Being the world’s greatest detective, Batman has experienced a plethora of traumatic moments throughout his years as a superhero. One moment that is often forgotten about was the time he was kidnaped and brainwashed by an evil cult. What follows is a violent and horrific display of how all aspects of Gotham’s society were torn apart by the cult of Deacon Blackfire.
Jim Starlin’s Batman: The Cult storyline begins with the titular hero having a nightmare in which he killed the Joker in a fit of rage. However, upon waking, Batman is even more disturbed by the fact he’s been chained up in the sewers as a prisoner for an unknown amount of time. At that moment, readers are introduced to Deacon Blackfire, a malevolent cult leader who claims to be a mystical and immortal being. When attempting to remember how he found himself in this situation, Batman recalls that after being shot and wounded, he was dragged by silhouetted man into the sewers before passing out.
As Batman remains his prisoner, Blackfire explains that he means to clean up Gotham by having his cult of homeless people systematically murder those he deems problematic. As an example, Blackfire presents Batman with a former prostitute whose face was horribly scarred by her pimp and explains that he had his followers kill the man. Though at first Batman was horrified by Blackfire’s actions, the Decon drugs him and shows him a mystic totem. Hallucinating, Batman witnesses the totem’s head move and eyes glow. With his mind heavily under the influence, Batman joins the cult and follows the word of Deacon Blackfire.
The second issue of The Cult opens with Batman dreaming that he’s shooting Two-Face to death with an Uzi. This is made even more horrifying when Batman realizes that he is actually hallucinating in a room full of dead bodies with a real gun in his hand. Batman then remembers that he and the other cult members were sent by Blackfire to take out what’s left of the Mafia. Still drug-addled, Batman watches helplessly as the cult kills the rest of the mob. Once he returns to the sewers, a traumatized Batman just sits silently for hours as he suffers from drug withdrawal. Eventually, he is interrupted by a cult member known as Rat-Face who requests his assistance in achieving a mission.
In perhaps the most shocking moments in the arc, Rat-Face attempts to make Batman attack an innocent African American man who he falsely claims is a pimp. When Batman refuses to attack the man, Rat-Face charges towards the man with a large knife and stabs him to death before Batman can stop him. Rat-Face then attempts to murder an African American police officer but is instead knocked out by Batman. When the officer attempts to help Batman, the dark knight has a bad trip and knocks the policeman out. Confused and hungry, Batman then wanders off into the shadows to forage for food. Batman eventually makes his way to Gotham’s Central Park, where he then scares away a young picnicking couple and steals their food. After finally eating food that isn’t laced with drugs Batman’s mind begins to sober up. While this happens, Jason Todd, AKA Robin sneaks into the sewer in a disguise and infiltrates the cult. Finally sober and well-fed, Batman decides that he must return the sewers to confront Blackfire head-on.
Upon returning to sewers, Batman discovers that Blackfire has been living a life of luxury in his inner sanctum, while his followers live in squalor. However, Batman is immediately knocked out and chained up again. While this happens, the cult assassinated the mayor and a councilman of Gotham City. The comic cuts back to Batman being led through the sewers by armed cult members; Batman then jumps into the water and tries to swim away with his hands tied. Once the cult has left the area, Robin jumps in the water to rescue his mentor, but upon finding each other, they terrifyingly realize that they are standing in the bodies of all the people Blackfire killed.
The two eventually escape to Wayne manor where they can finally eat and recuperate from the trauma they endured. As this happens, the Cult effectively takes over the city, causing the rest of the country to quarantine Gotham. After having yet another terrifying dream, Batman is convinced he must stop Blackfire at all costs. Batman and Robin return to Gotham in a giant monster truck-like a Batmobile equipped with a tranquilizer turret and a rocket launcher. Frantically, the two fight their way towards Blackfire, as the now army-like Cult bombards them with missile launchers.
Eventually, Batman is able to make his way to an arena-like room where he can fight Blackfire once and for all. Batman is given a gun while Blackfire attacks him with a knife. However, the caped crusader throws away his weapon believing that killing the Deacon would only make him a martyr. After disarming Blackfire, Batman brutally beats him, going out of his way to make it as painful as possible. With their faith now shaken after seeing their leader beaten so badly, Blackfire’s former followers freak out and tear him apart. With Blackfire now dead, life returns to normal in Gotham. The comic ends with Batman returning to the totem, only to realize it appears to be far smaller now that he’s not on drugs. Batman then douses the totem in gasoline and sets it on fire in order to erase any trace or legacy of Deacon Blackfire. Though in the end, Batman believed that what Blackfire preached was a hoax, he wanted to make sure nothing supernatural was real.
If it hasn’t been made apparent yet, this comic is amazing. Not only does it provide readers with the possibly darkest adaptation of Batman it also displays how harmful cults and the spreading of fascist ideas could have on society. The artwork by Bernie Wrightson also makes Gotham feel like an unforgiving hell-hole that is constantly edging closer towards destruction. This story is also notable because writer Jim Starlin would later kill Jason Todd off in Batman: A Death in the Family, which makes this story represent a very brief moment in Batman’s history. Overall, this is possibly one of the greatest Batman stories of all time and deserves to remember as such.