(January to December 2025)
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–REFERENCE: In Superman Unlimited #1 Epilogue. Superman (Clark) comes face-to-face with a giant Kryptonite asteroid, which nearly kills him and puts him into a coma. Superman (Clark) is stabilized aboard the Watchtower, but he will remain in a coma for the next three months. Batman and the JLU run tests on Superman (Clark), revealing that his DNA structure contains something that protected him against the onslaught of Kryptonite. Martian Manhunter immediately begins playing the role of Superman (Clark) to mask the Man of Steel’s absence. Meanwhile, new deposits of Kryptonite are scattered all across the globe, making things instantly difficult for the Superman-Family. Shortly thereafter, a new South Atlantic island nation state called El Caldero is formed at the site of one of the largest Kryptonite chunks. Batman and the JLU will follow the epic economic rise of El Caldero, which will erect an entire city made of Kryptonite, over the course of the next three months.
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #4. Currently, Gotham’s organized mobs all work together as part of a clandestine syndicate. The mobs include: The Black Fang (led by Fāng Hēi), Clanuri Interlope (led by the Bezna Mob), La Mano Nera (led by Lupo Capitolina of the Capitolina Mob), La Penitenta Cartel (possibly an offshoot of the Penitente Cartel), The Thieves Guild (led by Penguin), and the Tozuki Mob (led by Dantai Tozuki). Batman familiarizes himself with the new underworld landscape. Unknown to Batman, the syndicate—secretly known as The Torus—is led by a mysterious newcomer called The Minotaur (who is assisted by his right hand man, the Calculator). (The Mintoaur is sort of a new but much more powerful version of the Underbroker.) The Torus is also secretly backed by Commissioner Vandal Savage.
—[1]
–REFERENCE: In Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #27. Batman works with private investigator Simone Blair on an unspecified case, developing a great trust and respect for her.
–REFERENCE: In DC KO #1 and DC KO #5. For fun, Bruce gets into the gaming industry, starting a new venture called M Malone Entertainment. Bruce even has creative input as an executive, getting into production a line of superhero themed board games where Batman is the best playable character.
–Birds of Prey Vol. 5 #20
When experimental drugs are stolen from a military black site, Oracle mobilizes the Birds of Prey and notifies Batman. Batgirl (Cassie) and Batman both visit the apartment of a supposed suicide victim that had some connection to the theft. At the apartment, Batman and Batgirl note that the suicide was definitely faked. Seeing that the case is in good hands, Batman departs, allowing the Birds of Prey to handle things. He only asks that he’s kept in the loop in real time. Following the clues, Oracle sends Big Barda to Dubai and Black Canary to Tokyo, keeping Batgirl (Cassie) and Sin Lance local. (Notably, Sin is now merged with the spirit of the ancient Amazonian Fury known as Megaera.) In Dubai, Big Barda runs afoul of Inque (a time-traveling super-villain from thirty-ish years in the future) before getting shot into outer space and blown up by the villainess’ boss Daemon Prime, who is leading a villain team called the Shadow Army. Presumably, Oracle fills in Batman on everything that occurs with this case, moving forward. Here’s what goes down in Birds of Prey Vol. 5 #21-24 (“On the Run”). The Birds of Prey take on other Shadow Army soldiers, including Copperhead, Velvet Tiger (Lani Gilbert), Golden Lion (Laurent Lockhart), and a bunch of robot drones. Feeling out of her depth, Oracle calls for back-up from Onyx Adams, John Constantine, Zealot, Vixen, Harley Quinn, Grace Choi, Cela Lockhart, and Poe. Meanwhile, Inque controls Big Barda like a symbiote, forcing her to attack her friends. With her systems compromised by the Shadow Army, Oracle activates the self-destruct function in the Clocktower, which explodes and is completely decimated. Soon after, the Birds of Prey (joined by all the back-up folks) infiltrates the Shadow Army’s lair and takes them head-on. After the Birds of Prey free Big Barda from Inque (and Sin from Golden Lion, who briefly controls Megaera), they send the Shadow Army packing.
–Detective Comics 2025 Annual #1 Part 1
Batman preps the Bat-computer and does background research as part of an investigation into the disappearance of billionaire Silicon Valley mogul Cody Morse, who locked himself in his mansion over a month ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Inside the heavily-secure home, Batman finds Morse’s fresh corpse along with several oddities—including a spotless kitchen, man cave with a floating video game controller, digital reading room, and deadly floating knives. (Batman makes a note to look into the floating tech for new Batarangs.) Batman then finds five copies of a book on quantum mechanics by author Arthur Milligan. Each of the books has a specific section of pages that have been removed and destroyed. Batman then makes plans to visit Dr. Jenny Sykes at the University of York. After studying up on the rich architectural history of York (and familiarizing himself with the current superhero/super-villain scene in the UK), Batman travels across the Atlantic. Sykes tells Batman that Milligan claimed to have discovered a mathematical equation that could destroy the universe, printing his theories into a book that only got a run of five copies in the 1970s. But before Batman can continue his investigation, he gets sidetracked by the Templar’s rival—super-villain Mr. Mystic, who controls two powerful “angelic apparitions.” After defeating Mr. Mystic and his evil angels, Batman locates a sixth (and final) copy of Milligan’s book. Having killed Morse in an failed effort to gain the equation, Morse’s murderer sends a message to Batman, telling him that he has kidnapped Sykes and wants the book. Batman soon confronts the killer/kidnapper, revealed to be Morse’s crooked business partner Paul Briar. Batman dupes Briar into activating the universal destruction equation, but only in an eight foot radius around Briar himself (and in a non-fatal way where Briar becomes frozen in time and space). Back in the States, Batman drinks English tea while crunching some numbers about Milligan’s “anti-time stasis field.” Batman says that he’ll remove Briar from stasis so that he can see prison time, but the Dark Knight is torn about whether to keep Milligan’s equation for the benefit of science or destroy it so it never falls into the hands of evil again. We don’t learn what choice Batman makes, nor do we learn whether or not he utilizes Morse’s anti-gravity tech.
–Detective Comics 2025 Annual #1 Part 2
When kids start hallucinating at Gotham Public Middle School 96, Batman is on the case. Testing the kids, Batman finds traces of Fear Gas in their systems. After adding an air quality meter to his utility belt rotation, Batman visits the school to find seventh grader David Rosales also working the case. (David has started a one-person Junior Batman Detective Club.) Allowing young David to take the lead, Batman is reminded that Scarecrow once had a lab on the very site of the school. David and Batman discover that old Fear Gas residue has been leaking into the building. Shortly thereafter, Batman installs filters into and begins pumping anti-toxins through the school’s HVAC system. David expresses to Batman how right wing and centrist governments have more-or-less abandoned the public school system, after which the Dark Knight gives him a pep talk and a ride in the Batmobile.
–Detective Comics #1100 Part 1
While busting a random bad guy on the street, Batman sees a deaf-mute boy putting up signs about his lost puppy. Batman later returns to assist the boy, saving him from getting hit by a truck. With Ace the Bathound as a guide, Batman locates the puppy, which had been stolen by a gang. Batman and Ace beat the shit out of the gang, rescue the dog, and reunite it with its owner. Afterward, Batman adds the “lost dog” poster to his wall collection of “lost pet” signs.
–Detective Comics #1100 Part 2
Batman engages with Joker in a high-speed motorcycle chase, during which Gotham Community Center organizer Katie Wang is run off the road. Batman allows Joker to escape so that he can rescue Katie. Shortly thereafter, Bruce realizes he’s been invited to a fundraising gala to celebrate Gotham’s unsung heroes, among which Katie is an award recipient. Bruce attends the event and cuts a big check for the nonprofit host organization. At the event, Bruce is seated near independent journalist (and city council candidate) Colin McMannor, who grills Bruce and tries to shame him about his vast wealth. Bruce shakes Colin’s hand, wishes him best of luck, and says that they both serve the city in their own way.
–Detective Comics #1100 Part 3
Batman goes on patrol, sending bad guys to the ER all night long. When Batman himself suffers a nasty wound on his arm and shoulder, he visits the hospital to see his friend Dr. Ava for treatment. But they are interrupted by another doctor, who is new to Gotham and worries that Batman might have a negative impact on the city. Dr. Ava tells her that, before the arrival of the Dark Knight, the ER was chock-full of murders of innocent people all night long, every night. After Batman debuted, the murders turned into contusions, bruises, and broken bones, mostly attached to bad guys. After the new doctor departs, Dr. Ava patches up Batman, thanking him for his service.
–Detective Comics #1100 Part 4
A new serial killer has murdered six people in six nights, drawing Batman’s vengeful attention. Batman chases the killer to the top of a skyscraper where the latter attempts a suicide dive. Batman dives after him, making sure he’s fit to go to prison.
–FLASHBACK: From Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #3. Batman teleports up to the Watchtower to join Mr. Terrific, Black Canary, and Green Arrow (Oliver Queen).
–REFERENCE: In Batgirl Vol. 6 #7. Batgirl (Cassie Cain) departs for a long solo trip to deal with the aftermath of the supposed death of her mother, Lady Shiva. Cassie phones Stephanie Brown, telling her to notify Bruce about her trip and tell him not to worry. Presumably, Stephanie updates Bruce.
–REFERENCE: In Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #26. Batman learns that Two-Face is using two primary hideouts now—one at the abandoned Asher Estate and the other at an old unused courthouse. Instead of shutting these lairs down, Batman will monitor them closely, moving forward.
–Superman Unlimited #1 Epilogue
Superman (Clark) finally wakes up from his three month-long coma. Notably, he’s greeted by several JLU members, including Aquaman (Arthur Curry), whose appearance here is a major continuity error that must be ignored. Superman (Clark) learns the new status quo of the world in regard to Kryptonite. Batman shows Superman (Clark) how and why he was able to survive being crushed by a giant mountain of Kryptonite. The Man of Steel has developed a new superpower where he temporarily turns gold and invulnerable when impacted by high levels of Kryptonite radiation.
–FLASHBACK: From Superman Unlimited #2. Picking up directly from the Superman Unlimited #1 Epilogue, Batman, Superboy (Conner Kent), and Supergirl continue explaining Clark’s new “Superman Gold” powers. When irradiated by high levels of Kryptonite, Superman (Clark) will have a few minutes of invulnerability, but the catch is that he’ll be completely powerless for some time afterward.
–Superman Unlimited #4
Jimmy Olsen accompanies Tee-Nah (Solovar’s goddaughter) to Gotham City, during which an injured man-bat crashes into their car. While Robin (Damian) patrols outside, Jimmy and Tee-Nah take the man-bat to Leslie Thompkins’ clinic for treatment. In Metropolis, Superman (Clark) manages to barely save a Kryptonite jewelry-wearing (and inebriated) Veronica Vreeland, who accidentally falls from a rooftop. Superman (Clark) then joins his pals at Leslie’s place. Robin explains that the man-bat is one of Kirk Langstrom’s old lab assistants, who has invented a new strain of Man-Bat Serum that is communicable. With exposure to Vreeland’s Kryptonite having left him vulnerable, Superman (Clark) turns into a man-bat and begins raging out of control. Using Jimmy’s signal watch, Tee-Nah hacks into Oracle’s network, alerting her of the situation. The Birds of Prey—Batgirl (Cassie Cain), Big Barda, and Black Canary—combat Superman (Clark), but Black Canary also turns into a man-bat. Eventually, Jimmy uses the high frequency squelch of his signal watch to take down the man-bats. Kirk Langstrom and Leslie then cure all the afflicted. Meanwhile, in El Caldero, Bruce purchases as much Kryptonite as possible (in an effort to keep it out of other people’s hands). While being interviewed by Ron Troupe, Bruce drops millions at an auction. Batman also skulks around El Caldero, gathering intel. Later, at one of the many auxiliary Batcaves (undisclosed location), Batman and Robin show Superman (Clark) how much Kryptonite they’ve gathered (inside lead-lined vaults). Unknown to all, just for fun, Robin has been stealing letter Es off the Daily Planet building for weeks. He’s stored them all in his vault. Batman and Superman (Clark) decide their next plan of action.
