Warning! Spoilers ahead for Batman #110!
In Batman #110, the Batsuit’s biggest weakness is revealed to be designed that way on purpose. Every time a new Batsuit comes into play, fans always debate its ups and downs. Some flaws are clear and need fixing as they are oversights on the suitmaker’s behalf. Whereas, some are on purpose in order to give Batman advantages in other areas. Over the course of time, Batman has had many different iterations of the Batsuit. This is mainly because different people make the films or write the comic books and come up with new ideas.
In Batman's latest adventure, he has an eighteen-minute long fight with Peacekeeper-01, his newest enemy. He is enormously powerful, thanks to the enhanced armor gifted to him by the nefarious Simon Saint. After their prolonged battle, Batman barely makes it out alive. Peacekeeper-01 is decked out in battle gear that can withstand most of Batman’s attacks. Additionally, Peacekeeper-01 isn’t fighting to arrest Batman. He has much more permanent intentions in mind. Peacekeeper-01 holds nothing back when it comes to delivering brutal blows to Batman.
In Batman #110 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey, Batman gets in a great shot on Peacekeeper-01. Batman aims for his neck which he sees is exposed, despite being fully armored up. Batman follows up on his blow with some friendly advice to get better neck support, which is hilarious in more than one way. It’s clear that the villain’s armor was crafted by Saint to be damage-resistant and almost indestructible. The fact that there is only one identified weakness is a testament to the durability of the suit. But his suit’s weakness being specifically about his neck area is no mistake. Batman has a strangely long cinematic history with bad neck support.
In Tim Burton’s Batman films, Batman famously can’t turn his neck. This is thanks to the way that his cowl is designed. The answer to why Batman would want his suit to have restrictive neck movement remains a guessing game. It’s possible that his costume was made that way as it’s safer than having a break in the suit’s material. This was an outright referenced in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. It happens as Bruce Wayne discusses the new Batsuit he wants Lucius Fox to make for him. Lucius states “want to be able to turn your neck?” It’s clearly taking a jab at Michael Keaton’s Batsuit, but it's beyond just a reference it’s a very important point to bring up. As Lucius explains that Batman will have to choose between agility and damage resistance, as both can’t be perfect.
Clearly, Simon Saint’s Peacekeeper-01 costume chooses the latter, due to his want for his future Peacekeeper army to be invincible. It’s obvious that Mahoney is just the first stage in Saint’s plans for Gotham. In Future State, the Peacekeepers are seen as robot-like police officers. In reality, because Saint is smart, he should take on Batman’s advice for future Peacekeeper suits. However, knowing his ignorance, he will likely opt for power over agility, always. But for DC fans, Batman’s brutal blow is a funny jab at past Batsuits with similar flaws. Batman #110 is available in comic book stores and on digital platforms now.