Batman (2024) # 147

 By Mark Rodriguez

Bruce Wayne was imprisoned by a robot he created named Failsafe that now has the downloaded personality of 'the better Batman' Zur-En-Arrh. As such Failsafe is now running around Gotham trying to convince everyone that he is Batman and is taking down criminals his way, as Damian joins him. Taking advantage of the sort of chaos that only Punchline could cause, Bruce escapes from Blackgate but finds himself completely alone and unable to contact anyone since Failsafe has access to every form of communication in the city.

"Dark Prisons Part 3" opens with Failsafe scanning every electronic device in the city for all manner of crime. Damian, who was convinced that Failsafe is really Bruce, says they will fight it together as Batman and Robin, as father and son. Failsafe says crime is never-ending, but so is he.

Elsewhere Vandal Savage is giving a speech concerning the crime in Gotham and the vigilantes that deem themselves above the law. He says now Batman is acting as if he rules the city. The police have coddled Batman and his soldiers for too long, and Vandal will put a stop to this as the new police commissioner. 

A man in the crowd cusses out Vandal and pulls out a gun. He starts shooting but Failsafe swoops in to block the bullets. Failsafe identifies the man as Jimmy Hughes, who was last seen working with Catwoman as a burglar. He says he should also take Vandal back to prison. Vandal says he should go ahead, and wonders if his superhero friends will consider 'Batman' throwing the appointed police commissioner into prison the moment he 'went too far'. Failsafe says Savage's new position is nothing, and he'll be happy to see him fail so the public can see who he really is. Failsafe tells Mayor Nakano that he will see him soon and leaves.

Elsewhere Amanda Waller is being informed that Failsafe has patched into everything connected to a cellular connection to the internet. Waller tells her employee to keep everyone on the insulated server. She says this exactly the kind of monster they needed to bring the public to their cause, something to show the people that they've let these heroes do what they want for too long. The employee asks if she's sure it's Batman. She says if he is, she knows where to find him and it's time to pay him a proper visit.

Bruce is on the road pondering that he has no contingency plans. Zur lived in his head, so now he's double and triple guessing his moves, praying that he won't know what he's planning and how far back he's willing to go. Bruce drives towards Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.

Bruce goes to a place that used to be the headquarters for the Justice League. We have a flashback of Batman working on updating his smoke bombs and the Flash wanting to help. The Flash reminds him that he's also a chemist and throws one of his own smoke bombs. He calls is Yellow Phosphorus, and it's non-toxic and holds form better once it's propulsed. Batman seems impressed. 

Flash tells Batman that he knows he's a loner that was thrown into the team for the greater good, but they're all on the same team. He says they're here to help people, including each other, Batman just needs to let them. In current day, Bruce now sits alone in this long abandoned building.

Elsewhere, Failsafe is with Captio, and he tells him that he's not concerned about Bruce Wayne. He is broken and unable to turn to anyone for fear of what Failsafe will do them. Captio is fascinated that Failsafe is underestimating Batman, just like so many of his villains have. Failsafe warns him not to dissect his mind. Captio states there's a fine line that Batman would walk, where he's a creature of the darkness and terror and yet he cares for humanity. Failsafe says he doesn't know him or where he's headed. He tells him to keep watch on the prisoners as he goes to see someone.

Waller sends her men to raid Wayne Manor, but Damian swoops in to take them down. The men manage to alert Waller that they haven't found Batman but one of the kids. Failsafe smashes through the window and finds Waller with the Clock King. He says if she's using someone like that for the Suicide Squad then the suicide part is accurate. 

Waller sends the Clock King away so she can talk to Failsafe. Waller said she wanted to be sure of things since Batman's new look brought a new attitude. Failsafe tells her to leave him alone of he'll grab her and her friends and bring them back to America so he can toss them in his prison. 

Waller says that Batman is not that the stage where he's willing to cause an international incident but he's getting close. She says they both want the same thing, competency. She says loose cannons get people killed. Failsafe says she wants to eradicate heroes, his friends. She states those same friends are to come after him and then he'll have to decide who are the loose cannons. Failsafe flies off on his Batplane and tells Waller that she's been warned. 

Meanwhile Bruce took what he needed from the old Justice League base and heads towards an old cabin that was built by his father's own hands. The Waynes used to go there and it was the times where they cooked for Alfred. Bruce has a flashback of himself training Tim on how to use a bow and arrow. Tim is upset that he's not good at it and he wants to get better right away. He says he'll never be Robin at this rate and asks if it was easier for Dick. Bruce says Dick was already a circus kid, flying high and defying death every night. He says Tim can still be Robin, he just needs to put in the work.

Bruce ponders that both Dick and himself were naturals, but Tim really needed to work hard. He was worried back then but now he's inspired. Bruce faces that his body hurts and he's slowing down, but there's nothing left to do but to put in the work. 

Damian tells Failsafe that the guards have been dealt with. Failsafe said he had no doubt, since he was up to the task. Damian asks if Waller was surprised, and Failsafe says nothing surprises Amanda Waller. He says that now she'll think twice about her next move. He tells Damian that time is running and others will be trying to stop them soon, so he's gathering an army.

Failsafe shows Damian an army of Amazo androids. Damian says they can't be trusted. Failsafe says he'll upload variations of Batman that he has collected from his travels across the multiverse. Damian asks how he can take the consciousness of other versions of himself, since that would leave the bodies empty or with Zur-En-Arrh. 