–FLASHBACK: From Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #3. The Justice League Unlimited goes into unspecified action.
—[2]
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #1. Jim Gordon rejoins the GCPD, but as a lowly beat cop, partnering with Officer “Ezzy” Espinoza.
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #1. Arkham Tower expands with a second building, officially changing it’s name to Arkham Towers. Shortly thereafter, Killer Croc, feeling off, checks himself into inpatient care. Sure enough, exposure to morphotoxins has caused Killer Croc to regress into a feral but childlike state. He also begins to mutate into a more monstrous form.
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #1. Batman encounters (or hears about) a new weird gang of scissor-wielding psychopaths called The Creeps, who declare that Robinson Park is their new “hunting ground.”
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #3. Since Commissioner Vandal Savage obviously won’t allow a Bat-signal to exist, Officer Jim Gordon gets creative. Moving forward, Harvey Bullock will stick a stuffed bat with suction cups onto the window of his private eye office as a means of signaling the Dark Knight. Upon seeing this stuffie, Batman will know to meet atop the roof of Bullock Investigations.
–REFERENCE: In Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #27. Dr. Chase Meridian reports to Batman that the Ventriloquist has had a breakthrough at Arkham Towers. All of his identities have supposedly been erased and he has no memory of having ever been a super-villain. Given a clean bill of health, Dr. Meridian releases Arnold Wesker into Batman’s custody. Batman puts Wesker under the ongoing supervision of private investigator Simone Blair, who is to watch over him and give reports to the Dark Knight. While we won’t see it on our timeline ahead, we must presume that Simone delivers these reports in regular intervals.
–REFERENCE: In Green Lantern Vol. 7 #30. Along with Mr. Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite, Batman invents a new medical scanner, which he naturally dubs “The Bat-Scanner.”
–REFERENCE: In DC KO #1-2 and DC KO #5. Lois invites Clark, Diana, and Bruce to have a game night at her and Clark’s apartment in Metropolis. Everyone marks their calendar. Bruce tells Tim about game night, to which Tim gives Bruce some “non-cape topics” of discussion.
–Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #4-6
This item specifically goes prior to Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #5-10, meaning that Batman’s costume is drawn incorrectly in this arc—just terrible continuity in this regard. Cheetah and Cheshire have assembled a team consisting of Featherweight (Nyssa al Ghul’s trans teenage daughter Alya Raatko), Klarion the Witch Boy, Teekl, Cheshire Cat (Lian Harper), and Hazard (Becky Sharpe). They plan on robbing every single item from the Watchtower’s trophy room.[3] When curious disasters being occurring across the globe (some natural but some caused by Klarion’s magick), Batman takes the officer position on the deck of the Watchtower. Along with Red Tornado, Batman coordinates and sends out various superheroes to deal with all the emergencies. Hours later, an exhausted Batman goes home to Pennyworth Manor to take a rare nap, after which Wonder Woman takes over deck officer duty. As superheroes gather and let their guard down to watch a meteor shower, Cheetah and Cheshire’s plan continues. First, Lian (who is a JLU member) boards the Watchtower while holding onto both her own JLU card and Sideways’ JLU card (which had been stolen earlier). This causes a scanning error that serves as a distraction for Red Tornado. Second, Cheshire and company send a shipment of live rats (hidden inside a JLU resupply vessel) into one of the Watchtower’s docking bays. The release of the rats not only serves as a distraction for the Challengers, who are working in the docking bay, but it also confuses Red Tornado, who senses a large number of unknown lifeforms scurrying about. Cheetah then sneaks into the docking bay, purposefully allowing herself to get detained by Wonder Woman. (The curious presence of Wonder Woman’s arch rival causes the normally steady hero to be slightly off her game.) In the brig (which holds a still-captive intelligent Parademon), Cheshire Cat nervously watches as Cheetah is interrogated. Meanwhile, the heist continues as Hazard’s actions manipulate the JLU into taking aboard a damaged US spy satellite, inside which the rest of the crew is hiding. When the rats, as per plan, begin exploding, Wonder Woman tells a panicked Red Tornado to reboot himself. Wonder Woman then puts the entire JLU on high alert. In the brig, Cheshire Cat frees Cheetah and the duo rejoins the Cheshire, Klarion, Teekl, Featherweight, and Hazard. Featherweight then steals a power bank (making it seem to the JLU like it’s their primary target). At Pennyworth Manor, Batman awakes to the alarm of a Watchtower lockdown. He radios Wonder Woman, realizing that the HQ is being robbed. The entirety of the superheroes onboard immediately surround the heist crew, but Klarion uses his magick to teleport them to snowcapped mountains down on Earth. There, a super-villain team consisting of Black Adam, Cuca (Andira), Papa Midnite, and Solomon Grundy are waiting, having been summoned by Klarion, who (as per plan) has pretended to betray his friends. When the full force of the JLU arrives, their focus immediately gets shifted to Black Adam’s crew. While the JLU retrieves the power bank, the heist crew teleports back home along with nearly every item in the Watchtower trophy room. With their heist successful, the thieves split up the booty and head their separate ways. Cheetah, Cheshire, Cheshire Cat, Klarion, and Teekl travel to the desert where they use one of the stolen trophies to summon the evil Bwundan plant god Urzkartaga, who has had a partial hold over Cheetah for years. Cheetah fights and defeats Urzkartaga, thus freeing herself from his power and returning to human form.[4]
–Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #5
First, while there is undeniably an extended months-long period of time between Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #4 and Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #5, the gap between these issues must be at least four to six months long (in order for the series to seamlessly connect to upcoming arcs this calendar year). The JLU—Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash (Wally West), Impulse, Thunderlord, Hal Jordan, and Star Sapphire—work security at the G20 Summit in Sydney, Australia. (Notably, this G20 isn’t meant to connect to any real world G20 in terms of location or calendar placement.) Inferno teleports a bunch of world leaders and the JLU security detail to an alien planet populated by monsters. Meanwhile, Inferno sends robots to attack a nuclear reactor in Japan, prompting Superman (Clark), Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond/Dr. Ramirez), and the Captain to intervene. Simultaneously, Inferno knocks down the Three Gorges Dam in China, prompting Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Dragonson, and Zatanna into rescue action. On the Watchtower, Mr. Terrific posits a theory that the Legion of Doom are actually running Inferno, but he can’t prove it, citing that all the Legion of Doom members are currently accounted for elsewhere. Also on the Watchtower, Batman asks the Atom (Ray Palmer) if he can help Martian Manhunter get his powers back. The Atom reveals that Martian Manhunter’s powers are attached to someone that has gone off the grid. Batman realizes that this mystery person in question is not only with Inferno but responsible for the G20 attack as well. The exiled heroes, G20 delegates, and an Inferno druid (who has Martian Manhunter’s powers) teleport back to the Watchtower (by way of the Phantom Zone). The mystery druid unmasks, revealing himself to be Gorilla Grodd. Turncoat Air Wave helps Grodd escape to Legion of Doom headquarters. Yes, the Legion of Doom is behind Inferno after all. The Inferno druids are Lex Luthor, Joker, Black Manta, Sinestro, Captain Cold, Bizarro #1, Scarecrow, and Grodd. However, as Mr. Terrific said earlier, all of these folks are currently accounted for elsewhere, meaning this version of the Legion of Doom is time-traveling from the past.
–Justice League: The Atom Project #6
Editorial notation places this item in a thirty-six hour gap between Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #5 and the Batman-less Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #6. Picking up shortly after Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #5, the time-displaced Legion of Doom has nullified Captain Atom’s powers with a special collar and imprisoned him in the mobile Hall of Doom. A shrunken Atom (Ryan Choi) has secretly gone along for the ride. While John Constantine, Superman (Clark Kent), Flash (Wally West), and Batman scour the globe in search of their missing friends, Captain Atom and the Atom (Ryan) are able to fight the LOD and free themselves. In the Atom Project lab aboard the Watchtower, the Atom (Ray Palmer) runs tests on Captain Atom while arguing remotely with the irascible General Wade Eiling. The Atom (Ray) is then debriefed by Master Sergeant Garcia of the US Air Force. (Note that the epilogue of The Atom Project #6, which shows the Ray conversing with Captain Atom about the developing LOD situation, actually takes place in the middle of the upcoming “We are Yesterday” arc, specifically after Batman-less Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #7 Part 1.)
