WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman #113, on sale now from DC Comics.
With Fear State in full swing, Gotham City is truly steeped in turmoil, or as Bruce Wayne calls it, a powder keg waiting to explode. Scarecrow and Simon Saint have doused the city with fear while the Magistrate pulls strings on the strings to make Gotham pay like never before. With so much chaos going on, not even the Dark Knight will be able to contain it. Now, in Batman #113 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey, Clayton Cowles, the Caped Crusader reveals he's got a solution to find out more about Jonathan Crane's plans.
Bruce thinks Scarecrow implanted memories in his mind after kidnapping and torturing him at Arkham. The Bat deduces Scarecrow and the Magistrate wants fear to drive anarchy, but clues have been hidden in his mental state as part of Crane's sick game.
He gets to his lair after meeting Commissioner Montoya and unboxes a VR-headset device which Ghost-Maker makes fun of at first until he learns it allows Bruce limited telepathy. It's not as advanced as Martian Manhunter, but the Bat can use it to probe his own mind, leaving his ally calling it a "Bat-Mind Control Helmet."
It's a frightening notion, especially knowing he created it with Cyborg, who should know better after seeing how these things have bitten the Justice League in their behinds already. It's totally intrusive and reminiscent of the Brother Eye surveillance system that got corrupted by Max Lord to send the OMACs on a murderous rampage. The function may be different but the idea is the same. Admittedly, it does make sense as Bruce loves knowing everything, ergo why he was keen to sit on Metron's chair in the past, but it does feel too dangerous.
Here, he dissects his mind to learn more about Crane's vendetta and unlocks memories from Ghost-Maker about how he actually learned from Crane about weaponizing and conquering fear in his younger days at university. Basically, the Dark Knight has become a lite version of Professor Xavier with this technological marvel that grants him the mind-reading abilities. It leaves one wondering what damage he could do to his mind and how much it'd take to control whoever else is around him. He admitted it could melt his brain, but as usual, Bruce presses on with reckless abandon, throwing caution to the wind like only he knows how to do.
After using the device, they realize they need to stop Peacemaker-01 and get to Crane ASAP. Still, it can't be ignored that this device is problematic. It's proof Bruce still loves playing god it's concerning that he'd have something like this lying around. He even jokes that he's invented many worse tools, which are lying in these boxes in his apartment.
Were this to fall in the wrong hands or be used to turn his Justice League allies into pawns, Bruce would surely come to regret it. That said, distrust and control will always flow within him, and for Bruce to shock someone as outlandish as Ghost-Maker, it says a lot.