WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story "Ghost-Maker: Chapter 1" from Batman #107 by James Tunion IV, Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, Tomeu Morey & Clayton Cowles, on sale now
The Ghost-Maker is just one of the new heroes introduced to the DC Universe, with a deep-connection to Batman that quietly makes him an equal to the Dark Knight. It turns out he's even got his own rogues gallery, who just made their debut in one of the most exciting ways possible.
In Batman #197, Ghost-Maker is coming up against five of his most dangerous and consistent enemies, setting up an entire new group of future DC villains.
In the aftermath of the Joker War, Batman found himself confronted with an old rival, the Ghost-Maker. A skilled and adventurous warrior who'd proven himself a legendary (and lethal) hero on the other side of the world, Ghost-Maker was slowly revealed to have been a friend to Bruce Wayne when he traveled the globe in his youth, learning skills to become Batman. The pair became close friends, but when the future Ghost-Maker, who saw heroism more as an outlet than a cause, learned of Bruce's origins, he turned on him and became his rival. Coming to Gotham to try and take Batman's place, the Dark Knight proved himself to Ghost-Maker, before reaching out to him for help, recruiting him to his cause. This has led to Ghost-Maker working within Gotham City, while still dealing with his own personal enemies.
While flying over the China Sea, Ghost-Maker's AI Icon is able to identify five of his chief enemies on Devil Skull Island. The ancient island is the home base of Madame Midas, who has become Ghost-Maker's most recent target. Tracing her family lineage back to the founders of the East India Trading Company, Madame Midas is the wealthiest woman in the world. She's remained off the radar of major heroes by choice, instead preferring to lie low and accrue an impossible wealth. But with the Ghost-Maker now targeting her -- and already costing her over 100 billion dollars in ruined trade -- the secret pirate queen of the DC Universe wants him brought down.
With most mercenaries who know of the Ghost-Maker refusing to deal with him out of fear for their lives, Madame Midas has instead assembled four mercenaries who have confronted Ghost-Maker in the past and actually escaped with their lives. Each of the four has a unique design and power-set, suggesting the sheer variety of the foes Ghost-Maker has come up against over the years: The Instigator is a master martial artist and terrorist, who has been magically transformed into a massive crocodile/man hybrid. His suggestion that he could surrender himself to August-General-In-Iron suggests that Instigator has some kind of connection to the Great Ten, China's premiere superhero team.
Besides him is another mystical threat, the mysterious and seemingly demonic Razorline, who is suggested to be an otherworldly horror confined behind a black cloak. Kid Kawaii is a seemingly young assassination robot from Japan, with a Ferro-Fluid element that likely makes her far more agile. Kid Kawaii also seems to have some sense of respect for Ghost-Maker, noting how impressive it was that the last time they fought she'd destroyed three city blocks before he was able to reach her and de-activate her core processor. Finally, his most straightforward and pessimistic foe appears to be Brainstorm, a genetically engineered telekinetic. With glowing yellow eyes, Brainstorm points out that with little info about where Ghost-Maker even operates, there's little they can do to bring him down.
This is when Madame Midas reveals that she's the one who planted leads to their whereabouts on Devil Skull Island, hoping to overwhelm him with all of their collective lethal capabilities. Upon landing, Ghost-Maker finds himself confronting the first of likely many challenges, Madame Midas' robotic tiger sentries. As that threat suggests, this is an incredibly fun introduction to the wild corner of the DC Universe that Ghost-Maker seemingly inhabits, and hopefully isn't the only one. It's an engaging way to introduce a number of different villains, who could easily play roles in future stories with other characters. Madame Midas, in particular, being a very potent concept for future stories. It's an exciting new rogues gallery for one of DC's most mysterious new heroes -- and it's a great one at that.