As if the caped crusader didn't have enough to deal with during this year's Fear State event, Batman #113 introduces Barbara Gordon's foil, the Anti-Oracle.
A preview for the issue shows that Oracle's identity has been hijacked by an unknown foe, who begins to broadcast to all of Gotham's citizens that Batman is dead, as well as other misinformation and lies to drum up more fear. The character was previously teased by writers working on the Fear State event. The interviews and teases discussing the Anti-Oracle were included in Free Comic Book Day 2021: Batman #1.
"Nightwing and Oracle will team up with other members of the Bat-family to wrestle control of Gotham back from the mysterious anti-Oracle," said Nightwing writer Tom Taylor, when talking about Dick Grayson's role in the event. Within the inside look itself, it read, "If that's not enough chaos, there's also someone spreading deliberate misinformation among the Bat-family--let's call her the 'Anti-Oracle'--as you'll see in the pages of Nightwing," teasing that new Batman Jace Fox will also be dealing with the repercussions of Anti-Oracle's actions. In the Batman preview, readers get their first look at Anti-Oracle and these previously mentioned exploits.
This is not the first time that Barbara's Oracle persona was warped into a villain. In Rebirth's Batgirl run, an android version of Oracle sought to destroy Barbara after feeling that she had abandoned the robot. A final altercation between the two at the end of the "Oracle Rising" arc led to the android seemingly being destroyed in an explosion.
Following the events of Joker War, Barbara resumed the Oracle persona and left her Batgirl life behind her, at least for the moment, as she will be suiting up once again in the current event. So far, she has mostly interacted with Bruce Wayne as his eyes and ears in the Batman title, as well as serving as support for Dick and becoming his love interest once again in the pages of Nightwing. Since Taylor has said the two will team up to battle the new imposter, readers can expect more interaction between the two.
The last time Barbara and Dick were together, they shared a kiss right before Dick announced his plans to build a better tomorrow for Blüdhaven. The pair's reunion will now consist of Gotham City on the brink of destruction and new foes to take on. The preview and solicitation for the upcoming issue can be found below.
BATMAN #113
- Story by JAMES TYNION IV
- Art by JORGE JIMENEZ
- Backup story by BRANDON THOMAS
- Backup pencils by MAX DUNBAR
- Cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
- $4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
- Variant cover by JORGE MOLINA
- $5.99 US (Card Stock)
- 1:25 Variant by BEN OLIVER
- $4.99 US (Card Stock)
- ON SALE 9/21/21
- Ghost-Maker reveals a dark revelation about his past connection to Jonathan Crane while Batman puts together the pieces of Scarecrow’s master plan. Using the Unsanity Collective’s technology, the villain plans to detonate a “Fear Bomb” in Gotham City!
- Backup: Clownhunter has been dosed by the Scarecrow with a deadly fear toxin and is now traveling through his greatest nightmare of Gotham City. Will the Clownhunter center himself and strike back at Scarecrow? Or will he succumb to all his worst fears?!
Batman #113 is written by James Tynion IV with interior and cover art by Jorge Jiménez. Variant covers for the issue were made by Ben Oliver and Jorge Molina, with a backup story by Brandon Thomas and Max Dunbar. The issue goes on sale Sept. 21 from DC Comics.
Source: DC Comics