Damian attacks Failsafe saying that he had collected Zur-En-Arrh versions of himself and asks where his father is. Failsafe says he is gone, but he is his father in every way that matters. Damian leaps out at Failsafe saying that he'll kill him. Failsafe knocks him back and says he sees that time and again Batman and only ever rely on himself. He says Waller was right and total control is the only option. He tangles Damian in wires and says he can't trust or control a Robin, unless he makes one himself. He reveals a new Robin that he created. 

Bruce is busy working when he realizes he will need to stop to hunt for food soon. One of the twigs he set outside just snapped. It could be a deer, or trouble. He goes outside to find Tim Drake. Tim ditched his phone to prevent being tracked by Failsafe and figured Bruce might end up at the cabin. He also figured he wouldn't be taking care of himself so he brought food. 

That night, Tim asks how long it will be until Zur finds them. Bruce says he's not sure he'll come after him as long as he stays hidden. Now that he's out of his head, Bruce can think clearly and it's easier to tell where Zur's thoughts ended and his begins. Bruce says his self doubts came from Zur doubting him. Zur doesn't think Bruce can beat him without involving others.

Tim says this might be why Bruce has been working alone, and not because he doesn't trust them. Bruce says Zur seeded this into him. Bruce was always worried about bringing everyone down to hell with him. His life is due to end badly due to a stray bullet, a broken back, or anything else, and he didn't want him training the others to lead them to the same end. His one-man war against crime eventually became bigger and involved others. 

Tim says they chose this life and would have done so without him. He saved them with his training. Tim says they're family and they help others, which includes helping each other. 

Bruce says Zur got into his head and had him scared. The one thing Zur never understood was that his family was his strength, not his weakness. He can't do this alone, but most importantly he doesn't want to do this alone. Bruce suits up in a new Batman costume and says he needs his family to help him put this monster down.

"Show The World" opens with the Riddler and Two-Face in opposing cells within Blackgate Prison. One of Failsafe's robots arrives and says the warden requires the Riddler's presence. 

Edward sees Captio, who is still rather muscular at his old age, sparring and beating down random inmates sent to him. Edward says he loves a good mystery but he isn't much for fisticuffs. Captio says he knows but he wants someone to have a conversation with. Zsasz leaps out at Captio with knives and is easily taken down.

Captio says he's interested in great minds like Edward's that continue to end up in prison time and again. Edward says he's unlucky. Captio says a genius like Edward should be comfy billionaire unless there's something wrong with him. Riddler says he's just fine, and Batman is the problem. Batman is constantly trying to prove himself, stopping other from accomplishing grand things while rounding up 'idiots'. One the inmates overheard this and doesn't take kindly to being called an idiot.

The man gets into Riddler's face and says he's tired of these super villains that think they're better than them while the henchmen do all the work for them. He starts to attack the Riddler. Captio says the man thinks Riddler is holding him back in the same way he thinks Batman is holding him back. He says at any point the Riddler could have moved on and created something revolutionary, to be wealthy and secure. 

This sparks a fire in the Riddler as he bashes the inmate across the side of his face. Captio says that he can't let go of the fact that Batman is smarter than him, so he continues to try over and over to show the world that he's so smart. Riddler chokes the inmate out and tells Captio that he's wrong.

Riddler says he makes it sound like he wants wealth and Batman is distracting him. Everything else is the distraction but not Batman. Riddler is indeed embarrassed but one can either use that embarrassment to hide in the shadows, or to come back stronger and show the world who one really is.

Riddler says he knows Failsafe really isn't Batman, and the real Batman is out there being shamed by what Captio did. Captio is here because he was also embarrassed, so he fixated, just like all the other inmates. Riddler says Captio is a villain with an enemy he wants to humiliate. 

Captio says the Riddler is wrong, as one of the robots starts pushing Edward to walk along with him. Captio says Batman isn't the challenge, rather the villains are. He says it's easy to push someone down the wrong path or make them have one bad day. The real challenge is to make them good. He intends to correct Edward, as well as the rest of the inmates. He wants to help Batman through conventional and unconventional means. Captio shows Edward some sort of machine and asks him if he cares to change his mind.

My thoughts-

Things get more intense as Bruce is getting set for a comeback, Failsafe is preparing a powerful android army, and Amanda Waller is also getting involved. Damian finally wised up, but now he's also in trouble.

The unexpected surprise is this new Robin that Failsafe created. I'm assuming he's some sort of artificial human, because he looks a lot more like a person than the Amazo androids. 

I liked Bruce learning to finally put his trust in his family and team mates. I liked seeing both the Flash and Tim giving Bruce the same message, they help everyone, even each other. Speaking of flashbacks I'm glad we're back to acknowledging the older costumes. I liked seeing Batman in his classic 80's-90's outfit, since that's the Batman I grew up with. I was never a fan of the New 52 trying to retcon things and make it seems Batman was always wearing the New 52 outfit since day one.

Tim and Damian continue to bring up the Robin problem, which is DC's refusal to choose one and stick with it. The same issue brings up Damian referring to Failsafe and himself as Batman and Robin. Likewise, Tim also called Bruce and himself Batman and Robin. Choose one and stick with it guys. Or at least make Tim Red Robin again. 

The back up story is also getting interesting as Captio is planning to force the villains into being good again. I'm curious to see how that is going to play out and if Captio's plans will get in the way of Failsafe's plans. 

We'll see what happens in the next issue as things are starting to heat up.