The Signal: Duke Thomas Proves He's Gotham's Perfect Daylight Protector

It's a rather hectic time for DC Comics' Batman. Not only is he dealing with being the puppet of an interdimensional monster in Dark Nights: Metal, the costumed crusader is also busy dealing with a PR nightmare and imposter in Justice League, his team is threatening to come apart in Detective Comics, and he's planning his impending marriage to Catwoman in his solo book.

But despite all of that, he's still got the time to help his most recent disciple kick off their superhero career, which is what we get with Batman & the Signal by Scott Snyder, Tony Patrick, and Cully Hamner. The Signal (real name Duke Thomas) is a young man who first arrived in the DC Universe in 2013 via co-creators Snyder and Greg Capullo. Now, his short miniseries is digging into what'll set him apart from the other costumed heroes kicking around and in close proximity to Gotham City. It turns out, the solution to making him work is to give Duke seemingly simple changes that are much bigger than you'd think.

But first, some backstory. Originally, Duke appeared as a kid who met Batman after his family rescued him during the Riddler's terrorist attack in Zero Year. The Riddler promised to restore the city's power in exchange for a riddle he would be unable to answer, so young Duke started training so he could accept the challenge. Years later, as a teenager, Duke wound up as a Robin in the We Are...Robin series, which focused on a group of teens inspired by the exploits of Gotham City's various Boy Wonders. Despite being the greenest of the leads in that comic, he was something of their leader by the end of it, and even unofficially became for them what Dick Grayson was to the actual Robins that Batman has worked with over the years.

Thanks to DC Rebirth, Duke was taken in as Batman's newest partner, though he and Bruce decided that he wouldn't be just another Robin. He would be "something else," and that's where things get interesting.

In Dark Days: The Casting, Duke comes face to face with the Joker (well, one of the three Jokers), who previously drove Duke's parents to insane thanks to Joker gas. Here, the Clown Prince of Crime reveals something Batman never told the nascent hero, the reason both men took such a vested interest in the young boy to begin with. Duke is a metahuman, one with the ability to take light in through his eyes, and see what others can't.

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Every sidekick and partner that has joined the Batfamily has primarily relied on technology and their training to get by. You've got characters tied to the Batfamily with their superpowers, such as Zatanna or Clayface--yes, Clayface is part of Batman's team in Detective, but he's got a little ways to go before being a true Family member--but the Robins, Orphan, and other Bats have no superpowers to speak of.

Batman & the Signal is fully aware of Duke's unique situation and addresses it right away by having Duke admit in the opening pages that he feels alone among the others, thanks in part to his abilities. Whether you want to judge his career by real life time or the wonky timeline of comics, Duke's only been a hero for at least a year now, and he's had a lot thrown at him in that time. He pretty much went up against the Court of Owls, wannabe Jokers, assassins hired by Two-Face and the Riddler, one right after the other, only to then learn he had powers.

Duke is the first metahuman to be a part of the Batfamily, and that's understandably a very different thing that the others can't quite comprehend. It's one thing to be one of the few black members of the Family alongside Batwing and Lucius Fox, and another to discover that you've got superpowers. There's clearly something different about him compared to the other metahumans that show up in his book. Cryptically, he's referred to as "the Dial's Center," and his powers react with those of other metas, but that revelation takes a backburner to showing how he needs to come into his own and first and discover the nature of his powers second. He's humorously not fully prepared to go at things solo, a surprisingly refreshing scene when you remember that other Bat characters have been at this for a long time and are generally sure of themselves and their actions.

Duke's powers aren't the only shake-up he brings to the Batfamily mythos, as he becomes the first hero to fully operate in the daytime. Whether intentional or not, the various Batfamily members have more often than not done their superhero work at night. The wrinkle Duke adds to what's typically been a tried and true tradition of Batman history doesn't go unnoticed by Gothamites, who angrily point out the disruption to the schedule they've begrudgingly become used to.

Snyder and Patrick are both fully aware that Duke needs to be different than the other Gotham heroes in a tangible capacity, and giving him free rein of the city in the daytime firmly establishes that he's his own hero. This shift even ties into the overall story of the comic, with teenagers taking party drugs and gaining their superpowers in the morning before dying. Both Gordon and Batman can see the signs: the daytime needs a Bat, and Duke is the right man for the job.

Though Signal is only a three-issue series, it's clear that this book is just the latest chapter in Duke's continuing adventures. With a small supporting cast that includes former We Are Robin characters and a cop of his own to work with, Snyder and Daniel are making sure that Duke will continue to be a player in the Batman universe going forward. The Batman corner of DC can't be accused of lacking for heroes, and in just a relatively short amount of time, Duke is on the path to proving himself as one of the most important.