Warning! Spoilers for Batman #132 ahead!
His new arc has placed him a long way from any of the Robins, but in their place, Batman gets a brand-new partner: Jewel. At the conclusion of the recent "Failsafe" arc, the title villain eliminates Batman with one last fatal blast, but rather than killing him, the bast shoots Batman into an alternate reality. In this universe, Alfred is still alive, Bruce Wayne is dead, and an Orwellian Gotham City is overrun by militarized police officers juiced with Venom who will send the average citizen to Arkham at the drop of a hat. Now a fish out of water, the displaced Bruce Wayne has few allies he can turn to, besides one pedestrian who he meets on his new journey. Her name is Julie, but she goes by the name Jewel.
Two issues into Jewel's debut thus far, very little is known about Batman's latest sidekick yet. What readers do know so far, though, is that her mother died of cancer and her father was sent to Arkham Asylum when his grief was determined to be a case of mental illness. Since then, she's taken to housing people suffering in Gotham City so that they don't wind up like her dad. While she doubts Bruce's admissions that he's from another universe, she still helps him because more than anything in her eyes, Bruce seems like someone in need of help.
Jewel Combines All Of The Robins' Best Qualities
Perhaps what's most interesting about Jewel is that there are several comparisons made between her and the Robins from Bruce's universe throughout Batman #132 by Chip Zdarsky, Miguel Mendonça, and Mike Hawthorne. Bruce monologues to himself that Jewel has Jason Todd's same "weight of being," as well as an inherent "belief in good" that reminds him of Dick Grayson. Even the ghost of Jim Gordon haunting Batman in his head makes such a reference, straight up telling Bruce, "Lord knows you don't need another Robin."
All of these references to Robin seem far too intentional to take lightly. All things considered, it feels like Jewel is being presented as - or at least was crafted as - an amalgamation of all of Bruce's different sidekicks who have taken up the Robin mantle. She certainly has qualities of Red Hood and Nightwing grafted into her persona and in due time, perhaps she'll showcase qualities of Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne as well.
This isn't necessarily saying she's on course to become a new Robin, let alone a member of the Bat-Family, though she does make a joke about following Bruce back to his universe, which could very well be foreshadowing for the future. But it's cool to see Batman having a sidekick who is a mix of the best qualities of his former sidekicks. It's like this alternate universe compensated for not having a Robin by having one person represent a combination of Robins. For a universe without an official Robin, Jewel provides Batman with the perfect Robin of his dreams.
Batman #132 is on sale now from DC Comics.