WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1035, by Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora, Jordie Bellaire and Aditya Bidikar, on sale now.
While Batman has been Gotham City's last, best line of defense from total annihilation on countless occasions, the Dark Knight is now persona non grata in his own hometown. The explosive events of "Joker War" proved too much for the city to turn a blind eye to, with the Joker stealing the Caped Crusader's vehicles, weaponry and fortune for his own fiendish ends. With a new police commissioner in power and a mayor with a decidedly anti-Batman agenda, Batman's life has just gotten a lot more complicated after becoming a major person of interest in a high-profile murder case.
A powerful socialite from one of Gotham's old, wealthy families is discovered murdered in the sewers beneath the city. As Batman investigates the body and surrounding area, he is interrupted by the Gotham City Police Department, who prioritize bringing him in rather than disturbing an active crime scene. This pursuit quickly turns violent when the police open fire on Batman as he flees deeper into the sewers, with a ricocheting bullet accidentally wounding one of the pursuing officers. While the officer himself is stabilized, the whole incident is blamed on the Dark Knight, further fueling Mayor Nakano's efforts to turn the general public against the vigilante.
As a heavily publicized funeral is held for Sarah at the local cathedral, Nakano sets out to find those responsible for the murder. Rather than simply having the police given orders to bring down Batman by any means necessary, Nakano commissions a dedicated task force to hunt the Dark Knight down. And to avoid any talk of how this new initiative will impact the city's budget, Nakano reminds his advisors that the planned task force will be privately funded, hinting at the sinister figures quietly manipulating the course of Gotham from the shadows that are keeping Batman and the rest of his allies on the defensive.
The incident in the sewers also demonstrates how this new agenda is impacting the police and their peacekeeping priorities. In the aftermath of "Joker War," the police initially considered apprehending Batman rather than help him evacuate Arkham Asylum when the facility came under attack. And to complicate things further, Scarecrow is revealed to be pulling the strings after faking his death in the Arkham incident, potentially providing the funding for Nakano's new task force to eliminate the Dark Knight and his allies. Even Sarah's murder is likely connected, with the woman apparently rising from the dead as a zombie and tracking down Bruce Wayne in his civilian identity for reasons currently unknown.
DC has since hinted that Bruce will find himself behind bars this July, with both Batman and the former billionaire playboy winding up on the wrong end of the law. Back when Jim Gordon was heading the Gotham City Police Department, the Dark Knight and the law were allies in the fight to keep the city safe. After a change in power, Batman is now Public Enemy Number One and regarded by the mayor and his task force as potentially an even greater threat than the supervillains that normally menace the city. Stripped of his resources and with his closest allies scattered, Batman is facing one of his most harrowing trials yet. And as the main suspect in a particularly public murder, life is about to get a lot worse for the Caped Crusader.