Batman #121 saw the Dark Knight taking down his new adversary with a forgotten feature of his Batman Inc. suit.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman #121, on sale now from DC Comics.
The Dark Knight’s most recent adventures have seen a few returns from the Batman Inc. era. Besides the global team itself, one of the other notable returns was the Batman Inc. suit. For this latest mission, the Caped Crusader donned an item from his wardrobe eleven years prior for his Batmen reunion. There were a number of fun features on this suit, most notably the return of the yellow oval bat symbol. Now, the latest issue of the ongoing Batman series just turned that symbol’s forgotten feature into something important.
The Caped Crusader needed something more to fight the mysterious new villain Abyss in Batman #121 (by Joshua Williamson, Jorge Molina, Mikel Janín, Tomeu Morey and VC’s Clayton Cowles). Having discovered that Lex Luthor created him to be his own villainous answer to Batman Inc., the World’s Greatest Detective figured out that the Superman villain must have created a failsafe should his creation go rogue. When he discovered what it was, it turned out to fit perfectly with his Batman Inc. batsuit.
When Batman was unnaturally blinded by Abyss, he found it odd that he could see the light of Lex’s knock-off batsuit. He deduced that these lights must be a way of fighting the new villain’s darkness-based powers. Therefore, he ripped it off Luthor’s high-tech gear and incorporated it into his own. In particular, his bat symbol.
One of the most interesting features of the Batman Inc. suit was the way it gave the iconic yellow oval symbol an actual purpose. It protruded out more, looking like a device of some sort. It could light up to show the iconic symbol shining in the darkness. It never really did anything beyond being a nice visual on some comic covers but it was an interesting concept. Recently, Batman: Three Jokers (by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok) incorporated it into their batsuit, using it to light up a darkened room. Other than that, it’s had little use.
Now, however, it has become a far more essential tool, as it helped him to take down Abyss. The villain even recognized that the light-up symbol, now housing Luthor’s tech, was a threat and broke it during their fight. Although the Dark Knight was still able to best his adversary, unfortunately, Abyss got away. Perhaps if the illuminated bat symbol hadn’t been broken, Batman would have been able to prevent his foe’s escape.
There’s more to the return of this quirky feature than just a way to beat Abyss. It symbolizes the journey the Dark Knight has been on throughout this storyline, since the end of “Fear State.” After defeating Scarecrow, Batman has let himself descend into the darkness, denying the help of his allies and running from Gotham City. Accepting Luthor’s tech here showed that he was willing to accept help again. In doing so, he stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Not just that, he used the light as a weapon to win.
This forgotten batsuit feature plays a major role in Batman’s story here. It’s both a fun nod to fans of the original Batman Inc. run and its modern take on a classic suit, as well as a way of lifting the Dark Knight back into the light. All in time for a new era of Batman comics with a brand new creative team.
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