WE ARE YESTERDAY
————————–Batman/Superman: World’s Finest 2025 Annual #1
————————–Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #39
————————–Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #9
Picking up shortly after the main action of The Atom Project #6 and the Batman-less Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #6, Robin (Dick Grayson) from 2008 appears aboard the Watchtower thanks to the actions of the Legion of Doom back in his past era. Batman and Nightwing are more than a little surprised to find the time-displaced Robin standing before them. The heroes quickly realize that time has become completely broken. For a brief moment, Batman’s memories also become unstable. As Superman (Clark) notes how it’s quite odd that Nightwing has no memory of having time-traveled to now when he was younger, random images from the past begin appearing before the heroes in the present. When past Dick and present Dick shake hands, it causes present day Superman (Clark), Batman, and Nightwing to time-travel to 2008. Meanwhile, 2008 Superman, Batman, and Robin are zapped to the top of the Daily Planet building (present day). The time-displaced trio is greeted by Superwoman (a metapowered Lois Lane), who mistakes them for her present day comrades dressed up in retro gear. In instant, the time-displaced trio recalls that the Legion of Doom is responsible for their situation. (As seen in the contemporary Batman-less Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #7 Part 1, the the LOD—with Air Wave’s help—storms the Watchtower, banishing almost all major JLU members to random points throughout time.) Immediately afterward, the time-displaced Superman, Batman, and Robin fight the time-displaced LOD members Sinestro and Scarecrow at the Superman Museum. Scarecrow is defeated and jailed. Meanwhile, in 2008, our present day trio briefly greets Black Canary and Alfred before focusing on how to switch places with their counterparts. They hop into a Legion of Super-heroes time bubble only to quickly crash into a chronal firewall set up by the LOD. Concurrently, 2008 Sinestro exiles the 2008 heroes to the Arabian desert circa 14,000 BCE. (As seen in the contemporary Batman-less Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #7 Part 2 and Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #8, the LOD then takes over the Watchtower by exiling most of the JLU into the timestream, after which Air Wave rallies heroes throughout space and time to defeat an Omega-powered Grodd.) While not shown in the arc itself, our present day Batman, Superman (Clark), Robin, and Wonder Woman make it back to here-and-now. However, present day Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) and Mr. Terrific are quick to remind them about “rules of separation,” meaning that no one should come into contact with their time-displaced counterpart or else very bad things could happen. With this in mind, the present day Trinity exiles itself to parts unknown. Despite this, present day Mr. Terrific decides to work directly alongside his counterpart from Year Seventeen (2018) at Terrifitech. (There are also still multiple Batmen and Robins aboard the Watchtower, so yeah, whatever.) Meanwhile, the unstable Omega energy also breaks time, causing heroes and villains from throughout time and space to begin appearing and disappearing at random in 2025. Among those who appear are: Harley Quinn from the No Man’s Land period, the composite Fusion Batman-Superman from Year Seven’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #4, Marilyn Moonlight from the Wild West, and Huntress (Helena Wayne) from the 31st century. Many—including Batman from Year Two (2003)—are also zapped back to whence they came. Representing the Quantum Quorum, Time Trapper (Old Doomsday) and the World Forger (Alpheus) arrive on the Watchtower and give a speech to the heroes about what is going on, saying that the only way to save the cosmos is to kill Grodd, who remains chained at their feet. The heroes (joined by present day Big Barda, who oddly speaks in reverse-English magick-speak, which makes me think she was supposed to be drawn as Zatanna) refuse to allow Grodd’s murder. As the heroes try to fight Alpheus and Old Doomsday, visions of the past (and from alternate Hypertimelines) appear all around them. Batman (Jean-Paul Valley Jr) from Year 10 (2011) and Amazing-Man from the early 1940s briefly appear. In an instant, 2008 Batman, Robin, and Superman finally return home to their correct time. Supergirl appears as a rainbow spectrum of many of her past looks from history (and from alternate Hypertimelines). Grodd is able to convince Old Doomsday and Alpheus not to kill him, but instead join forces with him. Upon coming to an agreement, the trio teleports away. The Atom (Ray Palmer) and the Challengers are able to track and follow them. Meanwhile, Mr. Terrific and Ted Kord are able to summon Air Wave, thus ending the time-quake. Eventually, most of the time-displaced folks are sent back to when they belong. However, Jonah Hex, Amazing-Man, Batman (Terry McGinnis), Huntress (Helena Wayne), and Marilyn Moonlight all remain trapped in 2025. (Unknown to all, the future Ultra the Multi-Alien and a monster version of Superman remain as well.) Soon afterward, deeply concerned with what happened during the incursion by the time-displaced Legion of Doom, Batman and Wonder Woman call an emergency meeting with Superman (Clark) at the old Secret Sanctuary HQ in Happy Harbor, RI. Batman tells Superman (Clark) that they’ve made a terrible mistake in assembling such a large Justice League so quickly.
–FLASHBACK: From Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #10. Picking up directly from Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #9, Batman, Superman (Clark, and Wonder Woman argue about Air Wave’s betrayal and whether or not it’s been a good idea to invite every single hero into their fold. Batman says they’ve been too trusting. Superman (Clark) agrees that the team should have better vetting protocols, moving forward, but he’s insistent that having an open-to-all-heroes roster is the best thing for the Justice League Unlimited. There’s much more to say, but the conversation is tabled as Superman (Clark) has to depart on urgent business in Smallville. (He’s going straight into the pages of Superman Vol. 6 #28.)
–Justice League: Dark Tomorrow Special #1
This item doesn’t feature our present day Batman, but it does feature a time-displaced future Batman (Terry McGinnis), hence the reason why it’s here. Not only is time still broken ever since the end of “We are Yesterday,” but a mysterious band of Omega Demons has started killing time-travelers all throughout time as well. Among the dead are Waverunner, Extant (Hank Hall), and Epoch. In conjunction with the broken timeline, Gold Beetle begins randomly “fritzing” in and out. She visits the Watchtower for help from the Atom (Ray Palmer) and Mr. Terrific. Escaping from the Omega Demons, a mystery time-traveler called Legend crashes into the Watchtower, bringing more news about the broken timeline. Ultimately, it is decided that Legend (in a “Waverunner time-ship”) will lead Air Wave, Gold Beetle, Plastic Man, and the “time-lost” heroes—Batman (Terry McGinnis), Marilyn Moonlight, Jonah Hex, Amazing-Man, and Huntress (Helena Wayne)—on a quest through time to save lives from the Omega Demons. After saving Cronos from Omega Demons in present day, the team chases the vile creatures to Stonehenge circa 1600 BCE and then to Vanishing Point (the literal End of Time). At Vanishing Point, our heroes fight the controller of the Omega Demons, Shadow Lass of the Absolute Universe’s evil Legion. After a brief scuffle, Absolute Shadow Lass flees. The heroes attempt to travel back to the 21st century only to run into a temporal firewall. (Notably, this item is also shown via generic flashback from Superman Vol. 6 #30.) As referenced in Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #12, Batman (Terry) and his time-lost Waverunner crew remain trapped in this limbo.
–Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #10
In Hypertime, the Time Trapper (old Doomsday) is badly injured by the Omega Legion aka Absolute Legion (Absolute Colossal Boy, Absolute Lightning Lad, and Absolute Mon-El).[5] The Time Trapper is able to flee to the safety of the Watchtower. While several heroes tend to the Time Trapper, Batman chats with Red Tornado, who reveals that he spied on the Trinity’s recent meeting in Happy Harbor. Meanwhile, Apokolips-like fire pits begins appearing all over the globe. In Greenland, the Captain deals with a pit. In Markovia, Power Girl, Mary Marvel, Impulse, and Cadejos assist Geo-Force with another pit, from which a giant hand emerges and grabs them. Hoping to gain insight on what’s happening, Mr. Terrific visits the captive intelligent Parademon in his Watchtower cell. The Parademon gives birth to dozens of little Parademons. Concurrently, Metamorpho (aided by Martian Manhunter and Dr. Niles Caulder) performs life-saving surgery on the Time Trapper. Unfortunately, the surgery causes the Time Trapper’s body to emit a “decay effect” energy wave, which begins literally eating time and space inside the Watchtower. (Batman isn’t in Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #11, which immediately follows, showing the JLU successfully deal with the energy wave, Parademons, and Absolute/Omega Legion. Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #11, ends with Superman arriving straight from the pages of the Batman-less Superman Vol. 6 #30, having rescued a captive Booster Gold from the Absolute Universe.)
–REFERENCE: In DC KO#1. Picking up directly from Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #10, the Trinity heads Booster Gold’s story and also runs tests on him, confirming that he’s brimming with Omega energy.
–Titans Vol. 4 #27
Editorial notation places this item after Justice League Unlimited #11 and Superman Vol. 6 #30. The Zookeeper (Samuel Register) has lured the Titans and Doom Patrol to his private island near Madagascar. Hoping to get his original powers back from Beast Girl (who now has them), the Zookeeper injects himself with a monster serum and battles the heroes. While Elasti-Woman, Beast Boy, and Beast Girl defeat the Zookeeper and his mutated minions, Cyborg and Robotman smash up his mutation transmitter. Later, at Niles Caulder’s mansion in Midway City, Beast Boy debuts a brand new costume before the Titans part ways with the Doom Patrol. At the Titans’ HQ in New York City, Cyborg and Beast Boy find the Justice League Unlimited—Batman, Superman (Clark), Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific, and Flash (Wally) in a serious discussion with Donna Troy. (They are discussing the ongoing Absolute Legion situation.) Batman tells Beast Boy that the “end of the world” is nigh.
—Wonder Woman Vol. 6 #23 (Wonder Woman #823)
Years ago, following one of the major Crises, a super-villain known as Mouse Man started a cult—comprised of American refugees—on a private isle (Moray Island). Cut to today, and not much is known about Moray Island or its customs. Suffice to say, it’s a very bad place. Having personally dealt with Mouse Man decades ago and hoping to rescue some friends in the cult, Wonder Woman asks the JLU to intervene and liberate the isle. While Wonder Woman waits in the Watchtower cafeteria (and briefly chats with Stephanie Brown), Mr. Terrific speaks with his fellow members of the JLU governing council. Ultimately, without a government mandate or any obvious violation of international law (all the cultists, despite being brainwashed, say they want to be there), the council decides to let Mouse Man’s cult go unfettered. Wonder Woman tries to reason with Superman (Clark) and Batman, but they tell her the decision is final and that she shouldn’t go against the council. Decision be damned, Wonder Woman (with baby Lizzie strapped to her back) infiltrates the island, finding an abused child among stormtroopers riding giant mice.
–FLASHBACK: From New History of the DC Universe #4—and referenced in Batman Vol. 4 #1-4, Batman Vol. 4 #6, Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #25, Detective Comics #1101, Detective Comics #1103, Aquaman Vol. 9 #14, and Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #30. Bruce and Lucius Fox acquire a cache of Titanographene, which they use to design two brand new Bat-costumes. First, Batman tailors a new primary costume with a dark blue cape-and-cowl, matching dark blue chest insignia (with slightly unique design), and trunks on the outside. The cape can also function as a new “Bat-Wing” (aka “Batwing”), a low-altitude low-opening flight suit. In this mode, the cowl activates built-in protective flight goggles. Batman’s new gloves (while still having some of the function of the old gloves, like the ability to turn into electrified gauntlets) can now scan random items and get information about them. His gauntlet arm fins can also turn into razor-sharp BatBlades. Batman’s cowl lenses and cowl radio are also upgraded, although they retain most of the same bells and whistles as before. Batman also invents new programmable Batarangs. Batman begins wearing this costume and utilizing his new toys, effective immediately.[6] For Batman’s second new costume, the Dark Knight and Lucius create an alt-suit known as the Stealth Suit, which allows for near silence and invisibility for its wearer. The Stealth Suit comes with its own unique utility belt (and stock rotation). Likewise, Batman builds a new Batmobile, giving it some novel features, such as a voice-activated “protection mode” (in which the car’s AI can use various weapons to defend itself and others around near it) and a thirteen gear transmission (including three quantum gears for use during spatiotemporal crisis events and one “secret gear” that does god knows what). Batman also stores new highway-use gear in the car, including BatSpikes (a tire deflation strip). He begins primarily using this new car. Batman also upgrades the other Batwing (his Bat-plane). Additionally, Batman sets up a new emergency frequency for all Bat-Family members, so they can reach him at all times. Last but not least, Batman also develops new tech for the Bat-Family, including BatBangs (mini flash grenades), BatBoots (electromagnetic grip footwear), and upgraded medkits.
–REFERENCE: In Jon Kent: This Internship is My Kryptonite #17 andJon Kent: This Internship is My Kryptonite #20. Batman poses for a series of photos with a large group of superheroes.
–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 4 #5. Bruce begins the practice of regularly wearing special Layer 0 body armor under his civilian clothing. He also begins regularly wearing ultra-insulate (i.e. electric proof) shoes in his civilian life.
—Wonder Woman Vol. 6 #28 (Wonder Woman #828)
Wonder Woman finishes liberating Moray Island, putting Mouse Man in the hospital and empowering the islanders to live freely. Superman visits Moray Island to make sure everything is okay. Shortly thereafter, on Themyscira, Batman and Superman scold Wonder Woman for having disobeyed JLU governing council. Wonder Woman tells them that she’ll always march to the beat of a different drum, especially now that she has her daughter to raise.
