WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Batman #53, Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Elizabeth Breitweiser, on sale now!


Batman is good for Gotham City, which is kind of like saying water is good for fish. The two have a symbiotic relationship. The crime-ridden city birthed the Caped Crusader through its special brand of childhood trauma, making it one of the few times where the desperation of crime actually brought something good to fruition.

In return, Batman does his best to rid the the not-so-fair city's streets of criminals and costumed supervillains. There is an argument to be made that Batman’s methods are not the most desirable (or effective), and maybe his efforts could be filtered through other channels.

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After all, the guy is a billionaire with a fractured world view who could probably help stem the tide of crime at its source through outreach programs and education. But who has time for that? A swift kick to a purse-snatchers head will teach ‘em what for.

As The Dark Knight handles business by way of dolling out heavy doses of extremely violent (but rarely lethal) vigilante justice, his secret identity, Bruce Wayne does his best to fill in the cracks (or skull fractures) left behind. Wayne is a generous philanthropist who does all the good a man in a bat costume can't. This dichotomy is paramount to the Batman mythos; while Batman is Bruce Wayne (or vice versa, depending on what writer is at the helm), they operate on two very different wavelengths in order to keep their unison secret.

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In Batman #53, writer Tom King and artist Lee Weeks have exposed plenty of the cracks in the dynamic between Batman and Bruce Wayne, which puts readers face to face with the fact that all of Batman's vigilantism is still driven by a man who has a lot of issues he needs to work out (preferably without using his fists to do it). As Bruce Wayne performs his civic duty as a juror on a case against Mr. Freeze for the alleged murder of three women, the billionaire, playboy winds up pulled a 12 Angry Men moment for the rest of the jury. And while Bruce isn't necessary wrong in his methods, he does use the group of fellow Gothamites to participate in an impromptu therapy session.

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As far as Bruce Wayne abusing the judicial system, things are really up for debate. There is a moral conundrum to what occurs in the court room and behind closed doors in the wake of Batman breaking a criminal's jaw. Guilty or not, someone like Mr. Freeze is a villain.

But does that give Batman the right to work out his own personal baggage on Victor's face? No. If anything, Batman is making things for regular Gotham citizens more difficult than they need to be because of it. Broadly speaking, the law doesn't apply to Batman. And it takes something like Bruce Wayne seeing how things play out after he spends his nights breaking said law to realize that Batman isn't infallible.

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Through his mistakes, he creates a bigger mess; worse, it's that regular people have to clean up. Though Batman didn't commit the crime the court is trying and jury its deliberating, he did make things far less cut and dry for regular people who have to take time off work to attend jury duty.

Couple this fact with the wrench thrown into the operations in Gotham City Police Department and the public relations nightmare every elected official, along with their employees, have to face because of an unsanctioned, masked crime-fighter running their city streets at night, and you really begin to realize how Batman causes a lot of headaches for people who are just trying to live their lives and do their job. That is not what we'd call a good neighbor.

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None of this is to say Gotham should exorcise Batman from prowling the rooftops at night. But Bruce Wayne probably needs his nose rubbed in the stain on the carpet every now and then. It'll humble him (hopefully). Batman has to face his own god complex. And while everyone will know he's the smartest guy in the room, maybe, just maybe, he'll think twice and not let emotions get the best of him in the heat of the moment. Sadly, though, emotions getting the best of Bruce Wayne are what built the Bat in the first place.