WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #104, by James Tynion IV, Ryan Benjamin, Danny Miki, Bengal, Guillem March, David Baron, and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.

The last several issues of Batman have altered one big aspect of Bruce Wayne's formative years. It was revealed that while he traveled and all over the world and picked up skills from different teachers, he made a friend who also trained to become the best crimefighter in the world. While they started out as friends, the two eventually had a falling out, and they ultimately made a deal that kept each other out of their respective cities.

This character, known as the Ghost-Maker, is now in Gotham, and he intends to clean up the city like Batman never could. They have been rivals for a very long time but Bruce never stopped reaching out to his former friend. In Batman #104, the new layers of Bat-history keep piling on as we learn that Bruce approached the Ghost-Maker for the Batman Incorporated initiative.

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Batman Incorporated was written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by such artists as Yanick Paquette and Chris Burnham and began in 2011. The series followed the events of Final Crisis, in which Batman was believed dead after a showdown with Darkseid. In truth, Bruce Wayne was actually trapped in the past for a long time, until he eventually returned to the present. Reclaiming the mantle of Batman, Bruce sought to do things differently by taking his operations as Batman worldwide. In order to do so, Batman became a franchise with operatives all over the world. Superheroes such as The Knight, Man-of-Bats, Nightrunner, Redbird and many, many more were stationed in their respective cities, and they all answered to the Caped Crusader. This was an entirely new direction for Batman that was equally inventive and ambitious. However, it's a moment in history that doesn't get mentioned frequently, especially in DC's post-Rebirth era. NowBatman #104 reveals that Ghost-Maker has a connection to Batman Incorporated.

In the issue, Nightwing tells Barbara Gordon all he knows about the Ghost-Maker. During his time as Robin, Dick Grayson actually saw the villain once. After this, Bruce told him exactly who he was, and what had happened between them. He tells her how the two became enemies, and how they faced each other repeatedly over the years. But despite that, he reveals that Bruce still reached out to the Ghost-Maker and approached him when he set up Batman Incorporated. Bruce wanted his former friend to help him run the project. However, the Ghost-Maker had no interest in taking part in it, and the two fought one another yet again.

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The Batmen Of All Nations

It's a small nod to Batman Incorporated, but it shows that it still bears importance in the timeline of the post-Rebirth continuity. Plus, it solidifies the relationship between Batman and Ghost-Maker, while tying the latter to an important part of Batman history.

If the Ghost-Maker had accepted Bruce's offer, chances are the initiative would have been very different. It's definitely interesting to wonder what could have been, but it's likely the results would have been, ultimately, catastrophic.

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