–Aquaman Vol. 9 #9[7]
Having been trapped in the Blue (the water equivalent of the Green) for months, Aquaman (Arthur Curry) finally returns home along with Captain Nemo, Arion, Zan (of the Wonder Twins), Vivienne (the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian England), Lori Lemaris, Titanus, and Crimson Queen (Lolanna Merana Challa) disguised as an adult Andrina Curry. (Arthur had seemingly located the missing Atlanteans inside the Blue, but they had all rapidly aged, leading to the apparent deaths of Mera, Garth, and Jackson Hyde. Of course, they aren’t actually aged-up or dead. However, Arthur mistakenly believes that the adult Andy is his actual aged-up daughter, but she’s really Mera’s evil mother, Crimson Queen.) Endowed with new ocean god powers, Aquaman (Arthur) finds the Justice League Unlimited (Batman, Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, Aztek, Hawkgirl, Ice, Elongated Man, and Jaime Reyes) in combat against a demon-possessed Superman (Clark). Aquaman (Arthur) and his Blue warriors exorcise the demon and save the day. Later, Aquaman (Arthur) debriefs with Superman (Clark), Batman, and Wonder Woman, telling him about his long harrowing adventure in the Blue. the heroes mourn the loss of Mera, Garth, and Jackson. After shaving his face clean, Aquaman (Arthur) returns to the ruins of Atlantis, packs up his stuff, and departs. After he leaves, Mera, young Andy, Garth, and Jackson appear inside the ruins, seemingly alive and well![8]
–Justice League: The Omega Act Special #1
The Justice League Unlimited calls an all hands on deck meeting aboard the Watchtower to discuss the ongoing Absolute Legion situation. Booster Gold tries to speak directly to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Mr. Terrific, but the Time Trapper (old Doomsday) freezes time, showing Booster Gold and Flash (Wally West) various points in the future where the Absolute Legion has already begun a multi-prong attack. (These attacks all seem to be occurring on the primary timeline, although it’s possible that some of them are happening on alternate Hypertimelines.) From their frozen chronal perspective, the trio bear witness to the Absolute Legion fighting against the following: the Justice Legion Alpha in the 853rd century, Superman (Clark) in the mid 2050s, Kamandi in the late 21st century, Aquawoman from a few decades into the future, OMAC (Buddy Blank) in the late 21st century, an unnamed blonde Amazon at an undetermined point in the future, and the Batman 666 version of Damian (which could be from the Titans Tomorrow/666 Hypertimeline, but is likely from our primary timeline’s late 2030s). When the Absolute Legion takes notice they are being spied upon by Booster Gold, Flash, and the Time Trapper, they turn their attention toward them. Booster uses newfound Omega power to blast the Absolute Legion away, allowing for an escape for the trio. Back at the Watchtower, Booster Gold and the Time Trapper address all the gathered heroes. The Time Trapper reveals that his entire reason for existence is to fight (and defeat) a returning Darkseid one-on-one. But, in order for that to happen, all the heroes will have to work together.
–DC KO #1[9]
Picking up immediately from Justice League: The Omega Act Special #1, the Quantum Quorum—now officially consisting of the Time Trapper (old Doomsday), the World Forger (Alpheus), Gorilla Grodd, and Booster Gold—addresses the Justice League Unlimited aboard the Watchtower. The Quantum Quorum shows everyone a vision of one week into the future where a towering “King Omega” Darkseid kills everyone and turns Earth into a New Apokolips. The Time Trapper explains that he and the World Forger have only been able to stave off Darkseid’s victory by rewinding time to the present moment, thus giving the heroes time to prepare for war. The Time Trapper explains further that Darkseid has already conquered the future. (This part of the Time Trapper’s speech is also shown via flashback from Flash Vol. 6 #26.) As the heroes listen, Batman gets a text from Lois Lane, reminding him that game night is set to occur in a week’s time. The Time Trapper suggests that the heroes allow him to reboot the entire multiverse, but the heroes say hell no. The Time Trapper then continues his exposition dump, revealing that, thanks to Darkseid, a sentient fourth-dimensional being known as the Heart of Apokolips is already growing within the Earth’s core. Batman suggests that Booster Gold (who is brimming with Omega energy) wield his power to control the Heart. The World Forger says that’s not a viable option, but, if the heroes refuse to go the reboot route, Booster could use his Omega energy to bring about the Heart’s challenge—a tournament of champions, the winner of which will become the “sole celestial entity” not only strong enough to challenge Darkseid, but also powerful enough to shape the universe as they see fit. Superman is unwilling to commit. A flashback from Superman Vol. 6 #32 shows this scene. The Superman Vol. 6 #31 Intro specifically overlaps with DC KO #1, showing this scene as well, but also adding an extra scene that shows Superman saying he needs more in order to trust the Time Trapper. The Trinity steps aside to privately plan a course of action, during which Wonder Woman mentions the DC All In Special #1 as if it occurred earlier this year instead of last year. (That should probably be ignored.) Eventually, Superman is convinced to do the Heart’s tournament, after which the heroes get to work. They have seven days to prepare. (The Quantum Quorum now slows down time, so the next seven days will feel much longer, thus allowing the heroes to get way more accomplished.) On day one, the JLU selects specific super-villains they want in the tournament, sending out invitations via Mr. Terrific’s T-Spheres. Using Brainiac tech, the JLU also sets into motion (with Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp, Queen Industries, and others) the construction of Mega-Arks that will preserve the entire planet’s population should things go south. Batman begins building a new Justice Buster 2 mech. As referenced in DC KO: Knightfight #1, Batman also begins building a special Apokoliptian-armored costume outfitted with a special Boom Tube that will teleport him back home if he’s inactive for too long. On day two, the JLU publicly addresses multiple world leaders, letting the know what’s to come and what’s at stake. On day three, Superman (Clark) delivers a public address to the entire world, letting them know the details as well. By day three, the Mega-Arks and an evacuation plan have been completed. (The Titans will be in charge of global evacuation.) On day four, the heroes spend quality time with their loved ones. The global evacuation begins. On day five, the heroes ready their weapons. Batman activates Justice Buster 2. The global evacuation continues. On day six, Mr. Terrific builds a strike force out of “quantum ghost” versions of several heroes: Owlwoman from the 853rd century, Power Girl from around 2009, electric blue Superman (Clark) from 2011, Aquaman (Arthur Curry) from 2011, Vuldarian warrior Guy Gardner from 2011, Gold Hawk of ancient Andrino, an elderly Alan Ladd-Scott from the 2040s, Dr. Fate (Sofie) from the 31st century, and Batman (alt-Tim Drake) from the early 2050s. Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #12, which completely overlaps with DC KO #1, reveals that each of these quantum ghosts have been ripped/copied from a random single second of their real selves’ histories. Once the quantum ghosts are done helping out in this era, they will cease to exist. Their mission? To go to Hell to: one, detain fugitive villains (including Replicant) that have been powered up by Neron; and two, defeat Neron himself. Just as Mr. Terrific’s team departs, the time-lost Waverunner crew is able to send a distress signal to the Watchtower (as seen via flashback from Justice League Unlimited Vol. 2 #15). On day seven, the heroes (along with the safely detained villains, some captured, some invited) travel through the Skartaris Nexus to the center of the Earth. At the planetary core, Booster Gold uses his Omega power to blast the Heart, thus kickstarting the action. After suffering hallucinatory visions, everyone winds up in a vast battlefield. Before the tournament can properly start, a gauntlet/battle-royale occurs, pitting over a hundred combatants against one another in a race toward a distant gateway. Whoever makes it through a small army of giant Omegademons and deathtraps will be allowed to enter the tournament. (This death race is also shown in Superman Vol. 6 #31, which, as mentioned above, completely overlaps with DC KO #1.) Many are “killed,” although they technically wind up morphed into stone statues—their fates undetermined. Near the finish line, the escaped super-villain invitees make their presence known as Joker kills Batman! (Batman’s “death” is also shown via flashback from DC KO: Knightfight #1.) In the end, thirty-one warriors remain. They are entered into the brackets of a single-elimination death match tournament. (The “deceased” Batman is entered as the thirty-second finalist, but it’s implied that Joker will replace him.) Nearby, Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Superman appear. Meanwhile, the Quantum Quorum observes all. Unknown to all, Darkseid has seemingly possessed Booster Gold.
–DC KO: Knightfight #1-4
Picking up shortly after DC KO #1, Batman’s Apokoliptian-armored Boom Tube suit activates, causing him to break out of his petrified “death” state. However, Batman finds himself on what appears to be an alternate timeline where he is immediately attacked by a bunch of warriors dressed as Robin. Soon, Batman is chased into the angry arms of another Batman—a middle-aged gray-haired Dick Grayson. Alt-Batman monologues, giving us an exposition dump to explain this world. (At some point prior, alt-Bruce had become mentally-compromised, prompting alt-Dick to exile alt-Bruce, take over as Batman, and form the global Robin Incorporated, which has since brought about a planet-wide utopia. Batman fights alt-Batman, who ultimately reveals that alt-Bruce started his descent into the dark side by killing Jason, Tim, and Damian and then bathing in a Lazarus Pit.) Realizing that this entire world is merely a simulation created by the Heart of Apokolips, Batman ends the charade by electrocuting himself. The Heart instantly places Batman in a second simulation where he is imprisoned by yet another alt-Batman, this time an older Jason Todd. (In this phony world, Jason is the final hero of Gotham, the entirety of which has become a giant Arkham Asylum city. Everyone else was killed by Joker.) When alt-Jason accuses Batman of being a disguised Clayface, the Dark Knight takes it as motivation, wielding Clayface’s powers against his foe. After Batman talks down Jason, the wrathful Heart whines that the Dark Knight is cheating. The Heart shows Batman images from the tournament and tells him Joker is currently in the lead. The Heart makes Batman a new offer, saying that if he can best a series of new challenges, he will re-enter him into the tournament. In an instant, Batman is thrust into a world an older Tim is Gotham’s primary defender, solving more crimes with his brain than with his braun. In this future, Bruce has been killed by an unknown person. Specifically, though, Batman is sent as a sort of ghost trapped within the Batcave’s computer system. After a few days, Batman is able to control a Bat-robot and then appear as a hologram before Tim. Instead of fighting Tim, Batman has a loving conversation with him. This enrages the Heart, who pulls him out of the simulation immediately. After seeing a carousel of images of each member of the Bat-Family as a potential future Bat-person, Batman is morphed into an old man and teleported into a future where there is no crime in Gotham at all. Old Batman is approached by Damian (aka a semi-retired Batman), who is smart enough to realize that his entire world is nothing more than a simulation. However, Damian tells his dad that the world is real enough to him and his son Alfred Wayne (Bruce’s grandson). Old Bruce assimilates into the utopian world, getting to know its Bat-Family intimately. He builds a Bat-Box, which will allow this universe to continue existing should the Heart try to end it. As referenced in DC KO #5, the Bat-Box is also a communication device that will allow for interdimensional communication. Eventually, forced by the Heart, old Batman spars with Damian. Damian defeats his father, at which point little Alfred activates the Bat-Box. We don’t see if it works, but, in defeat, Batman has passed the Heart’s test. Pleased, the Heart returns Batman as a contestant in the tournament.
