DC Just Gave a Fan-Favorite Antihero a Sidekick

Legacy is one of those things that superhero comics have played with again and again, branching out the histories and mantles of characters new and old. DC, in particular, has deployed that tactic multiple times over — and it looks like the new run of Batman Incorporated is the latest to join the list. The new series, which itself escalates the very specific squad of Bat-related characters into a new era, ended its most recent issue with a previously-unprecedented sidekick in a major character's history. Spoilers for Batman Incorporated #2 from Ed Brisson, John Timms, Rex Lokus, and Clayton Cowles below! Only look if you want to know!

The issue followed various vignettes of Minhkhoa Khan / Ghost-Maker and his team on their globe-trotting fight to save the past mentors of Khan and Bruce Wayne / Batman, who are dying due to unknown circumstances. In the final scene of the issue, this gets complicated when Clownhunter is kidnapped while on the mission. He eventually comes face-to-face with his kidnapper — a vigilante named Phantom-One, who describes themselves as "Ghost-Maker's sidekick... Until he killed me." As they explain, they didn't want Clownhunter, who has been tagging along with Ghost-Maker on the mission thus far, to "suffer the same way that I did."

This adds the latest interesting wrinkle to how DC is branching out Ghost-Maker's history, after confirming that he moonlighted as "Anton", an adolescent friend of Bruce's who ultimately betrayed him while they were studying under their various mentors in the events of Batman: The Knight.

Who is on the Batman Incorporated reboot?

In addition to Ghost-Maker and Clownhunter, this new era of Batman Incorporated includes Knight, Squire, Jiro Osamu, El Gaucho, Man-of-Bats, and Bat-Man of China. The series is written by Ed Brisson with art by John Timms.

"I'm very excited to get the annual out there and to be working on Batman Incorporated. John and I have some pretty massive plans for the series," Ed Brisson wrote in his East Coast Dispatches newsletter. "Plenty of familiar faces, and a slew of new friends and threats. Juggling such a massive cast has been a real challenge, but a welcome one. If you have a favourite Batman Inc. member and don't see them getting as much screentime as you'd like, don't fret, everyone's going to have their moment."

What do you think of Ghost-Maker getting a sidekick in the pages of DC Comics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!