The following article contains spoilers from I Am Batman #9, on sale now from DC Comics.

The Next Batman's battle against Manray has now brought the mayor of New York into the conflict. The final page of I Am Batman #9 (by John Ridley, Christian Duce, Stephen Segoiva, Rex Lokus, and Troy Peteri) showed that Manray has targeted Mayor Villanueva as his next victim. Complicating matters is that Manray only targets those who he has credible reason to believe are corrupt and abuse their power.

If he has managed to find some proof that the mayor is dirty, the revelation will surely lead to a confrontation between him and the Next Batman, who has pledged to never let the powerful oppress the less fortunate. While Villanueva has not done anything obviously corrupt, there have been several hints to suggest that there are darker depths to his character.

RELATED: Lucius Fox Has Become the New Alfred Pennyworth - But It Works This Time

Manray Is Targeting Mayor Villanueva

Villanueva is a complicated and fairly new character, recently introduced into the life of Jace Fox's Batman. As the mayor of New York, he is responsible for the well-being of the city as well as keeping his constituents happy. He understandably feared that Batman's presence in the city would lead to an escalation in super crime. However, the presence of the new Dark Knight has been received positively by the citizens, so the Mayor opted to attempt to control the situation as opposed to working against the vigilante.

This led to Batman agreeing to work alongside a police strike force. This allowed the hero a modicum of legal power while still giving him the freedom to operate outside the law as needed. It also pointed out how shrewd Villanueva could be, finding a solution that benefited him while also keeping the blame squarely on the police or the Caped Crusader should anything go wrong.

This isn't entirely surprising, as a politician in his position would have to be clever to attain his position. Still, he has a level of ambition that leads to doubt about his moral integrity. While his deal with Batman can be seen as a good thing even if it was motivated by self-interest, his choice of police commissioner has now thrown his moral principles into question.

RELATED: Jace Fox Shows a Different Side to Batman: Self-Doubt

Mayor Villanueva Knew Becket Was a Racist

While it's clear that Villanueva never knew the true extent of Commissioner Becket's racism and misogyny based on his furious reaction to the leaked emails, he wasn't entirely blind to it either. Becket made enough racist comments in his office to catch Villanueva's attention, yet he never did anything beyond making the occasional crack about how Becket should join the modern world.

This suggests that Villanueva has a tendency to look the other way if it benefits him. He all but confirmed this to Tanya Fox when he told her that to keep the police department's favor, he needed to place a "traditionalist" in charge. Apparently this meant hiring someone like Becket, but it shows that Villanueva was well-aware of what kind of man he was placing in such a powerful position.

If he was willing to overlook this and potentially compromise every arrest Becket ever made due to his prejudices, he may have looked the other way on other issues as well. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Mayor could be receiving funding from criminal sources for not pursuing them. If this turns out to be true, it will place him in direct opposition to Batman - granted the Caped Crusader can save him from his current dilemma.