Warning: Contains Spoilers for Detective Comics #1086!

Batman’s wild Gotham Nocturne story just introduced a wickedly cool new Gotham villain: Shadow Angel. An agent of the Orgham family, a hierarchical familial force so deeply ingrained into the history of Gotham City that they seek to control it, Shadow Angel espouses an interesting philosophy about the systemic structure and inequalities of Gotham City. Yet that is far from the truth when looking at the surrounding text.

A royal family from the fictional Svaterstal, the Orghams were integral to the establishment of Gotham City when it was a mere village. Now, they have Gotham under their control. Their latest plan involves Gotham’s newest villain, Shadow Angel, who debuts in Detective Comics #1086 by Ram V and Stefano Raffaele.

Introduced as the replacement for Queen Dariah Orgham’s son, Arzen, Shadow Angel is tasked with holding hostages in the Gotham Broadcasting House and assassinating members of the city’s elite until their demand is met: revolution.

Batman’s Latest Villain, Shadow Angel, Debuts in Detective Comics #1086

Shadow Angel’s False Flag Attack on Gotham Spreads Chaos

A mysterious character with the aesthetic of a Greco-Roman statue, Shadow Angel bursts into the comic with little introduction. Dariah Orgham introduces them as a replacement for her son; a tool to solidify their power over Gotham, but that is the extent of the information given. Detective Comics #1086 jumps into the chaos caused by Shadow Angel and the Orghams’ plot.

In the eyes of Gotham’s citizens, Shadow Angel is another justice-motivated villain set on kickstarting a class revolution. In reality, Shadow Angel’s introduction is a false flag attack by the Orghams to turn Gotham’s ire towards the “sociopolitical elite” instead of them. Their motive does not come from a genuine sense of justice, but the desire to further the Orghams’ power.

This plan takes advantage of the “disenfranchised and disliked.” Warping them into monstrous humanoids, the Orghams have manipulated Gotham’s downtrodden to stage a riot under the leadership of Shadow Angel, who poses as a revolutionary leader. Pitting the lower class against Gotham’s elite is a classic plot, but the underlying implications are so dastardly and relevant that it cements Shadow Angel as an interesting, topical villain in less than eight panels. They seek to further class divides within Gotham to weaken the existing sociopolitical structure in their favor.

Shadow Angel Is a Tool For the Orgham Family

Batman and His Team Must Stop Shadow Angel Before It’s Too Late

In their double-sided calls for revolution, Shadow Angel states that every three hours they “will find and execute one of Gotham’s sociopolitical elite.” The Orghams are targeting themselves to put fear into their rivals. Shadow Angel’s mission is multifaceted. They want to turn the wealthy and “elite” against the outcasts of society, terrify the powerful, and increase their hypnotic influence. Shadow Angel is staging an attack against their own family — on behalf of their family — to show the rich and powerful of Gotham that nobody is safe from the city’s violence.

It’s hard to say whether Shadow Angel has staying power. With the same mask worn by Arzen Orgham and only a few lines of dialogue so far, Shadow Angel could be a short-lived plot device rather than a fully-fledged character who will return once this operatic arc is completed. If DC does decide to explore Shadow Angel’s character further, it will be fascinating to see how they differ from Arzen. As of now, Shadow Angel’s position and ties within the Orgham family are ambiguous. Hopefully, Batman will unravel the enigmatic Shadow Angel character before it is too late.

Detective Comics #1086 is available now from DC Comics.