Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Batman #89
Ever since the City of Bane event and the death of Alfred, Batman has been more determined than ever to keep his city safe and keep himself prepared for any new threats. Using his vast wealth and resources, Bruce Wayne has been attempting to give Gotham City a vast infrastructural overhaul, building new buildings and revamping old ones... while also making his Batman arsenal better than ever.
In the lab, Lucius Fox has been serving as a temporary 'man in Batman's ear' given the death of Alfred Pennyworth, and he's using his brilliance to create several new gadgets for Batman to make use of in his crusade against Gotham's criminals. In the latest Batman #89, Batman has Lucius deploy a new kind of weapon. Taking an idea last seen in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and evolving it to a new level.
This latest arc in James Tynion IV's Batman series is aptly titled "Their Dark Designs," featuring not only the plans for the perfect crime coming to light from new villain The Designer, but also foreshadowing the final battle in the upcoming Joker War. The Designer's plans have begun with hiring of some of the deadliest assassins in the DC Universe, including Merlyn, Cheshire, Gunsmith, Mr. Teeth, and Deathstroke.
While tracking them down, Batman utilizes several new gadgets and tech courtesy of Fox, including a new wall climbing/flying vehicle called the Nightclimber, a Bat-Shot which essentially shoots Batman out of the vehicle at high speed as a human bullet, and projection technology that can turn any car into the Batmobile. But why track down his targets alone?
The tease of Wayne's new gadget shows Lucius Fox is enjoying his new job on some level, even if he can't appreciate the similarities to Batman Begins. In the film, Batman needs a distraction and means of escape, after finding himself surrounding by police. With a SWAT team bursting through the doors, Batman calls in his own backup, using a sonic device to call a massive swarm of bats to flock to the device's position, creating mass confusion and discombobulating the officers, providing the means to escape. It was a new variation on the gadget originally introduced by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in Batman #406 (1987). Using ultrasonics, Bruce is able to call a swarm of bats to his aid, either concealing his presence, or helping him take down an enemy. And in films like Batman Returns and Batman Begins, the idea was made famous for comic fans around the world. Now, in the comics, it looks like Batman has a new swarm of bats to implement. Meet... the Batspawn.
But while they look like bats, they're actually a fleet of high tech drones built by Fox. One could assume the new Batspawn drones have surveillance capabilities, allowing Batman an even greater monitoring ability than he already has. In this way, it does bring to mind the sonar tech Batman uses in The Dark Knight, albeit not as intrusive as hacking into every personal phone in the city. As Bruce's arsenal continues to grow even beyond the pockets found in Batman's famous utility belt, it is pretty fun to see new gadgets serving as remixes to ones that have been seen elsewhere in the Batman franchise and mythos. As the Batman series continues, it will be exciting to see what else Lucius Fox has cooked up for Batman to use for justice.
Batman #89 is on comic book store shelves now.