batman get ready to fight, with the former not being in a state to understand the gravity of Batman’s words. Slade Wilson holds critical information necessary to defeat the Designer and Batman is more than happy to beat it out of him. At the nick of time, the Designer ends Deathsroke’s contract to kill Batman at the very last second. He then lets a horde of Zombie Cops infected with the Joker Venom to kill both Batman and Deathstroke. The world’s greatest mercenary and the world’s greatest detective join forces to defeat the horde and save each other’s skin.
If Batman likes to believe theatricals are necessary to strike fear at the hearts of men, so does the Designer. All in all, the new Super Villain has done a wonderful job to become Batman’s greatest nightmare. He has played his cards right and pushed all the right buttons to make Bruce Wayne squeal and squirm. What happens next is probably going to be a huge turning point in Batman’s character history.
Batman might have admitted he has failed as a hero but there might be more to it than what meets the eye. Let us see how this story unfolds. Will the Designer manage to win this battle of wits or will Batman manage to outdo his foe like he always does? The revelations that Batman #91 gave us could have far-reaching implications than the fans could dare to imagine.
The last movie to be released under the DC banner was Joker. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks — the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he’s part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.
