Warning! Contains spoilers for Batman #145!
DC’s darkest Batman has devised his very own Arkham Asylum to make sure criminals never escape again. Every time Batman defeats one of his iconic villains, he tends to throw them inside Arkham Asylum and hope for the best. Unfortunately, Arkham Asylum is infamous for its inability to keep criminals locked up — unlike Zur-En-Arrh’s personal prison in the basement of Blackgate.
Recently, Batman has been struggling with his alternate Zur-En-Arrh personality, which comes to a climax when Zur separates himself from Batman’s body. Now a separate entity, Zur has captured both Batman and the Joker and has been rounding up Gotham’s criminals as a new Batman, as seen in Batman #145 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez.
With Arkham Asylum still destroyed after the events of A-Day, Zur needs a place to store all the criminals he’s been capturing. Completely unwilling to break Batman’s one rule and use lethal force, Zur has decided to repurpose Blackgate Penitentiary. What used to be a maximum security prison for generic criminals is now Zur’s very own Arkham Asylum to store whoever he deems a criminal.
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The Dark Batman, Zur-En-Arrh, Has Been Using Blackgate as a Personal Prison
The biggest problem with Batman’s war on crime has always been the questions of what to do with the criminals after Batman stops them. Batman strictly adheres to the no-kill rule, and he struggles to find a permanent way to deal with his villains. While he hopes they can be rehabilitated in Arkham Asylum, the facility has a less-than-stellar reputation. From cultists in the basement trying to open a gate to hell to Jeremiah Arkham intentionally releasing criminals to assault Batman, Arkham Asylum has never been a good solution, and now DC’s darkest Batman is bringing his own answer.
Just like Batman, Zur-En-Arrh refuses to cross the line with lethal force. This has resulted with Zur creating his very own Arkham Asylum in Blackgate Penitentiary. With security handled by autonomous robots, Zur is able to toss anyone he wants in there and forget about them — including, in this issue, someone as powerful as Vandal Savage. Even someone as skilled as Batman has yet to be able to escape, as he was quickly apprehended by these machines. The Joker has also been captured, and with the broken back Zur gave him, he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to rejoin Gotham.
Zur-En-Arrh’s Personal Prison Reflects the Darkest Parts of Batman
Zur-En-Arrh has been a dark reflection of Batman in almost every way so far. While fans and many DC characters have debated over Batman using child soldiers, he’s always viewed the Robins as his children. Zur-En-Arrh is the opposite, viewing them as his soldiers only. This twisted, “pure” way of looking at Batman’s ideology even extends to Arkham Asylum. While Batman wants his rogues to eventually be rehabilitated and saved, Zur simply wants them locked away, never to be seen again. Now Batman will have to do what his rogues have been doing for decades and escape Zur-En-Arrh’s very own asylum.
Batman #145 is available now from DC Comics.
BATMAN #145 (2024) | |
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