–DC KO #4-5
Picking up directly from DC: KO Knightfight #4, the tournament has come close to its end. The final match features a Darkseid-controlled Booster Gold, Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman (with Pegasus and a hydra), and turncoat Joker versus Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor. Batman returns to the tourney just in time to even the odds, spearing Joker through the chest and “killing” him. Batman then joins his friends in fighting the Absolute trio. Darkseid releases control of Booster Gold and the Absolute heroes, finally appearing in person. In a quick move, Darkseid eliminates the Absolute trio, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Booster Gold with an Omega blast. The opportunistic Luthor then eliminates Superman to become the “King Omega.” The final match will pit Luthor versus Darkseid! Meanwhile, having been protected by Time Trapper (old Doomsday), Superman finally has game night with Lois, Bruce, and Diana only to realize that it’s a false experience connected to a pocket timeline created by Time Trapper himself. While directly referencing referencing the events of Doomsday Clock, Time Trapper explains that, because entire metaverse bends to the will of Superman, he must become the Omega King and ensure the world is saved. Therefore, Time Trapper sacrifices his life, giving all his power to Superman and sending him back onto the battlefield. Upon confronting Darkseid, Superman replaces Luthor and wields unfathomable power to begin recreating the universe in his image (i.e. restoring the universe to how it’s supposed to be). Superman then slugs it out with Darkseid through a jumbled timestream, eventually restoring all of the combatants (including Batman) back to the present day battlefield. (Aquaman is also shown, but this is a continuity error as he already left the tournament in the Batman-less Aquaman Vol. 9 #14.) Superman’s actions effectively cause the tournament to end—with no one being crowned King Omega and with Darkseid being cast back into his Absolute Universe. Superman tells the superhero community that he has to take care of some important business, but he’ll return as soon as he can. While Superman finishes re-creating the universe, Lois, Bruce, and Diana finally have game night. Concurrently, on the Watchtower, Mr. Terrific notes that several people present the site of the tournament when it first began have been imbued with alpha and omega energy. Booster Gold, fearing that Superman may actually be unable to return home, vows to find him. Superboy-Prime begins patrolling in Metropolis. Several members of the Absolute Legion decide to remain hidden in Earth-0’s the 31st century. At Titans HQ, Cyborg activates his Heart of Cyborg protocol, having seemingly incorporated the Heart of Apokolips into his own body. Luthor holds a press conference during which he claims to be one of the primary heroes that saved the world. On the alternate timeline that Bruce visited as an old man (during Knightfight), Batman (Damian) and his son Alfred are unable to contact Earth-0 using their Bat-Box. However, they are able to communicate with other universes and Hypertimelines. In Central City, Barry Allen looks at a digital copy of his “New History of the DC Universe” book, which he has just recently completed. Oddly, Barry’s history now has a new entry (“Chapter Zero”), which he didn’t write. When Barry begins to reads the added text, in which the mystery author complains about having been left behind and lost his world, Barry’s laptop explodes and he bears witness to a vision of the planet being held by blue Great Hands.[10] On Earth-Absolute, the Absolute Trinity continue their lives just as they had before the tournament on Earth-0. Elsewhere, Darkseid takes solace in the fact that his tournament has also played out across the multiverse—and he’s apparently fared with much more success on other Earths. In fact, while he wasn’t able to become King Omega on Earth-0, he has on almost every other Earth in the local multiverse. Monologuing to Pandora, Darkseid declares that he’ll soon initiate a “crisis of absolute proportions.”
–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1101, Batgirl Vol. 6 #12, and Birds of Prey Vol. 5 #28. Babs’ clocktower HQ is fully repaired.
–REFERENCE: In Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #29. The Ventriloquist and Scarface kill Simone Blair (although the docile Arnold Wesker’s mind blocks this action from his memory). Despite this, Batman will continue checking in with who he thinks is Simone, but in reality he will now be speaking with Scarface, who will do he best impression of Simone over the phone. We can imagine these calls occurring at regular intervals for weeks to come, with Batman none the wiser.
–Batman Vol. 4 #1-3
A further regressing (and mutating) Killer Croc smashes his way out of Arkham Towers and begins running amok on the streets of Gotham, prompting Batman to visit Arkham and chat with its newest doctor, Dr. Annika Zeller. (This visit is also shown via flashback from Batman Vol. 4 #4.) More than a bit frustrated with Arkham having allowed another escape, Batman lets Dr. Zeller have it, complaining about super-villains while stripping humanity from his perspective entirely. Dr. Zeller is quick to remind Batman that Killer Croc had checked himself in upon feeling ill. The exhausted Batman says that he doesn’t believe bad guys can really change for the better anymore. Nevertheless, he tells Dr. Zeller he’ll bring him back in. Meanwhile, at police HQ, Commissioner Vandal Savage initiates a group of militarized Tactical Urban Combat Officers (TUCOs) while stating that Batman is an illegal vigilante. While driving across town, Batman seemingly hallucinates a full conversation with the dearly departed Alfred. In Robinson Park, Batman rescues some joggers from some Creeps, finding a blue Morpho butterfly in the process. Batman visits the nearby butterfly vivarium, which has been broken into by Killer Croc. As he enters the vivarium, Batman prepares to do combat with Killer Croc, but another apparent hallucination of Alfred tells him to try a calmer, more humane tactic. Seeing Killer Croc truly is in a childlike state, Batman realizes that he can take a more progressive approach. Batman simply unmasks and sits with him. They have a nice chat while seated in front of a large model of a Tyrannosaurus. (Batman says that he “used to have one in his house,” which I guess confirms that he left his T rex in the old Batcave under Wayne Manor.) Dr. Zeller and other Arkham doctors arrive to collect Killer Croc, who lets Batman keep his stuffed T rex. At the Batcave under Pennyworth Manor, Batman puts the tiny T rex on display. Meanwhile, downtown, Robin (Tim) is in the process of busting Anarky and his henchmen when two overzealous cops (Lannie Davis and Eddie Vargas) intervene. Pinned down by the cops in an alley, Robin (Tim) emergency radios Batman for help. The cops then shoot both Tim and one of Anarky’s henchman, throwing the former into a paddy wagon filled with bad guys. The injured Robin (Tim) fights off the bad guys inside the vehicle until Batman disables it. The cops argue about whether or not to fight against Batman and Robin (Tim), ultimately shooting each other instead. Before dying, Vargas shoots Batman in the back of his armor-plated cowl, giving the Caped Crusader a concussion. Robin (Tim) drives Batman home. Not long afterward, the injured Tim checks into the hospital (with the cover story that he was hurt while on a ski trip with Bruce). Meanwhile, Commissioner Vandal Savage—having planted evidence—blames the Bat-Family for Vargas’ death, ordering his officers to take down Batman using any means necessary. (Unknown to Commissioner Savage, a boy named Huston Gray has secretly filmed him planting said evidence.) At the hospital, Commissioner Savage tries to force the injured Davis to implicate Batman, but the cop refuses. At the other end of the hospital, Bruce tries to visit Tim, but he’s cut off by Tim’s boyfriend Bernard Dowd, who scolds him for constantly getting Tim into dangerous situations. (Bernard knows Tim is Robin, but he hasn’t told Tim he knows yet.) On TV, Bruce watches a debate between Dr. Hugo Strange and Dr. Zeller, who has—thanks to a generous grant from the Wayne Family Endowment—developed experimental brain-regulating tech called the “Crown of Storms.” Back home, Damian tells Bruce that—at only fourteen-years-old—he’s been accepted into an early entry college program at Gotham University. To celebrate, father and son practice mixed martial arts in the Batcave. Afterward, Bruce continues to hallucinate conversations with Alfred. The next day, Bruce attends a Wayne Enterprises meeting, meeting several of his executives, including a brash man named Blake. Bruce rejects Blake’s push for the company to get back into military contracting. Bruce also gets a little more info about Dr. Zeller’s project. After meeting with Officer Gordon and Harvey Bullock, Batman visits Wayne Experimental Sciences building to check up on the Crown of Storms. Riddler, hoping desperately to stop the never-ending intrusive riddles in his mind, breaks into the building in an effort to use the device on himself. Donning his Stealth Suit, Batman busts Riddler, injecting him with a sedative-antipsychotic combo (from his utility belt med-kit). While driving Riddler back to Arkham Towers, Batman (thanks to another fantasy Alfred conversation) deduces that Dr. Zeller has been experimenting with the “Crown of Storms” on Arkham patients. Across town, Huston takes his video to Jack Dean, a retired journalist named that lives in his building.
–Batman Vol. 4 #4-6
This item picks up directly from Batman Vol. 4 #3. When a series of gangland murders lead to Gotham’s mob syndicate falling into civil war, the Minotaur determines that the chaos has been caused by a mole within the ranks of the collective. The Minotaur and the Calculator freeze everyone’s bank accounts and set a meeting with all Torus heads. Meanwhile, red steam curiously begins coming out of sewer vents all over the city. At the Wayne Experimental Sciences Building, Bruce visits a busy Dr. Annika Zeller. Bruce is surprised to find that the scientists there have the same suction cup stuffie that Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock have been using as the new Bat-Signal. Dr. Zeller tells Bruce its nickname is “Dr. Batman.” While turning up the charm and flirtation, Bruce chats with the no-nonsense Dr. Zeller about her work, inviting her on a date the next evening. In Lower Gotham, Jack Dean and Huston Gray take their video to The Gotham Eye newspaper only to get rudely turned away. Later, in the Bowery, Clanuri Interlope goons surround Anarky’s hideout. Noticing this, Batman swings in and busts Anarky, who tells him about the Minotaur. Meanwhile, at Savage Manor (formerly Wayne Manor), Torus leadership meets with the Minotaur, who declares that they will rule Gotham with an iron fist within twenty months (and the entire world within twenty years). Hoping to end the civil war with a show of brutal force, the Minotaur executes abducted family members of each Torus boss. (Penguin’s family member is a penguin named Lola—a nod to his girlfriend Lola Lasagne from Batman ’66.) Soon after, Bruce wraps a small cube of Titanographene as a gift and picks up Dr. Zeller for their date. As they drive through Little Tokyo, dozens of motorbike ninja assassins (from the Tozuki Mob) follow, hoping to collect on a bounty that’s been placed on Dr. Zeller’s head. After fending off the ninjas and crashing the car, Bruce takes Dr. Zeller into an alley only to run into another assassin, The Ōjō. Bruce tosses Dr. Zeller into a dumpster and begins fighting the Ōjō. When more Tozuki biker ninjas arrive, the Ōjō becomes preoccupied with them, allowing Bruce and Dr. Zeller to make an temporary escape. However, the Ōjō catches up with the atop a building. Showing more than usual bravado and capability in his civilian identity, Bruce threatens the Ōjō and squares-up for round two. Robin (Damian) interrupts, chasing the attacker away. Unfortunately, Dr. Zeller hears Robin refer to Bruce as “father.” Somehow, Dr. Zeller comes away from this thinking that Bruce and Batman are still two different people (i.e. that Bruce merely works with Batman, having allowed his son to work with the Bat-Family). Later, at Pennyworth Manor, Bruce, while hallucinating Alfred, angrily chews out Damian. Meanwhile, Dantai Tozuki receives a phone call from his partner Professor Hugo Strange, who prepares a bunch of new Monster Men for battle. Across town, Dean and Gray show their video to Bullock, who tells them that Officer Lannie Davis has been murdered at the hospital. At a Tozuki industrial plant, Batman fights the dual threat of Monster Men and Tactical Urban Combat Officers (TUCOs). Later, at Pennyworth Manor, Tim tells Bruce that he’s not only stepping down from his Robin role, but he’s also going to go on indefinite hiatus from crimefighting. He just needs a break and wants to focus on other things. Damian overhears and calls Tim a quitter. (Damian’s acceptance letter for Gotham University is in the trash, implying that Damian might not be going to college after all.) At Arkham Towers, Dr. Zeller chats with “Patient Ten”—a balding corpse-like Joker (!) submerged in a liquid experimentation vat. As Joker “talks” (via cranial implant) about having spoken to a mystery “best friend” (orderly Josiah Jones, who is loyal to him), Dr. Zeller places the Crown of Storms on his head.
