Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Batman #162
The latest chapter of DC’s “Hush 2” storyline has revealed some of Batman’s most brutal tactics ever. Thanks to the manipulations of Hush, Bruce Wayne is forced to battle his own Bat-Family who’s been turned against him, resulting in The Dark Knight relying on some incredibly underhanded moves.
While Batman refuses to cross his final line, he still shows in the new Batman #162 that he knows exactly how to end anyone in his inner circle. This includes his closest allies, Nightwing and Batgirl. Rather than relying on brute force or his various gadgets, the Caped Crusader uses something far more devastating: his family’s most personal traumas.
Hush 2 Has Forced Batman To Fight His Own Family
In Batman #162, Hush continues to force Bruce into a twisted game, pitting him against the very people he’s trained and loves the most. Having been previously manipulated into saving the Joker’s life in Hush 2’s first chapter, Batman now has to fight his own family who are struggling with this controversial decision (which Hush orchestrated for that very reason).
Obsessed with beating Hush’s game and having no time to explain himself or be stopped by his allies, Batman resorts to fighting incredibly dirty, particularly with Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl and Dick Grayson’s Nighwing, his first Robin.
Batman Tactics For Batgirl & Nightwing Are Absolutely Brutal
To subdue Batgirl, Batman injects her with a paralyzing toxin, a move that immediately calls back to the worst night of her life. It’s a dark echo of when the Joker shot her and left her paralyzed in “The Killing Joke” storyline, and Bruce knows it. He’s not trying to kill her, but to stop her cold.
At the same time, Nightwing finds himself reliving his own worst trauma. By paralyzing Batgirl, Batman has also manipulated the fight to make Dick feel as helpless as the night his parents fell to their deaths at Haly’s Circus, a trauma that has similarly defined him ever since.
At this moment, two of the DC Universe’s best, brightest, and most confident heroes are psychologically crippled by the recollection of their deepest trauma (as Batman darkly intended to gain the upper hand). It’s cold, calculated, and devastatingly effective.
If Batman were to ever go fully rogue, this is very much a means he could use to easily defeat them both permanently (not with physical strength, but by breaking them mentally).
As a means to simply evade both Nightwing and Batgirl, it feels like some pretty intense overkill. Likewise, the emotional fallout from this fight may be permanent, as Batman knows he’s crossed a line that probably won’t be forgiven so easily.
Batman #162 is now on sale from DC Comics.
- Created By
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Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- Alias
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Bruce Wayne
- Alliance
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Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family
- Race
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Human
- Franchise
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D.C.