WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #87 by James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles, in stores now.

Batman’s most important rule as a vigilante is that he doesn’t kill. No matter who he's fighting, what they're planning or however many lives they've taken, he will never put his opponents down permanently. While that admirable quality keeps Batman from reaching the lows as the criminals he faces, it causes a lot of trouble for Gotham City, since all of the villains who find themselves incarcerated in Arkham Asylum eventually find their way out again.

Villains can easily break out at any given time, and Batman has to go back out to lock them up again so the process can repeat itself endlessly. The revolving-door-esque gates of Arkham Asylum have been a subject of ridicule for years. But now, after all these years, it seems like Batman is finally trying to solve this problem. And in Batman #87, the Dark Knight unveils his new prison: the Black Block.

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Batman the Black Block

The Black Block is a state-of-the-art complex that was funded by the Wayne Rebuild Committee, which is part of Bruce’s plans to redesign Gotham into a better, stronger city. The specially-designed block is located under the new, recently constructed police headquarters. It counts nine cells that are designed to hold the worst of the worst: villians like Deathstroke, Bane or Ra’s Al Ghul. Encased in concrete, reinforced by steel and secured by all manner of sensors, the Black Block is under constant surveillance. What’s more, entry is only accessible with DNA encrypted keys.

The prison’s cells prevent its prisoners from any type of movement. In fact, Bruce explains the nine cells were specially designed to contain himself, or any member of the Bat-family he has trained. If it can hold Batman, then it should, technically, be able to contain anyone.

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By all accounts, the Black Block sounds like the perfect prison. Unfortunately, it doesn’t solve any problems. Soon after being introduced, we see that the entire complex has been compromised. Somehow, the benefactor behind the five assassins incarcerated in the Block was able to hack the containment cells and free the prisoners. Clearly, there is something Batman hasn’t planned for.

If the Black Block was built to keep him contained, then we can only wonder who was able to break through the prison’s defenses. It speaks to this new threat’s capabilities, and the reach and influence it has. One thing it makes clear is that whoever is behind this is a real danger.

Hopefully, when all is said and done, Batman will find the breach in his new prison and fix it, because the idea behind it is one that deserves to be further explored — for the safety of Gotham.

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