WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Event Leviathan #4, by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev and Josh Reed, on sale now.
The current DC Comics crossover event Event Leviathan has had a mysterious masked villain leading an organization that targets the clandestine agencies and secretive cabals around Earth with destructive results. With the eponymous antagonist's true identity still under wraps as the story enters its second half, the growing investigation has just gotten more complicated as a significant number of new players have made their debut in the miniseries' latest issue.
After incorrectly accusing Jason Todd of being Leviathan, the heroes regroup at the Batcave to reassess their investigation as Superman shares what he has learned about the mysterious villain from his own recent experiences.
Unbeknownst to the ensemble, Wayne Manor is being observed by Silencer, in radio contact with an unseen partner. The character was created by Dan Abnett and John Romita, Jr. as part of the New Age of DC Heroes publishing initiative spinning out of Dark Nights: Metal as a retired assassin who sought to put her extensive combat training towards good.
Watching Lois Lane steal one of Bruce Wayne's sports cars to depart to parts unknown, Silencer's enigmatic associate indicates they don't want Lois killed, to which Silencer firmly agrees. However, this issue's biggest twist comes with who Lois meets, without the prior knowledge of Batman or even Superman.
Stopping Bruce's car in a nondescript parking garage, Lois finds herself face-to-face with another group of classic DC Universe detectives including Zatanna, Elongated Man, John Constantine, Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya and -- most shockingly -- Deathstroke. As Lois reminds the newly revealed ensemble that Bruce's car contains a tracker and Superman can hear and see everything, the team, apparently led by Zatanna, announce that they uncovered something regarding Leviathan in their own investigation that stands a decent chance of upsetting her.
Between Event Leviathan and her own eponymous comic book series, Lois has reminded readers that she is one of the premier investigative reporters in the DC Universe, unafraid to put herself in harm's way to unravel conspiracies and speak truth to power.
The revelation that she has had her own secret group of detectives searching for the identity of Leviathan independent and unknown to her husband and Batman shows that Lois may have learned from her father's ways after his own extensive career overseeing military secrets. And the apparent return of Deathstroke after the mercenary's death at the hands of Red Arrow in Deathstroke #48 opens even more questions.
While Superman was unable to stop Leviathan from kidnapping Amanda Waller and an energy field prevented him from following the villain and discovering figure's true identity, the heroes are still not completely in the dark. Batgirl has evidently taken up Leviathan's offer to join the clandestine syndicate but a communique with Batman reveals that Barbara Gordon is working as a double information, investigating Leviathan from the inside and offering rare information about the villainous organization.
With the revelation that there is a second group of detectives investigating Leviathan working with Lois Lane and, more intriguingly, possessing information that Batman's group lacks, the greatest crime-solving minds of the DCU are on the case. And with Batgirl serving as a double agent from within Leviathan's organization, the noose around the masked villain seems to be tightening of the revelation of the culprit's identity seemingly right around the corner.
However, with Leviathan still very much on the loose with Amanda Waller in custody and Silencer observing the proceedings with an unknown associate, every development only seems to open up an entirely new array of questions.