WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman #93 by James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Javier Fernandez, Tomeu Morey, David Baron and Clayton Cowles, available now.

At the beginning of the year, Batman's ongoing "Their Dark Designs" storyline introduced a new villain known as the Designer. This mysterious villain first came to Gotham years ago, offering Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin and Joker a chance to make their wildest dreams a reality. After being believed dead for years following this interaction, the Designer returned to Gotham in the present, seemingly seeking vengeance and intent on defeating Batman once and for all. Since then, Batman's been roped up in a cat and mouse game with the Designer, facing attacks on multiple fronts.

But now, with Batman #93, the full truth has been revealed: the Joker is actually the one pulling the Designer's strings, and it's all part of his plan to defeat Batman. And even though Batman figured it all out, it was already too late for him to stop the Joker's victory.

And what's interesting about the Clown Prince of Crime's victory is that it's similar, in some ways, to Bane's in Batman: Knightfall.

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Bane Breaks Batman in "Knightfall"

Knightfall is one of the most well-known Batman stories because it featured one of the most iconic, infamous moments in the Dark Knight's superhero career: Bane using his brute strength to break Bruce Wayne's back. In the 1993 story, the supervillain arrived in Gotham with a sole intent: to break Batman. Using careful planning and strategy, Bane was able to defeat the vigilante without much physical effort. He started by breaking out multiple villains from prison and allowing them to run rampant throughout the city. As a result, Batman had no choice but to go after all of them in a relentless gauntlet.

Batman pushed himself to the limit to stop all of these fugitives. And when he finally came home to rest, he found Bane, in his prime and ready to fight. Batman was simply too worn out and tired to fight efficiently against Bane and the villain eventually broke his back, properly defeating him.

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Now, the Joker's plan may have been a bit more complicated and required a little more finesse, but it was definitely similar. While his plan involved using the Designer as a decoy mastermind, the result was still the same. "Their Dark Designs" started with five of the most dangerous assassins in the DC Universe arriving in Gotham City, a group of mercenaries which included Deathstroke, the archer Merlyn and Cheshire. They were hired by the Designer -- who we now know to be the Joker -- and they kept Batman busy for a good little while. While their purpose wasn't exactly to tire the vigilante out, the Joker did use them to keep him busy.

Batman relentlessly went after these villains, only to then be taken by surprise when the Riddler unleashed a massive scheme that plunged Gotham into a city-wide game of lethal crossword puzzles. However, the Riddler was also acting on the Joker's orders, whether he knew it or not.

Batman Joker Fortune

All of these villains came after Batman, keeping him occupied while the Joker worked towards his real goal behind the scenes: to steal the Wayne family fortune. While the Joker may not have physically beat Batman, taking his money away is the next best thing. Without his fortune, Batman loses his one superpower, and he's effectively beaten.

To make matters worse for Batman, the Joker orders Deathstroke to wound the vigilante. Slade Wilson complies, stabbing Batman in the leg with his sword. The injury isn't as severe as a broken back, but it still should take Batman out of the fight for a while. Now, Bruce is wounded and penniless. He's lost nearly everything and, to make matters worse, Joker has also severely wounded Catwoman.

Years ago, Bane won with a similar strategy. Now, the Joker reigns victorious, and he's just started torturing Batman and the city he protects.

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