WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #107 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey & Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
One of the defining features of the Future State era was how fear ruled Gotham City like never before. The Infinite Frontier relaunch has slowly been acting as precursor to that possible future, with Mayor Nakano becoming paranoid vigilantes will keep causing just as much destruction as the villains they aim to arrest.
And in Batman #107, this has caused the Gotham City Police Department to clash with the rebuilding Batman over a case. And sadly, this conflict results in a longtime Bat-Family ally, Gotham Police Commissioner Renee Montoya, turning against the Dark Knight.
Upon catching the Dark Knight at a crime scene, Montoya pulls a gun on Batman and orders him to stop his investigation. Created for Batman: The Animated Series by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian, she transitioned into the comics in 1992's Batman #475 and has become a cornerstone of Jim Gordon's team. She evolved into the Question in 52 in the 2000s and wore the mantle once more recently during the Event Leviathan crossover in the DC Rebirth era, so it does feel like an especially shocking betrayal.
This occurs when Bruce realizes something's fishy about the gas attack on Arkham Asylum that supposedly killed Jonathan Crane. He doesn't think Scarecrow's dead, which is something the anarchists known as Unsanity Collective are pushing as well. He ends up at Nakano's apartment, observing a Scarecrow dummy that doesn't have any residue of fear toxin. Bruce radios Oracle and lets her know that he thinks someone is gaslighting Nakano, which is encouraging him to turn politicians and elites like the Fox family against masks.
But mid-conversation, the Gotham cops sneak up and train their pistols on the Bat. Legislation hasn't been passed banning masks yet, but Montoya makes it clear the Dark Knight has to leave the scene immediately. She doesn't want him contaminating the scene. Rather than be respectful, Bruce is condescending about her being Nakano's Commissioner given how closely she's worked with the Bat-Family, including ex, Batwoman/Kate Kane and alluding to her identity as the Question.
Batman knows her intimately, so he thinks she sold out by accepting the job offer. Montoya doesn't care for their history, though, and tries to be "polite" by ordering him off the case. She even defends the bitter Nakano from their time in the field, so Bruce can tell this is a lost cause and an argument that makes no sense at all.
As their debate escalates, Bruce drops a flash grenade and exits stage left in the blinding light, knowing he's got bigger fish to fry as he continues to purse the Crane angle. This doesn't bode well for their friendship, though, and it could be a major turning point that finds them no longer trusting each other when all this is said and done.