Batman's Supporting Cast is His Greatest Weakness

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Detective Comics #984 by Bryan Hill, Miguel Mendonca, Diana Egea, Adriano Lucas and Sal Cipriano, on sale now.

This may not come as a surprise, but Batman's world has been anything but stable over the last several months. First Batman had to deal with his "Gotham Knights" superhero team of Red Robin, Batman, Orphan, Batwing, Azrael and Clayface in Detective Comics coming undone due to infighting and prophecies of a dark future. Next, Catwoman left the Dark Knight standing at the altar when Selina Kyle realized that a happy Batman wouldn't be a productive crimefighting Batman.

Fans will have to wait and see how the Bat-Cat wedding fallout is orchestrated in Batman, but over in Detective Comics, incoming writer Bryan Hill is introducing some more drama for Bruce Wayne with a new, mysterious villain called Karma, who is forcing Batman to consider whether his many sidekicks and apprentices are holding him back.

Karma Chaos On The Streets Of Gotham

Like many villains before him, Karma believes his terroristic acts are all for the betterment of Batman. Karma's first two targets have been Duke Thomas (Signal) and Cassandra Cain (Orphan), who are recent additions to Batman's trusted family. Duke fell into a trap in the previous issue when Karma left a Batman superfan tied up with a bomb strapped to his body, and now we see Cassandra being chased through the streets of Gotham by Karma.

At one point Karma calls Cassandra, "Another one of his failures," and begins running down the long list of Robins and other sidekicks of Batman whom, in his eyes, are all useless. Karma wants to help Batman become better, yet believes Cassandra deserves more than what Batman is offering her.

Things pick up once Batman and Black Lightning appear on the scene. After absorbing Black Lightning's powers, Karma is able to harness it as a weapon to take Batman down. It isn't explained clearly in the comic, but an early flashback page shows Karma purchasing his unique helmet on the black market. Though he's warned it may be alien in nature, it can be assumed the helmet is what gives Karma the ability to read minds, which may be how he knows Batman is Bruce Wayne, going so far as to reference the fatal night Thomas and Martha Wayne lost their lives in a Gotham alley as a young Bruce watched on.

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Batman's Achilles Heel

Detective Comics' "On the Outside" story arc is throwing Black Lightning head first into Batman's world; first as a recruited teacher of Signal, Orphan and Batgirl, and secondly when he learns how Bruce Wayne spends his nights. Batman knows Duke and Cassandra have personal issues and believes the only way for them to become the heroes he knows they can be is if another voice besides his own is doing the instructing. Of course, Karma's presence has complicated the matter slightly, as he looks to influence the young kids.

Black Lightning points out that he's an educator, and from his point of view, putting kids in the line of fire is a bad idea. Of course, Batman knows better than anyone the risks that come with having kids as sidekicks, having held the lifeless bodies of Jason Todd and his own son Damian in his arms. Bruce seems to agree with Jefferson Pierce, admitting Karma will use his allies against him. When Jefferson tries to tell Bruce that only he can give the order for them to stand down, Bruce utters the one thing fans never thought they'd hear out of Batman's mouth: "They make me weaker."

Hearing Batman admit to having a weakness is definitely jarring, but it does raise a few questions regarding the Bat-Family and whether or not they help or hurt the Caped Crusader's cause. As Black Lightning brought up earlier, any sane person would concede that having kids on the front lines of a vigilante war isn't wise and borders on child endangerment. Of course, his many sidekicks over the years would tell you they sought out Batman or volunteered their services, with no active recruiting taking place. However, we still have to wonder: Does that make it right?

Tom King recently broached this topic in his oversized Batman #50 only a few weeks ago, when Catwoman shocked readers by standing Bruce Wayne up at the altar. After having a conversation with her best friend Holly, an idea was planted in Selina Kyle's head that a happy Batman wouldn't have the same laser focus to stomp out evil in Gotham. So instead of having a loving, supporting wife by his side, Catwoman saw herself and her love as a potential weakness to Batman.

Of course, it's quite possible Batman is already five steps ahead of Karma and is choosing to distance himself from his alliances in order to get the upper hand in this budding rivalry. We won't have to wait long for an answer, as Detective Comics #985 goes on sale this Wednesday.