Batman Is Becoming His Own Version of Two-Face
Batman is becoming his own version of Two-Face, and it may end up being one of the bigger threats to the DC Universe.
Writer Chip Zdarsky has been slowly but surely building a story arc that both takes Bruce Wayne/Batman to some wild new places, while also looking inward at the Dark Knight's psychology, what drives him to be Batman, and whether or not his mission is making a difference. During the recent storylines "Failsafe" and "The Bat-Man of Gotham" there's been a sinister presence lurking in the shadows of Batman's head, and as this latest story arc begins, it's made clear that "The Batman of Zur En Arrh" is a growing threat to Bruce Wayne's mind – one that threatens both his sanity and the entire world.
Bruce's alter-ego "backup" personality, Batman of Zur En Arrh, has already created the ultimate Batman-stopping robot (Failsafe), which defeated Batman (the Bat-Family and Superman) and ended teleporting Bruce to an entirely new reality to occupy his obsession. Although Bruce escaped from that world, it came at the cost of unleashing a multiversal wave of new Jokers, and Bruce losing his right hand in Battle. Although Bruce doesn't know it yet, his chase through the DC multiverse also awakened a wave of Zur En Arrh personas in all the various Batman variants Bruce met, including the one in his own head.
In Batman #136, "Dusk to Dawn", Bruce Wayne is still trying to recover from his injuries and traumas during "Failsafe" and "The Bat-Man of Gotham," even while he feels Batman of Zur En Arrh starting to creep forward and break free of the mental "locks" Bruce has kept on him. In fact, the issue ends with an unexpectedly nice morning (the Bat-Family dropping by for breakfast), which takes a sharp turn when Bruce can't stop the vision of his dinner table and family all burning up. As he admits to himself, his alternate persona has a life of his own and Bruce has no real idea what he's done.
Zur building an entire secret Batcave under Bruce's and building a robot so powerful Batman couldn't defeat it are already two big red flags. Bruce knows that his alternate persona has been up to much more than that without his knowledge – it's just a question of how screwed he already is.
Clearly, this Batman vs. Zur En Arrh story arc has obvious parallels with what happened with Harvey Dent/Two-Face's origin. It will be interesting to see if Two-Face actually becomes an ally to Batman in this particular fight, as Harvey definitely has the expertise of combating the other guy in your head.
Batman #136 is on sale from DC.