As Scarecrow continues to tighten his grip on Gotham City during Fear State, the villain uses the Bat Family’s tool to set a master trap for them.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Nightwing #84, on sale now from DC Comics.
Ever since the latest Batman-centric crossover event “Fear State” kicked off, the Scarecrow has managed to stay at least one step ahead of the Bat-Family as Gotham City plunges into terrifying chaos once again. From the Dark Knight receiving an especially potent bout of the Scarecrow’s fear-fueled upgrades to Oracle’s systems being turned against her, the straw-based supervillain is pulling out all the stops to ensure he finally gets the notoriety and respect he desperately craves. And in order to further put the Bat-Family at a disadvantage, Scarecrow lays an elaborate trap that turns one infamous part of Gotham into a heavily armed deathtrap for the superheroes.
Early in “Fear State,” the Scarecrow seized control of Oracle’s comms network and surveillance system through the multimillion-dollar funds he received as part of the Magistrate system to rapidly turn Gotham into a cyberpunk police state. Using this advanced network, Scarecrow not only prevented Oracle from communicating remotely with the rest of the Bat-Family but issued a warning to the people of Gotham that effectively into them into a full-blown state of panic. Scarecrow punctuated this message by blowing up Oracle’s supercomputer at her headquarters in the Clocktower, ensuring she couldn’t undo his plans should she regain control of her network. And in Nightwing #84 — by Tom Taylor, Robbi Rodriguez, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott — the supervillain goes one step further by issuing an automated distress signal that brings the original Boy Wonder right into the heart of an ambush.
Overhearing from the Bat Family’s distress line that his presence is urgently needed in Gotham’s Park Row, more infamously known as Crime Alley after it became the site of Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murders decades ago, Dick Grayson drops what he’s doing in Bludhaven and speeds back to Gotham alone. Upon arriving at Crime Alley, Dick quickly deduces that he has walked directly into a trap moments before the Magistrate’s heavily armed soldiers arrive to put him down. This echoes the police state introduced in Future State, where the Magistrate maintained a tight surveillance system over Gotham and strictly outlawed any superhero activity, hunting anyone that stood in violation of this edict.
Though Dick Grayson barely escapes with his life, the ambush site being set at Crime Alley indicates that the Scarecrow knows exactly how much this location means to the Bat-Family, including the implication he may know Batman’s true identity as Bruce Wayne given the murderous reputation of Park Row. Crime Alley has come to become regarded as somewhat sacred ground to the Bat-Family as the site of the inciting incident that created Batman in the first place and for the Scarecrow to use it and Oracle’s network against Nightwing is another clear example of how insidious he is taking his latest bid control the city through fear.
While the Bat-Family is on the defensive, with Nightwing barely escaping the ambush with his life, the heroes are not taking this latest transgression lightly. Batman personally reaches out to Nightwing to express his relief that Dick survived and vows to topple Scarecrow for good while Barbara Gordon, angered that her network has been weaponized against the entire Bat Family, reclaims her superhero mantle as Batgirl after previously retiring the persona. Scarecrow may still hold the advantage but in using Oracle’s network and setting an ambush in Crime Alley, he has made this vendetta more personal to his probable detriment.
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