–REFERENCE: In Batgirl Vol. 6 #17. Having finally completed her adventuring abroad, Cassie is invited to a homecoming party by the Bat-Family. (Obviously, like the rest of the planet, Cassie must have gotten wrapped up in the chaos of DC KO, but this is the first time she’s been back in Gotham proper since having undertaken her solo trip.) We are told “the whole gang” is present at the shindig, but only Bruce, Damian, Dick, Stephanie are definitively named. (There’s also an editorial note that points to the party as occurring during Batman Vol. 4 #7, but this must be an error since there’s no party or Bat-Family shown in that issue. Nevertheless, we can presumably use this to place this item in close proximity to that issue.) Cassie runs into trouble with her mother’s evil cousin Wu Lin (and his Blood clan), causing her to miss her own party.
–Batman Vol. 4 #7
Via Arkham Towers orderly Josiah Jones, Joker sends word to Officer Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock that he wants to speak to Batman. Gordon and Bullock pass along the message, after which Batman visits Dr. Annika Zeller at Arkham. She escorts him to visit “Patient Ten” on the tenth floor in room ten, essentially a highly-secure deathtrap designed to ensure Joker doesn’t move (and that no one can touch him either). Joker says that his mind is healed and he no longer has any murderous or criminal ambition. Batman doesn’t believe him, but Joker assures him that he’s changed. Acknowledging his horrible past, Joker says that he should never (and will never) leave the float tank in room ten ever again. Joker also says he wants to be Batman’s friend. After telling Dr. Zeller (who has been monitoring from a separate room) to turn off her audio, Joker addresses Batman as Bruce, telling him that some unknown evil is targeting him. (It’s unclear whether or not Dr. Zeller was secretly listening-in, but she may have been.)
–Poison Ivy #37
In Seattle, Poison Ivy, Peter Undine, and Sprout watch over Janet Mitchell, who is suffering from a potentially fatal mucormycosis infection (contracted from overexposure to Ophiocordyceps Lamia). Despite being on the most wanted list (for having taken over leadership of the Order of the Green Knight and warred against the GCPD), Poison Ivy sneaks into Gotham City and accosts Dr. Leslie Thompkins, hoping to get her to help Janet. Of course, Leslie is under the Bat-Family’s constant protection. Thus, Poison Ivy immediately finds herself face-to-face with an angry Batman. She explains that she had no choice but to take over the Order of the Green Knight when the Green was threatened. Batman says she has lost his trust. Leslie interrupts the argument, agreeing to go with Poison Ivy to help Janet. In Seattle, Leslie examines Janet, concluding that she needs to go to hospital right away. Before any action can be taken, Wendy Richardson reveals that Janet—having made a deal with the Parliament of Trees’ Bog Venus—betrayed the Order of the Green Knight by finking on them to the cops. Janet says she can explain, but Poison Ivy goes into a rage. She sends Leslie back to Gotham and drags Janet into the Green.
–Detective Comics #1101-1103 (“THE COURAGE THAT KILLS”)
Oracle reports an adrift shipping vessel crashing into a smaller party boat in the harbor, sending Batman on the case. After saving a woman from the drink, Batman has the autopilot on the Batwing plane tow the stranded part boat to safety. Upon examining the other ship, Batman finds dozens of virus-infected corpses, some of whom clearly died very violently. With Oracle remotely guiding him, Batman finds evidence showing that the victims were likely lab experiments. In the hold, Batman finds a blister-covered child, who passes out in his arms. Batman administers electrolytes (from his utility belt med-kit) to the emaciated child. On the wall is scratched a strange message, signed by someone called “The Lion.” Batman deduces further that the victims were infected with something that damaged their amygdalae, causing them to become uninhibited prior to their deaths. Oracle warns the incoming authorities of a possible viral terrorist attack, prompting disease control to arrive for containment and clean-up. Batman assists disease control for a bit, but then departs with a body in tow. He tells them he’ll send a report of his findings back to them in a little bit. Batman then travels to Mr. Terrific’s lab in Central City, filling him in on the situation. Mr. Terrific quarantines Batman and runs tests on both the Dark Knight and the corpse. Mr. Terrific confirms that the corpse had an amygdala-impacting virus in his system. He also reveals that Batman has tested positive. Presumably, the results of the autopsy are send to Gotham’s CDC, as promised. Mr. Terrific tells Batman that he’ll become contagious in 34 hours and succumb to the virus in 46 hours. Oracle connects poker shark Louis King (who owns a herbicide company and casino in Kasnia) to the virus, prompting Bruce pay his friend Princess Caroline a visit. With paparazzi swarming around them, Bruce and Caroline check into King’s casino. There, Bruce bets with King, losing big money in a bizarre private game of blackjack that breaks all real world gambling conventions. King tells Bruce that he too lost his father in Gotham long ago. Meanwhile, in Gotham, the Lion’s hired goons (including Adrian Bates) break into Arkham Towers, kill a guard, and kidnap Scarecrow. With less than 27 hours to go until quarantine, Batman—remotely guided by Oracle—tails King to a hidden chemical plant. Oracle tells Batman that King’s entire online profile is fabricated, meaning he has no true history. At the plant, Batman finds STAR Labs paperwork. Seeing Batman has entered, King activates a partial self-destruct sequence, which destroys most of the facility, killing all his men and badly injuring the Dark Knight in the process. King then dons a mask and introduces himself as the Lion, claiming full responsibility for the virus. Batman and the Lion briefly fight, but the Caped Crusader, having suffered multiple broken bones and a concussion, is forced to flee in the Batwing plane. Aboard the auto-piloted jet, Batman slips into unconsciousness. Oracle calls Superman, who quickly finishes dealing with Intergang thieves and then immediately pulls Batman to safety. Batman then teams-up with Lois Lane, who tries to provide insight on STAR Labs connection to the Lion. Forcing scary Batman to wait in the wings, Lois interrogates a STAR Labs scientist Kathryn Lee, learning about Project Courage, an experimental behavioral-alteration program that led to the adventure-seeking deaths of three participants. Batman suspects that the virus is an offshoot of Project Courage’s experimentation. Batman and Lois then head toward the apartment of STAR Labs researcher Daniel Toomey. Along the way, Lois chastises Batman and Oracle for their invasive and unethical Bat-computer database. Upon arrival at their destination, Batman and Lois find Toomey working with Intergang. After taking down the Intergang troops, Batman and Lois question Toomey, who reveals that a private investor funded Project Courage to create the anti-fear virus known as Fortis. After discovering that Fortis is basically the reverse chemical makeup of Fear Gas, Batman radios Batgirl (Babs), who tells him that Scarecrow has been kidnapped. Lois warns Batman that the Lion is baiting him, but Batman heads out anyway.
–Detective Comics #1104-1106 (“THE COURAGE THAT KILLS” Conclusion)
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #1103, Batman tracks and shakes down Adrian Gregg, confirming that Scarecrow is being held Upstate by the Lion. With only three hours left before the virus overtakes him, Bruce makes plans for the worst. First, Batman devises three surefire ways to bring him down should he go out-of-control. He puts the anti-Batman plans on a flash drive. After phoning Selina, Bruce gives the flash drive to Superman. Then, likely with Superman’s assistance, Bruce fashions a special new armored quarantine costume. As Bruce finishes the costume, Damian brings in an expensive bottle of liquor that has been mailed to Pennyworth Manor from “L”. Worried about his dad, Damian gives him a big hug. With very little time left on the clock, Batman dons his new suit and—backed by Robin (Damian), Nightwing, and Batgirl (Babs)—charges into battle against the Lion and forty henchmen. As Batman trades punches with the Lion, he recognizes his fighting techniques as having similarity to Wildcat and Black Canary’s style. After the bad guys run away, the Bat-Family assist a freed Scarecrow, who tells them that the Lion’s real name is Leo Kingsford. The Lion was once Jonathan Crane’s apprentice, but the Lion has a deeper connection to Batman too. With Oracle jogging his memory, Batman recalls having busted Leo’s dad long ago, causing Leo to hate Batman forever more. However, Batman also recalls having a positive relationship with the young Leo as Bruce. (Ironically, Leo loved Bruce, but hated Batman.) When the Lion’s virus begins spreading throughout Gotham, Batgirl (Babs) deals with crowd control. Meanwhile, Batman gets more intel about the Lion from Black Canary, who reveals that he trained with her and Wildcat years ago. Afterward, at Gotham Infectious Diseases Center, Batman checks-in on the child he saved from the ship, who is now in quarantine with Mr. Terrific. Batman also meets Mr. Terrific’s antivirus response team, which includes Scarecrow, Steel (Natasha Irons), the Atom (Ray Palmer), Dr. Mid-Mite (Beth Chapel), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Shay Veritas, Will Magnus, and Lana Lang. Batman agrees to be a guinea pig for a potentially dangerous test treatment. When infected people try to break into Pennyworth Manor, Batman takes them down. Meanwhile, Robin (Damian) travels to the Gotham Water Treatment Center, worried that the Lion might spread more of his virus there. But the Water Treatment Center is a trap—Robin (Damian) gets caught in an explosion. Outside of Pennyworth Manor, the Lion mocks Batman, telling him that he unleashed his virus days ago, and it has now fully permeated the entire city. Rather than succumb to the virus, Batman doses himself with Fear Gas and kicks the Lion’s ass. After making sure Batgirl (Babs) and Robin (Damian) are okay, Batman tells Mr. Terrific to release Fear Gas over the city, which he does via a fleet of crop dusters. Batman then hacks into the screens in Gotham’s main square (presumably using the classic Human Kinematic Program), after which he delivers a speech to the masses, who are in the middle of a battle royale with Commissioner Vandal Savage’s police. Batman convinces everyone to calm down, but he is unable to force an antidote out of the stubborn Lion. Batman realizes that the bottle of liquor from “L” (which was sent to Pennyworth Manor earlier) contains the antidote. Twenty-four hours later, everyone in the city is cured. Bruce pays the Lion an empathetic visit at Arkham Towers.
–REFERENCE: In Nightwing Vol. 4 #130. Damian misses Dick. He begins pestering Bruce, asking him when Dick is going to visit Gotham City again.
