Warning! Contains spoilers for Batman #147!

Batman has long had a false reputation as a dark loner who fights criminals in the night and doesn’t play well with others. But this reputation hasn’t been accurate for over eighty years, as the Bat-Family has only continued to grow —and he finally admits the reason why this is.

Batman has been forced out of Gotham City due to Zur-En-Arrh as of Batman #147 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez. He’s without his resources, without his friends, and has to come up with a new plan to defeat Zur. Despite believing that he was entirely alone, Robin Tim Drake reaches out to him. Batman realizes the reason why the Bat-Family will always continue to grow; as he says to Tim: “You’re my strength.“

Batman went from a solo crusader to the patriarch of a family full of fellow vigilantes. While this is definitely in part due to Batman’s need to find a family to replace the ones he’s lost, he also admits that it’s his family that makes him strong.

Batman Knows the Bat-Family Is His True Strength

Even Zur-En-Arrh Is Creating His Own Robin

The Bat-Family has grown massively over the past few decades. While Batman started out as a single vigilante who did everything on his own, this was quickly changed with the introduction of Robin within his first year of fighting crime. Ever since, his Bat-Family has only steadily grown: he’s had five official Robins (with Maps Mizoguchi recently being named the sixth Robin), three Batgirls, and dozens of other supporting characters, like the Signal, Batwoman, and Batwing. It’s a huge family for someone who used to be known as a loner, and it’s likely only going to get bigger.

The reason Batman first started his war on crime was to make sure no one suffered the pain of loss like he did, and to also punish those who would inflict that loss onto innocent people. Batman set out to avenge the memory of his lost family, and instead he found a new one. Over his decades of protecting Gotham City, he either found people who suffered a similar tragedy to him, such as Dick Grayson, or people who were inspired by his mission, such as Tim Drake and Barbara Gordon. Batman not only found a new family in these people, but he also provided some of them with a new family of their own.

Batman Needs to Keep Embracing His Family to Survive

This Truth Is Promising for Extended Bat-Family Fans

There have been tons of stories where Batman has pushed his family away for fear of him dragging them down in his war on crime. But all of them agreed to help him fight this war on their own terms. He didn’t indoctrinate anyone; they all agreed to help him for their own reasons. Batman has always been a man with self-destructive tendencies, and being alone is possibly the worst thing for him. His family isn’t a weakness, and he isn’t bringing them down by letting them fight alongside him. The Bat-Family will always be Batman’s biggest strength, which is why it’s likely to just keep growing.

Batman #147 is on sale now from DC Comics!