In the Marvel Universe, street-level vigilantes don’t have to look around much to find an example of what it looks like if they go too far. Spider-Man, Daredevil, even Captain America all can look to one man to see what it looks like if they too often let their personal dedication to not killing become too loose. That man is, of course, the Punisher, the vigilante who’s never met a problem a gun couldn’t fix.
Batman, however, has no such figure in his life. There’s no hero, villain, or anti-hero that points out the danger of a path perhaps one day to be taken. But there should be. And the character to do it has been in comics since the 1990s.
For Batman, the problem is how much space he metaphorically takes up. Almost no one in Gotham who puts on a cape or slaps on a domino mask isn’t in the Caped Crusader’s orbit. They all work for him, worked for him, want to work for him or act out as a sign they don’t need to work for him. As a result, they all feel like proteges.
Jason Todd isn’t a word of warning about going too far; he’s a reminder of Batman’s imperfections. Pre-New 52 era Huntress comes closer, but again, the power imbalance is too strong towards Batman. She answers to the Dark Knight, even if she rejects his guidance. Azrael is a loose cannon who nonetheless comes when called. A character like Punisher isn’t trying to get Spider-Man’s approval. He’s not a protégé of Daredevil. He’s an equal, and that’s why his blood-soaked acts as a warning.
A little-used villain, originally created for Batman: The Animated Series, could be the kind of equal footing character to give Batman pause. Lock-Up is right for the part of the living example, the man who went too far in search of justice and lost himself along the way. All DC needs to do now is push him front and center.
Lyle Bolton always had an interest in law enforcement. That’s why he signed up for Gotham’s Police Academy the moment he could. Unfortunately, the Academy didn’t find his zealous commitment to punishing criminals as impressive as Bolton thought they would. Instead, they quickly bounced him from the program for being mentally unfit to serve as a police officer.
Bolton, however, would not be deterred. Physically strong and unendingly driven, he began to hone his existing skills. In order to understand how best to capture others, he studied how to get out of anywhere and anything, becoming an escape artist along the way. Understanding the importance of a uniform for cops and prison guards but seeing the value in Batman’s costume, Lock-Up created an outfit that reflected both influences.
Finally, he was ready. He had a prison ready for his inmates that had been made escape-proof, a “uniform,” specialized weapons he had experience, know-how, and strength to wield, and an unshakeable conviction that he was doing what was necessary. The parallels are hardly subtle.
As with Punisher, Lock-Up and Batman don’t need to be fighting every issue for the anti-hero’s presence to be effective. In fact, in some ways, it’s better if Lock-Up is a sort of inevitable presence. Whenever Batman pursues a villain, the idea that Lock-Up might get to them first should be on the Caped Crusader’s mind. If Gunhawk hasn’t been heard or seen in six months and he’s not in any registered jail, it should make Batman wonder if the villain has given up on crime, is planning a big next move, or getting snagged by Lock-Up.
Then the times they do encounter each other, their meetings will be charged by their similarities and differences. Batman won’t just be fighting Lock-Up to try and stop him. The Dark Knight won’t just be fighting the anti-hero to save the villains under his “care.” No, he’ll be battling for his own interpretation of justice, too. Every fight will mean more because Batman will be trying to convince his allies, Lock-Up, and perhaps even himself that it doesn’t matter what kind of results Bolton gets. He goes too far, and there’s no justice there.
Making Lock-Up into a full-blown phenomenon seems ill-advised. After all, the last thing anyone needs is police cruisers with Punisher AND Lock-up logos on their back windshields. However, DC might do well to move Bolton from a pure villain to a complex figure like Frank Castle.
Part of the reason that Daredevil/Punisher battles are so ripe with drama is that both figures are deeply conflicted about their opponent. Punisher views Daredevil as a good man who can’t go as far as needed. Daredevil, in turn, hates what Punisher does but recognizes a traumatized man truly trying to make the world a better place, so no one needs to suffer as he has.
Injecting that same kind of energy into a Batman/Lock-Up dyad would be as, if not more, compelling. Lock-Up respecting Batman would be a fully in-character development for Bolton. The Caped Crusader sees a hero somewhere in Lock-Up but being able to allow the man to enact his brand of heroics would add shades of grey to a hero who often is strangled by his own rigidity.
It would also, perhaps, bring in an element that the Animated Series did so well: compassion. So often in B:TAS, Bruce or his costumed identity didn’t want to just beat Two-Face bloody; he wanted to bring in Harvey Dent before the former district attorney did something his good side would never get over. He wanted to get Dent to a doctor who might be able to help him.
Lock-Up could force Batman to reconnect with that empathy as he seeks to rescue villains from the anti-hero’s custody. Additionally, perhaps their fights would awaken empathy for Lock-Up, as well as Batman recognizes a man too lost in his commitments to realize he’s doing so much more harm than good.
Regardless of how exactly it would work in practice, the opportunity is obvious and not to be missed. Even if Lock-Up never moves beyond a living warning of how Batman’s obsessions could curdle into pure cruelty, he’d make a unique and compelling figure in the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery. It’s the kind of change that brings new energy and new possibility into the Bat-books without stunt deaths or massive events. All it would take is becoming an approved visitor at Lock-Up’s facility. Or to just write and draw it.
About The Author
For all the latest Comics News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