CIRQUE DU SIN
————————–Nightwing Vol. 4 #130
————————–Nightwing Vol. 4 #135
Bernard Bisogni (a corrupt former ally of Blockbuster) is elected the new mayor of Blüdhaven, defeating Nightwing’s half-sister, Melinda Grayson-Lin, in a special election. After threatening Mayor Bisogni, Nightwing targets Olivia Pearce (the former teen villain Colombina, who used to be known as as Olivia Hillman). (Olivia is actually undead, having been reanimated by the evil supernatural force called the Zanni, to which she is connected.) Olivia’s company Spheric Solutions has taken over all of Blüdhaven’s private defense contracts, creating out-of-control super soldiers pumped full of a hybrid of Venom and Man-Bat Serum. As Nightwing fights the super soldiers (aka the Clean-Cut Crew) along with some Spheric Solutions Wanderer Robots, he is aided by Nightwing-Prime (Kryptonian mythology-inspired teen Bryce Moran, who has been granted 5th Dimensional powers by Nite-Mite). With the situation looking intense, the monitoring Justice League Unlimited—Batman, Superman (Clark), Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter—arrive to check-in on Nightwing. Nightwing says that he can handle it on his own, so the JLU members kindly stand down. Before departing, Martian Manhunter thinks he sees something in the sky, but shakes it off. Before also leaving, Batman has a brief heart-to-heart with Nightwing, who says to tell Damian he’ll visit Gotham soon. (Presumably, Batman relays the message.) Later, Nightwing catches up with Nightwing-Prime at the gravesite of his brother, who was killed by cops about a month ago. Nightwing cheers up Nightwing-Prime by returning to him his pet rabbit named Night-Hare. After considering nullifying Nightwing-Prime’s powers with a cocktail made by Nite-Mite, Nightwing decides that the rookie hero can stay, so long as he trains directly under his tutelage. Just as Martian Manhunter did before, Nightwing-Prime senses something wicked on the periphery. (Both Martian Manhunter and Nightwing-Prime are sensing the lurking Zanni.) On the outskirts of Blüdhaven, the Zanni kidnaps some children (including a girl named Lindsey) taking them into his otherworldly circus lair. Two little kids in particular (Johnny and his sister) fend off the ever-encroaching lure of the Zanni, holding onto their belief that Nightwing will protect them. Eventually, Nightwing travels into the realm of the Zanni to rescue the kids from the Zanni and Olivia. The Zanni causes massive destruction to Blüdhaven (which the city’s residents misattribute to a massive earthquake). After Nightwing rescues the kids, Nightwing-Prime helps him defeat the Zanni. Nightwing-Prime decides to stay in the Zanni’s realm forever more in order to keep the Zanni and Olivia permanently at bay. Nightwing, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Batgirl (Babs), the Teddy Gang, and the Flyboiz gang help with a massive clean-up and rescue mission in the decimated sections of Blüdhaven. After debriefing with Martian Manhunter and Batgirl (Babs), Nightwing visits Claire (the young daughter of Commissioner Maggie Sawyer’s girlfriend Katie). After making sure Claire is okay, Nightwing re-homes Night-Hare with her.
–REFERENCE: In Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #27. Sacred Heart Medical Center’s big fundraiser event is coming up fast. (We are told it’s a Valentine’s Day thing, but there’s absolutely no way we are anywhere near February, so this annoying bit of topicality must unfortunately be ignored.) Bruce asks Clark and Jon if they’d like to be involved. The Kents happily agree. Clark agrees to write a Daily Planet piece about Sacred Heart as well.
–Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #25-27 (“THE QUIET MAN”)
The Tiger Shark versus Penguin mob war, which has now gone on for many months, hits a boiling point. Batman (in his new costume) and Robin (Damian, also debuting a new costume) intervene, busting Tiger Shark. Afterward, Batman tells Robin how proud he is of him as a crimefighter and a son. Later, Bruce and Damian decide to catch a movie at the Monarch Theater. Bruce and Damian see a screening of a film called The Night Watches. Across town, Penguin celebrates his victory in the mob war, giving all of Tiger Shark’s former territory to his new underboss Paulie Poole. A recently paroled assassin called the Quiet Man (Cy Mercer) interrupts the festivities by gunning his way into the Iceberg Lounge, killing several of Penguin’s men (and putting silver coins on the eyes of the deceased) and setting the casino on fire. The next day, Batman and Robin (Damian) examine the charred remains of the Iceberg Lounge while interrogating Penguin and his men. Penguin gives them an earful but refuses to say who was responsible for the attack. Batman secretly bugs the ruined Iceberg Lounge and takes the silver coins. Later, while Damian trains in the Batcave, Batman studies and researches the silver coins, learning they are expensive treasure pieces. From his bug, Batman learns that Penguin wants to meet with Two-Face to discuss the attacker. Unsure exactly where the meet will go down, Robin (Damian) goes to the Asher Estate while Batman goes to the old courthouse. At the Asher place, Robin (Damian) finds and hangs out with the Gotham Irregulars. When Penguin and Two-Face show up, so does the Quiet Man, who begins shooting everyone in sight. Batman arrives as well, quickly realizing that the Quiet Man is the father of a boy who was supposedly killed by the Ventriloquist many years ago. A wild bullet-fueled battle-royale ensues, involving all parties (and Riddler’s old giant typewriter, which happens to be stored at the Asher Estate). Before fleeing, the Quiet Man pauses to save Damian’s life. Batman calls Simone Blair to warn her that the Arnold Wesker may be in danger. (Spoiler: Simone has been killed by a relapsed Wesker, who is using her body as his new macabre puppet.) Later, Bruce and Damian put the Quiet Man case on hold in order to focus on the upcoming Sacred Heart Medical Center fundraiser. (Again, ignore the Valentine’s Day specificity.) Joining the Waynes at Pennyworth Manor are the Kents—Clark and Jon. While Jon and Damian excitedly catch up, Bruce tells Clark he’d like him to write a story for the Daily Planet (presumably about the Quiet Man case). In costume, Superman (Jon) and Robin (Damian) have burritos with the Gotham Irregulars in Robinson Park. Meanwhile, Bruce asks Clark for advice on how best to raise Damian. After a heart-to-heart, Bruce and Clark suit up and head into town to watch their sons act as big brothers to the Gotham Irregulars. Superman (Clark) tells Batman he’s the best possible dad for Damian. At the other end of the city, Two-Face, Penguin, Paulie Poole, and another henchman accost the Ventriloquist at his apartment. They tie the Ventriloquist to a chair before departing.
–Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #28-30 (“THE QUIET MAN” Conclusion)
Picking up directly from Batman and Robin Vol. 3 #27, Penguin gives in and tells the Quiet Man (Cy Mercer) the address of the Ventriloquist. Meanwhile, Batman finds a connection between the Quiet Man and a Greek Orthodox Church in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Robin and the Gotham Irregulars discover and break into the Quiet Man’s hotel room, finding only odd handwritten letters written from the Quiet Man to his deceased son Alvin. Batman shakes down Two-Face, who spills the beans about the warehouse massacre that sent the Quiet Man to jail all those years ago. (The Quiet Man was a mafia driver, who was trying to sell $50 million worth of silver to Carmine Falcone, but Two-Face, Penguin, and the Ventriloquist—with Scarface—all interrupted the sale. This led to multiple deaths, including the Quiet Man’s own son. A Falcone hood named Michael Brazzi disappeared with the silver, never to be seen again.) Upon learning that the Quiet Man knows where the Ventriloquist lives, Batman and Robin rush to the address. Just as the Quiet Man enters, Paulie Poole blows up the building with an RPG. The Dynamic Duo find Simone Blair’s corpse, finding that she’s been dead for a while. The heroes also pull an unconscious Quiet Man out of the rubble. The Ventriloquist runs off, hallucinating that Simone is still with him. Later, the Ventriloquist (now with Scarface again) shoots up Penguin’s crew at Tiger Shark’s old HQ. Paulie Poole is killed. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin, having pieced everything together and re-examined the playing field, interrogate the Quiet Man in Blackgate Penitentiary. Afterward, Batman and Robin argue about the Quiet Man, with Robin claiming that their vigilantism, aside from murder, is not very different than his. At the Sacred Heart Medical Center fundraiser (again, ignore the Valentine’s Day specificity), Batman and Robin scope the scene from above. With Bruce and Damian no-shows, Marla reluctantly appoints Penguin as the new keynote speaker. The usually well-spoken Penguin delivers rather inarticulate oration, complete with a glaring malapropism. (Blame speech writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson.) Concurrently, the Ventriloquist (with Scarface) and the Quiet Man (having escaped from jail) arrive at the fundraiser. (Again, sadly, ignore the bogus topical Valentine’s Day specificity.) Just as the Ventriloquist and Scarface’s men begin their attack, Batman and Robin cut out all the lights and systematically take them all down. Robin convinces the Quiet Man to let the Ventriloquist live, but the Ventriloquist (and Scarface) put two bullets into the Quiet Man for his trouble. Robin saves the Quiet Man’s life. Despite his injuries, the Quiet Man escapes a medical transport and goes on the lam. Later, Robin realizes the truth behind the twenty-year-plus cold case disappearance of Michael Brazzi and Alvin Mercer. Batman, Robin, and the Gotham Irregulars go to their last known location at the Trigate Bridge. Batman and Robin do a deep dive into the waters below, finding their remains at the bottom (along with the truck and its missing silver). As it turns out, the truck simply accidentally crashed off the bridge the very same night it drove away. Bruce donates the silver to Sacred Heart, allowing the institution to fund a new pediatrics center. With their mission complete, Robin writes about their experience in his journal. Afterward, Bruce and Damian do volunteer work at Sacred Heart. With their father/son bond stronger than ever, Batman and Robin happily patrol the streets of Gotham.
–Green Lantern Vol. 7 #30 (Green Lantern #597)
In Gotham, Batman busts some would-be muggers, after which he is visited by Hal Jordan, who has been suffering intense fainting spells and hallucinations ever since recently being exposed to the cosmic Book of Oa. In the Batcave, Batman uses the Bat-Scanner to run a medical examination on Hal, finding traces of tachyon particles in his system. Afterward, Hal rides in the Batmobile for the first time ever, accompanying (and annoying) the Dark Knight as he busts bad guys at Timms Wharf. When a metahuman child named Samuel begins accidentally creating mentally-projected constructs of a Joker robot, Killer Croc, Scarecrow and others, Hal helps Batman deal with the situation. Hal then teaches Samuel to control his powers, after which Hal, Batman, and Samuel ride a Green Lantern ring-created rollercoaster for fun. Batman promises to send some folks from a Wayne Enterprises-owned hospital to check on Samuel. Later, Batman commends Hal for a job well done. The Caped Crusader tells Hal that, despite having never really liked him, he’s always respected him. Batman leaves Hal with a word of advice, telling him to willingly accept whatever messages the Book of Oa is trying to send him. Hal leaves Gotham to meet with Barry Allen. Presumably, as promised, Bruce helps out Samuel.
