Contains Spoilers for Detective Comics #1065!Batman’s no stranger to mysterious villains, but his newest monstrous foe might be his perfect match. Much as he’s tied to bat iconography, Gael Tenclaw is more than Bruce’s animal-themed equal. Gael is steeped in mystery and mythology, and promises a huge challenge to Bruce, and shows just how out-there this new Batman book could go.
In the most recent Detective Comics arc, Batman encounters a group of mysterious new foes, the Orgham family. The Orghams lay claim to Gotham, as offshoots of their family became the infamous Arkhams and they still hold the original land deed to the city. To this end, the Orghams first send a new villain, Gael Tenclaw, to Gotham. Gael’s ability to manifest canine teeth and eyes show that he’s some sort of werewolf, and as Gael tears a path through Gotham’s underworld, it seems certain that he’s about to collide directly with Batman.
Gael’s wolf theming and specific ties to mythology makes him a parallel to Batman. As a name, "Gael" comes from the Old Irish for "Irishman." In Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque’s Detective Comics #1062, a monstrously transformed Bruno Maroni speaks an early Irish language, Ogham, whose name is similar to the Orgham family name. Gael likely connects to the Werewolves of Ossory, a group of assembled Irish werewolf legends. Some legends describe warriors that wore wolf-skins, possibly descended from actual werewolves, and others are simply tales of "classical" werewolves. Both legends parallel Batman in some way. Bruce wears the "skin" of a bat, his cloak, and many of his ancestors have explicit bat connections, including his father, who was once the first Batman of Gotham. Both characters are also connected to animal-themed demons. Gael controls Azmer demons, which become part of their hosts and are depicted as wolves in V and Albuquerque's Detective Comics #1064, suggesting that they’re potentially a form of lycanthropy. Meanwhile, Bruce is haunted by the demonic form of the bat god, Barbatos.
Gael Tenclaw's Werewolf Identity Parallels Batman's Bat Iconography.
Gael parallels how writer Ram V is exploring Batman's own potential weaknesses. In Detective Comics, Batman is preoccupied with his own perceived minor failings, with the idea that he’s slowing down, convinced that there’s some deeper reason behind it. In fact, he might simply be having panic attacks, and he isn’t getting any younger. Gael, in contrast, is seemingly invincible, able to tear through a room of mobsters like they’re nothing. In V and Albuquerque's Detective Comics #1063, Gael laments Harvey Dent’s supposed weakness compared to his expectations. Gael projects strength and seems disappointed when others can’t measure up. He’s a toxic mirror to Bruce’s own refusal to admit weakness.
Gael also exemplifies how Ram V’s use of mythology is broadening the scope of potential Batman stories. While he’s adept at dealing with mysteries and foes from Gotham’s own internal mythology, the world outside of the United States is often a closed book to Batman, at least in modern comics. This Detective Comics run is so far teaching something to both Bruce and readers, presenting an array of mythological mysteries. There’s an almost infinite well of myths and legends for V to pull from, and in doing so, the tone of Detective Comics inherently changes. It’s still a mystery story, but its one where it feels like new mysteries could come from literally anywhere and at any time in history. Gael is simply an exemplar of that fact, as readers can glean the most out of him so far. As Detective Comics continues, and he faces a foe who’s his match in so many ways, Batman, like readers, will have to adapt and learn to face villains whose scope is far beyond what he’s ever seen before.