WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Batman/Superman #2 by Joshua Williamson, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez and John J. Hill, in stores now.
Batman is a man of great means, great intellect and of many secrets. Over the years, the Dark Knight has earned a reputation as being prepared for anything: whatever the situation may be, whoever attacks, the Batman has a plan. He knows how to defeat every member of the Justice League if should they ever turn bad, and he has plenty of failsafes in place to keep Gotham City, his friends, his family and the entire planet safe from harm. He even has a spare Batcave on the Moon to look over Earth.
Because the Batman has plans within plans, he keeps everything close to the vest. And that is precisely why his revelations can always come as a big surprise. As it turns out, such as surprise is revealed in Batman/Superman #2, when the very human Caped Crusader reveals that he is actually fluent in Kryptonian, the alien language spoken on Superman's destroyed home world.
Batman/Superman #2 follows up on the ending of the first issue. The two titular superheroes are locked in battle with Shazam, who has been transformed into a villainous version of himself by the Batman Who Laughs, a villain who was strong enough to wipe out his world's Justice League. Unfortunately, the two superheroes are no match for their adversary and Superman and Batman both end up badly beaten.
Next, Bruce Wayne wakes up in Clark's Fortress of Solitude, where he is being healed by Kryptonian technology. There, the two Justice Leaguers try to plan their next move by studying the Batman Who Laughs' infected Batarangs -- one used by Shazam to try and infect Superman, and the other that was used to turn Billy Batson and his magical alter ego. Both Batarangs are analyzed in the Fortress of Solitude's alien computers, and before Superman can read the results, Bruce interprets them.
"You can read Kryptonian?" Clark asks his longtime friend. And Bruce answers not by saying yes, but by showing that not only can he read the alien language, he can actually speak it.
No more is said on the subject, as the two heroes continue their investigation into the Batman Who Laughs. However, the revelation is still noteworthy. After all, with Krypton destroyed, there are only a handful of people left in the universe who can speak the planet's language. This speaks to Batman's resourcefulness and readiness. Somehow, the very human vigilante taught himself a dead alien language. Surely this was done in his never-ending quest to be ready for anything, especially in relation to Superman.
However, it's also something that brings the two titular superheroes closer. There are only very few people whom Superman can talk to in his home world's native language, and most of them are immediate family. And now, Batman is one of them too.