—[11]
–DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool #1
While tracking a reality-altering device called the Cosmic Keyboard (which was once used by a mysterious super-villain known as The Writer), Amanda Waller and her Checkmate agents shake down Sportsmaster II (Victor Gover), who was, years ago, present during a fateful Suicide Squad mission that saw the Writer get killed. In Greece, Checkmate agents bear down upon Gover, which results in the accidental shooting death of his fiancée. When Batman hears about this, he checks-in with Gover before heading—along with Robin (Damian)—to Greece. At the ruins of Circe’s fortress on the isle of Aeaea, Batman finds the long dead corpse of the Writer, dead Checkmate soldiers, dead Bestiamorphs (aka Beastiamorphs), and, curiously, a Batarang that is not his own. (Unknown to the Dynamic Duo, they’ve been zapped to Earth-7642 by an as-of-yet-to-be-revealed force. The Batarang belongs to the Earth-7642 Batman.) All of a sudden, Earth-616’s Cassandra Nova (an evil telepathic mutant that also seeks the Cosmic Keyboard) uses her powers to thrust Batman into a psychological fantasy world that resembles a super-villain’s underground bunker (but also a Floridian hotel). (Cassandra had already taken down Earth-7642 Batman.) Teaming up with Earth-616’s Deadpool, who had also been seeking the Cosmic Keyboard only to get ambushed by Cassandra, Batman trudges onward, finding bizarre clues about “keys” as he goes. (This is Batman’s second meeting with Deadpool, so any contradictory seeming dialogue must be read with that context in mind. For example, Batman egging-on Deadpool about possibly being an alternate Deathstroke is simply the Caped Crusader egging him on. Same thing about Batman ostensibly noticing Deadpool’s healing factor for the first time—Batman already knows about the healing factor; he’s merely addressing Deadpool’s high tolerance for pain.) Realizing that they are trapped in a telepathic fantasy world, Batman allows himself to be “killed” by cartoon ninjas. This shock to the system reveals Cassandra’s existence, but Batman and Deadpool remain trapped in her telepathic grip. Inside the mind-prison, Deadpool dunks Batman into a Lazarus Pit, which turns him into Dark Claw (from the old Amalgam Universe).[12] As Deadpool calms the raging Dark Claw atop a giant typewriter, Robin (Damian) takes out Cassandra, thus freeing Dark Claw (now Batman again) and Deadpool from her control. Batman and Deadpool are then confronted by the Earth-9 Writer, who wields the Cosmic Keyboard to write the very narrative that is presently occurring! (The Writer of Earth-9 looks a lot like Grant Morrison, but—in their Substack annotations—Morrison says that it’s not literally meant to be them. Specifically, this Writer is none other than the one that appeared in HBO Max’s live-action Titans series, who was coincidentally played by Morrison.) Cassandra tries to wrest control of the Cosmic Keyboard from Morrison, but they are able to overpower her. The Earth-9 Writer temporarily mashes-up Batman and Deadpool into “Deadbat,” who chops off Cassandra’s head. (Don’t worry, Cassandra, despite being decapitated, is able to stay alive due to her vast powers.) Deadpool then says goodbye and, with Cassandra’s head in tow, heads back to Earth-616. Robin (Damian) addresses his father by saying “father,” to which both Batman and the Earth-9 Writer respond simultaneously. Amazing. The Earth-9 Writer says that it’s impossible to rewrite canon, but Batman asks for a happy ending for this tale. Somewhere in the basking glow of abstract hyper-entity Anthropomorpho, Universe-0’s Kismet and Universe-616’s Eternity share an awkward post-coital moment. (They only get to see each other during these crossovers, after all.) Next to their bed, we can see the armor of the cosmic siblings from the “DC vs Marvel” arc. The Dynamic Duo leave Earth-7642 and return to Earth-0 to find that the Earth-9 Writer has brought Gover’s fiancée back to life. In Gotham, Batman reunites an overjoyed Gover with his fiancée, wishing them both happy holidays as fireworks light up the night sky. (Since this issue was released in November and has a January cover date, Morrison—as stated on their Substack annotations—went with a generic “holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas” feel. However, for the purposes of our timeline, it can be whatever holiday makes the most sense calendar-wise.)
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- [1]COLLIN COLSHER: Taste of Justice is a fun cooking-themed online only (webcomic) series that began publication in 2025 (exclusively on the DC Universe Infinite service). Each issue features a standalone story set in a random era. Some issues don’t ostensibly violate any canon, while others definitely do. For that reason, it’s safe to say that the entire series is likely non-canon.↩
- [2]COLLIN COLSHER: DC x Sonic the Hedgehog #1-5 (2025) is incredibly hard to place error free. If you do a Google search or go on Reddit, there is much heated debate as to whether this series is canon—either in regard to Sonic’s IDW Earth, DC’s Earth-0, or both. After much internal debate of my own, ultimately, I went in the direction of non-canon, at least in regard to our DC Earth-0 timeline. Here are the facts. First, Batman’s costume has a simple black chest insignia but no trunks—seemingly giving pre-Year 15 i.e. New 52 era just prior to “Superheavy.” Mr. Terrific is called a “Justice League coordinator,” which feels very JLU current. Beast Boy is said to be a member of the Teen Titans—and the last time he was a Teen Titan was around Year 16 or 17. Both the orbital Watchtower and Hall of Justice are operational, giving before Year 14 or after Year 17. John Stewart is a main player in the JL, which hints at post-Year 17. I’m not sure Cyborg’s costume (is it New 52-ish or not?) can be reconciled with much of the aforementioned facts. The whole vibe of the series, in general, feels pre-Dark Crisis (i.e. prior to or in Year 21). The version of Darkseid that appears seems to give pre-Year Fourteen, again New 52 era. We also have a unique heavyset design for Lex Luthor. The DC Fandom Wikia is also more than convinced we are fully in non-canon territory. Suffice to say, it’s just never going to fit. Sorry, Sonic fans!↩
- [3]COLLIN COLSHER: The Watchtower Trophy Room has long been filled with items that have nothing to do with Batman’s past or his personal history with the Justice League. Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #3 and Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League #6 show us a lot of items we’ve seen before, but they also show a lot we haven’t seen before, including: the Chronicle of Ibn-Shahid, the Eye of Yrek, a summoning idol for Urzkartaga, Beowulf’s helmet, a golden helmet with horns (possibly Stalker’s helm from JSA Returns: All-Star Comics), the Mobius Chair, a golden power gauntlet, a golden sword (possible the All-Blade or Sun Sword), a circular golden shield, a random staff weapon, a random android body shell, a large sci-fi machine, a random costume consisting of a robe and hat, a golden tiara/helmet, several ancient books, two scrolls, a bronze helmet with a rhino horn, a golden helmet with a hole in its face, a medieval knight’s helmet, chests of gold and jewels, and various pieces of jewelry.↩
- [4]COLLIN COLSHER: As we’ll see in the upcoming DC KO: The Kids are All Fight #1, there are some trophies that will be left behind in the Justice League Unlimited’s trophy room. Among them include, Dr. Alchemy’s hood, Eclipso’s hood, a high-tech rifle, a large axe, a long hooded robe, Paradise Lost’s upper body, Orion’s astro-harness, at least one mini-Starro, and at least one item (to unclear to make out). There could be more items that didn’t get stolen as well.↩
- [5]COLLIN COLSHER: Through the walls of Hypertime, we can see Immortal Legend Batman, Earth-11’s Justice Guild (Batwoman, Wonder Woman, and Wonder Man aka Wondrous Man), Earth-12 Batman (DCAU Bruce Wayne), Earth-12 Flash (Danica Williams), Earth-19 Batman, Earth-27’s Batsaur, Earth-30’s Soviet Superman, Earth-37 Robin (Thrillkiller Robin), Earth-38’s Knight-Wing, and Earth-43 Batman.↩
- [6]COLLIN COLSHER: Despite a definitive costume switch for Batman (to the Matt Fraction/Jorge Jiménez redesign that is blue and has a very specific pointed Bat-symbol), the late 2025 to early 2026 era is replete with artists delivering various costume colorations and a plethora of varying Bat-symbols, some of which kinda sorta resemble the Fraction/Jiménez redesign, others which really don’t (yet are maybe supposed to). Suffice to say, Batman has now, moving forward, switched to his Fraction/Jiménez costume. If anything prior to this looks a bit like the Fraction/Jiménez redesign, that is an error. And, if anything ahead doesn’t look like the Fraction/Jiménez redesign, that is also an error.↩
- [7]COLLIN COLSHER: Aquaman Vol. 9 #9 occurs after Batman has switched to his new costume but prior to Justice League: The Omega Act Special #1. Also, the Batman-less follow-up Aquaman Vol. 9 #10, which occurs at an unspecified time after Aquaman Vol. 9 #10, is specifically a Halloween issue, so keep that in mind as you delicately place items on the calendar.↩
- [8]COLLIN COLSHER: As before, creators Jeremy Adams and John Timms (in Aquaman Vol. 9 #9-11) show Andy looking to be around one-to-two-years-old at the most—when she actually should now be around five-years-old by now. Clearly, there’s a lot of strangeness going on with the narrative here, but it would seem that Adams and Timms really don’t want Andy to age. Maybe half-Xebelians age slower in contemporary canon?↩
- [9]COLLIN COLSHER: DC KO #1 was actually first published in limited release as DC KO Ashcan LCSD 2025 Special Edition #1 for Local Comic Shop Day 2025.↩
- [10]COLLIN COLSHER: In Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson’s DC KO #5, Superman seemingly reboots the universe/multiverse and we also see Barry Allen’s completed “New History of the DC Universe,” which—as established in Mark Waid and Dave Wielgosz’s real-world New History of the DC Universe—was finished by Barry right around the same time of the conclusion of DC KO‘s King Omega tournament. (The end of New History of the DC Universe shows Barry’s final entry in his “New History” as a reference to the recently-occurring events of DC KO #5.) Logically, Barry must have spent a good deal of time researching and carefully drafting such an extensive historical account. However, since he is the Flash, it’s also plausible that he could have researched and written the entire work at super-speed—potentially in the hours immediately following Superman’s apparent reboot at the end of DC KO #5. The reason this matters is that, when considered alongside Superman’s multiversal reset, many of the oddities and apparent discontinuities in New History of the DC Universe no longer necessarily look like mistakes. Instead, they could be interpreted as the natural byproduct of a freshly rebooted continuity. From that perspective, one could reasonably view DC KO #5 as a full line-wide reboot by DC, establishing a new continuity going forward, with New History of the DC Universe serving as the backbone of this novel timeline. I’m not claiming that this interpretation is correct—only that it’s plausible. If it were the case, then the inconsistencies in New History of the DC Universe wouldn’t truly be errors at all. Waid and Wielgosz would effectively have been working from a clean slate, which would mean that much of the work I’ve done reconciling the book with contradictory pre-existing canon would ultimately be for naught. There is, however, a complicating factor: the final issue of New History of the DC Universe was released in October 2025 (cover-dated December 2025), five months before DC KO #5, which came out in March 2026 (cover-dated May 2026). While the former series arguably functions more smoothly (i.e. with fewer contradictions) if it’s read as the foundational chronicle of a newly rebooted timeline after DC KO, it would be somewhat strange for DC to publish that history so much earlier before the supposed reboot. On the other hand, if the series is meant to chronicle the Rebirth/Infinite Frontier era, it’s arguably just as unusual to release a series with the word “New” in its title so deep into that same era. Ultimately, I regard the curious connection between New History of the DC Universe and DC KO only as a cute nod from one set of authors to another. There is some evidence that DC KO, taken together with New History of the DC Universe, could be read as implying a full reboot, but there’s enough speculation involved that nothing is for certain. More importantly, it’s likely that Barry had been researching and writing his history for quite some time before the events of DC KO #5, rather than composing it at Flash-speed during that issue’s epilogue. If that’s the case, the historical framework reflected in his chronicle would already have been established prior to Superman’s multiversal reset. Additionally, in interviews leading up to DC KO, Snyder even seemed to poke fun at the very concept of reboots. For these reasons, I’ve chosen not to interpret DC KO #5 as a full continuity reboot. Still, it’s interesting food for thought.↩
- [11]COLLIN COLSHER: Kid Flash: Going Rogue is a graphic novel with a 2025 date attached to it (released in February 2026). Batman appears, but this item—aimed at young adult readers—is non-canon.↩
- [12]COLLIN COLSHER: In Cassandra Nova’s hallucinatory Lazarus Pit room, there are pictures of the following on the wall: Death of the Endless, Black Racer, Black Flash, Azrael (The Angel of Death), Hela (the Norse Goddess of Death in Universe-616), Lady Death (the Grim Reaper in Universe-616).↩
