Warning: spoilers for Detective Comics #1039 are ahead.
The crossbow-wielding Bird of Prey, Huntress, has been infected by a new Batman villain with startling similarities to Marvel Comics’ Venom. And while Venom is far from the only parasite that exists in superhero comics, his basic premise gets a Batman-specific spin in the latest issue of Detective Comics. The result is absolutely terrifying, and could possibly haunt Huntress further down the road for her character.
In Detective Comics #1039, DC Comics detailed the origins of Hue Vile, a man who was infected with a parasite when he was a child (written by Mariko Tamaki, pencils and inks by Viktor Bogdanovic, inks by Daniel Henriques and Norm Rapmund, colors by Jordie Bellaire, and letters by Aditya Bidikar). But unlike most parasites, Vile’s feeds directly off of violence, and in order to satiate the parasite, he embarked on a murderous rampage that made him stronger with each kill. Coming under Batman and Huntress’s radar after a series of bizarre murders rocked Gotham City, Vile infected Huntress with a parasite after she tried to apprehend him for his crimes. And while she remained in stable condition at the end of the issue, her infection by Vile begs a question of how it will impact her character later on.
Approaching Hue Vile as an analog for Marvel’s Venom makes sense when considering the fact that both characters are driven by parasites needing to be fed by any means necessary. And while initially Venom existed as a foil to Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, Vile operates much differently in Batman’s story. As the issue shows, the basic premise of Venom is reworked to the specifics of how crime is recognized and dealt with in Gotham City.
Huntress’s infection from Vile signals that his plans for unleashing violent chaos on Gotham City are far from done. In the issue, he reveals how he weaseled himself back into Gotham City with the intention on catching Batman off guard. Infecting Huntress with one of his parasites thus gives Vile unprecedented access to Batman, all without having to actually confront him face-to-face. Batman is no closer to extinguishing the root causes of violence and evil in Gotham City, so it is likely that Vile and his parasites will continue to stoke the flames of unrest in the city in the meantime.
The Venom-inspired aspects of Hue Vile present him as an unusual Batman villain, while still keeping recent themes showcased in Detective Comics in focus. The parasite at the center of Vile’s character is especially relevant given how Gotham’s most corrupt citizens are reliant on feeding and manipulating the city’s most vulnerable populations. For a character like Huntress to fall victim to Vile’s parasite also speaks to how the culture of violence in Gotham City has averse effects on everyone, including the heroes who dedicate themselves to protecting their home.
While Marvel Comics’ Venom can be seen as how massive amounts of power can corrupt people as good as Peter Parker, DC’s Hue Vile offers a dark look at how violence experienced early on in life can derail how a person relates to other people. Like Vile, both Batman and Huntress’s early lives were shaped by an act of violence that has, at times, threatened to consume their good characters in the name of vengeance. Just like her experience of her family’s murder, it is likely that the effects of Vile’s parasite will never really leave Huntress.
