Warning: This article contains spoilers for Batman #110!
Batman's first battle with Peacekeeper-01 may have just made comic book history. It's no secret that any foe would have to be something special in order to go up against Batman - especially in a hand-to-hand battle. The Dark Knight is one of the best hand-to-hand combatants there is, trained in everything from aikido to muay thai, meaning he's a force to be reckoned with. What's more, even at his worst, he has a supply of gadgets and combat tools that will definitely take his enemies by surprise.
But his enemies are getting used to his tricks, and tech magnate Simon Saint is investing his fortune to create super-soldiers who can beat Batman in combat. Peacekeeper-01 is a former Arkham guard named Sean Mahoney, viewed by Gotham as a hero after he survived the recent destruction of Arkham Asylum. Mahoney's strength has been enhanced with cybernetic implants, and he's been given sophisticated computer implants to help him in battle. These implants analyze Batman's fighting style, searching for tells and weaknesses, ensuring he improves as a battle goes on.
The first clash between Batman and Peacekeeper-01 is in James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez's Batman #110, and the two are pretty much evenly matched right from the start. According to Saint's analysis, Peacekeeper-01 operates at 86 percent efficiency, and the first fight runs for over 20 minutes - which Saint considers a victory in and of itself in a first go-round with Batman. Few - if any - enemies have ever lasted so long in a brawl with the Dark Knight.
In the end, Batman concludes he needs to break off his fight with Peacekeeper-01. It's difficult to say whether he simply realizes he has other priorities - rightly - or whether he actually begins to believe he will ultimately lose. Whatever his motives may be, though, Batman goes to drastic lengths to skip out on the battle, taking a risky jump out of the side of a skyscraper and gambling on Ghost-Hunter to pick him up. Peacekeeper-01 can count this as another success, because he has fought Batman to a standstill and forced him to cut and run.
And here's the remarkable thing; Simon Saint has an entire support team working to understand Batman's fighting style as well as his sophisticated computer technology, meaning the long battle provides a wealth of data. The next time Peacekeeper-01 encounters Batman, he will be even more formidable a threat to the Dark Knight. Even worse, Saint intends to create an entire army of Peacekeepers, all of whom are supported by the same adaptive technology. These Peacekeepers are clearly one enemy Batman cannot beat down with his fists.