DC Reveals That Batman’s Wayne Manor Has A Shcoking New Owner

DC has revealed that Batman’s iconic Wayne Manor home (and subsequently the Batcave lair built beneath it) has had a drastic change in ownership, and is now in the hands of one the worst villains in the DC Universe! 

Batman and Catwoman’s big conflict event “The Gotham War” continues after its game-changing first chapter Battle Lines #1: Following the dreamworld battle against Insomnia and his nightmares, Bruce Wayne/Batman was left comatose for weeks. When he finally did wake up again, Batman found himself in a much different version of Gotham City, where Catwoman has established herself as a very different sort of crimelord.

 Under Catwoman’s reign, Gotham’s pool of henchmen, thugs, and petty crooks are getting re-trained by Catwoman into top-tier burglars, who steal from the rich and donate a portion of thievery to the poor citizens of Gotham.  At first glance, it seems that Catwoman has cracked the code, as violent crime is down, and the costumed villains find themselves with less manpower for their mad schemes. However, Batman cannot abide the selective morality in sanctioning some crimes and forcibly enacting wealth redistribution.

In Batman #137, “The Gotham War Part Two,” Catwoman teams with sympathetic members of the Bat Family (Jason Todd/Red Hood) to lure Batman into a trap, in order to stop him from taking apart Catwoman’s organization. Batman instead turns the tables, ambushing Catwoman’s group at their Alleytown headquarters, and laying a brutal beating on both the criminals, and the members of the family (Nightwing, Cassie Cain, Spoiler, Tim Drake) who try to intervene in the war. 

However, just when Batman thinks he’s hit Selina hard, “Bruce Wayne” gets a surprise visit from a local Gotham banker, who tells him that his current townhouse home is no longer going to be his, as it was paid for through his ownership of Wayne Manor – which is now over. Batman races back home in desperation, trying to deduce who got past all the legal/financial contingencies he created to protect his family assets. The list of suspects includes Catwoman, Batman himself (specifically his maniacal Zur-En-Arrh alternate persona), or really anyone savvy enough to take advantage of Bruce Wayne’s recent financial troubles (like having his entire family fortune stolen). 

Whomever the culprit, the end result is clear: Batman returns to Wayne Manor only to find that Vandal Savage is its new owner – and Savage greets The Dark Knight now knowing that it’s Bruce Wayne under the cowl! 

Batman “The Gotham War” is now unfolding in DC Comics.