Detective Comics: The Colony Might Not Be Batman's Enemy

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Detective Comics #978 by James Tynion IV, Javier Fernandez and John Kalisz, on sale now.

James Tynion IV's recent story arcs in Detective Comics have centered around family tensions. Not tension between family members in that traditional sense, but rather the dissent seen between different factions of the Bat-family, as ideological differences have caused a fracturing from within. Detective Comics #978 – drawn by Javier Fernandez and part three of "Batmen Eternal" – drives those differences to a breaking point, but also puts forth some interesting possibilities for the future of the Bat-family dynamic.

Jacob Kane's paramilitary organization – The Colony – has been a central point of family discontent for Batman and his allies, since Jacob is Bruce's uncle but has long stood against Batman's operation. As with many family squabbles, though, the true point of contention is eventually brought forth, and the problem isn't necessarily from within the family at all, but instead from someone brought in from the outside. With both sides coming to the realization that they've been played, a new realization dawns – that The Colony might not be Batman's enemy, after all.

It's Never the Family – It's Always the Interloper

It's hard to imagine The Colony not being a significant enemy of Batman. Jacob once held a gun to Batman's head, after all, and his organization would have killed Tim Drake outright if not for some timely and otherworldly intervention. Jacob's daughter Kate, though – aka Batwoman – has brought a moderating influence to her father's operation since joining him recently, and Jacob in turn has indicated a softening of his traditional lethal methods.

When a pair of Colony soldiers slaughters a group of mobsters at the beginning of the issue, Batman naturally blames Jacob, and subsequently seeks him out to confront him. Jacob and Kate plead ignorance, though, denying that the soldiers were sent at their behest. During this exchange, Tim makes a discovery that backs up Jacob's claim – that the soldiers' armored suits were controlled by an outside force, namely Jacob's former ally Ulysses. Ulysses – now calling himself The General – has utilized Brother Eye's network to take control of The Colony's tech, in an effort to pit Jacob's organization against that of Batman. Sure enough, it's not Jacob or Kate causing the dissent – it's an outlaw, who's somewhat akin to a family in-law in this case.

The Colony – The Next Batman Inc.?

With that revelation exposed, one startling similarity starts to become clear: Batman and The Colony are no longer necessarily at odds with each other, despite their recent conflicts. If Jacob's promise of a softer approach holds true, then Batman would no longer have an issue with his methods. Kate even states that The Colony would work outside of Gotham, a solution that would not only see the Colony not infringe on Batman's turf, but give what every family with differences needs: distance.

If Bruce and Jacob can put their previous differences behind them, then Bruce might be more willing to work with his uncle's organization. If The Colony's reach will in fact extend outside of Gotham, then it could potentially function as an extension of sorts of Batman's own operations – a new kind of Batman Inc. And along with Kate and Damian, Bruce would now have another family member as part of his true Bat-family.

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Bruce already has four pseudo-"sons" – three of which have come back from seeming death. The mother of one of them is the daughter of one of his deadliest foes. And one of Bruce's other uncles, Jacob's brother Philip, was once a member of the Red Hood Gang. With so much family dysfunction already present within the Bat-family, Bruce potentially welcoming in the uncle who recently tried to kill him doesn't seem so preposterous.

The tension doesn't just involve Bruce, though – seeds of distrust between Kate and Tim have also been sown throughout Tynion's run. Future Tim planted many of those seeds when he came back to present day blaming Kate for his dystopic future, and his younger self carries doubts of his own. In fact, in this very issue, Tim initially believes Kate had a role in the death of the mobsters he and Batman were pursuing, although his discovery of Ulysses' manipulations should absolve her of at least that accusation. Kate, meanwhile, believes the mobsters' deaths are Tim's attempt to frame The Colony and put her in the crosshairs, and in turn taking critical steps towards the future he claims to be trying to prevent.

Most families in real life fortunately don't go to such lengths to take one another down. The squabbling between the various members of the Bat-family – blood or otherwise – readily symbolizes the kind of vengeful family drama that's all too often played out during holiday dinners everywhere.

Mama's Family

During Batman's confrontation with Jacob, Jacob references the Kane family motto of "We stand together." More importantly, though, Jacob mentions his sister – and Bruce's mother – Martha, stating that she often challenged this statement. According to Jacob, Martha believed that family bonds had to be earned, not just presumed by relation.

Jacob also mentions that the motto established by his father was an attempt by him to imprint his own beliefs onto his children – and hints at the irony of Batman doing the same with his own pseudo-family. The bigger irony, though, is that Bruce is actually following his mother's dissenting beliefs more closely than his grandfather's. Most of Bruce's relations, in fact, are not blood, and therefore any family bond between them can only be established through merit. And arguably, Bruce's bond with his "family" is far stronger than Jacob's is with Kate.

Detective Comics #978 not only puts forth that The Colony might not be an enemy, and not only a future ally, but also become part of the family. "Batmen Eternal" continues in Detective Comics #979, on sale April 25.