Batman's New Batcave Is Not What Anyone Expected

Batman has a new Batcave and it's not the kind of lair that anyone expected the Dark Knight would use for a base of operations. Suffice to say, the days of Bruce Wayne enjoying the most state-of-the-art headquarters of any DC hero are long gone. After the "Joker War" left Bruce stripped of his fortune, he's essentially had to become Batman on a fixed budget. We got an extensive look at just how hard those times get for Bruce, thanks to DC Future State; now, in the new DC Infinite Frontier universe, Batman learning just how hard being a DIY hero is.

Warning: Detective Comics #1034 SPOILERS Follow!

In the new issue of Detective Comics, Mayor Christopher Nakano is holding a fundraiser for Gotham City's wealthy elite, trying to lay out his vision for rebuilding Gotham City into a better city for the new age. Like so many big events in Gotham City, the dinner becomes the target for some Joker-inspired criminals; luckily Bruce Wayne was one of the wealthy potential donors, and so Batman can save the day.

In the aftermath of the action, Bruce Wayne's monologue takes us through what his new "Batcave" base is all about. Bruce needs more security for Gotham, and his strategy is picking key "access points" around the city. The best access points turn out to be "a series of micro-Batcaoves placed throughout the city's underground... DIY cave."

In a humbling scene, we see Bruce in the sewers/underground of Gotham trying to clean out the tunnels and build his own cave. That kind of manual labor quickly takes its toll on Batman's back. As Bruce admits to himself, "I have truly understood what it means, to work in a cave."

There's been some definite appeal to seeing Batman scaled-down in resources since the events of Joker War. Future State's Dark Detective series showed how Bruce had to live and operate when he's thought dead, and a new Batman has taken up the mantle; as Infinite Frontier potentially sets up that destiny, it's interesting to see Bruce actually have to be invested and involved in the actual happenings of Gotham City.

For too long, Batman has been protecting a city that he only occupies the outskirts of (aside from performative outings at events as Bruce Wayne). As Detective Comics is now showing us, Bruce is invested in Gotham and its neighborhoods down to the nitty-gritty. The real gritty. We can't wait to see what kind of new Batcave results from that dirty labor.

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