Batman is known to be the one of the best strategists in the entire DC Universe – to a scary degree. Batman doesn’t just have plans to take down any number of DC villains – he also has plans to take out the heroes of the DC Universe too. One of the Justice League’s most famous storylines is “Tower of Babel” by Mark Waid, which revealed that Batman had compiled and hidden contingency plans for neutralizing his teammates in the JLA – plans that were eventually stolen and used by Ra’s al Ghul. The end of that story begged the obvious question: If Batman has plans to take down the Justice League, what’s the plan for taking down Batman himself?
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Up until now, the answer to that question has been that the Justice League is the contingency plan for stopping Batman, should he ever go rogue. Of course that theory always came with an obvious logical contradiction: how can the JL stop Batman, when Batman already knows how to stop the entire JL?
Well, Batman writer Chip Zdarsky finally takes on that big contradiction in DC lore by finally confirming that Batman indeed has an anti-Batman contingency plan that was developed by the only person that could stop The Dark Knight: Batman himself.
Batman #127 reveals part 3 of the new “Failsafe” story arc, and it opens with Zdarsky and artist Jorge Jimenez taking us back to a scene fans have long wondered about: the aftermath of the “Tower of Babel” storyline. In the end of the original story, Batman maintains that he was in the right for coming up with his contingency plans, and the JLA decides to hold a vote about whether or not he can stay on the team after such a betrayal. The vote ends up split, with Superman left to cast the deciding vote. However, Superman never gets the chance to cast that vote, as Batman leaves before the vote is finished, seemingly knowing how Superman would vote.
In this new issue of Batman we get to see Superman catching up with Batman at the Batcave after the JLA vote. Batman is standoffish at first, but Superman eventually appeals to his friend, Bruce Wayne, with a very real question: “In a world where you know every move, who stops The Batman?” The answer has been the very story we are reading, and the new robotic villain it has introduced: Failsafe.
As many fans theorized, the Failsafe android that came online in the depths of the Batcave is indeed Batman’s ultimate contingency plan for himself. Failsafe was activated because of The Penguin framing Batman for murder (using his own faked death), with the resulting media coverage convincing Failsafe that Batman had essentially gone off the deep end and corrupted the values of his vigilante mission by killing a villain.
Like all of his Tower of Babel plans, Batman’s contingency for himself is ruthlessly effective – meaning Failsafe is all but unstoppable. The android beats down and/or brutally injures most of the Bat-family vigilantes; Batman #127 sees Failsafe go toe-to-toe with Tim Drake’s Robin and Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, which is Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego and best bet to outwit his own designs.
In the end, Bruce has to admit that he’s too good at his job: Failsafe counters everything Batman and Robin can come up with, and leaves Bruce beaten and broken on the floor of Wayne Manor, which is engulfed in flames.
Luckily there is a contingency plan for saving Batman from himself: Superman, who arrives just in time, ready to fight the next round.
NEXT: Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, and Belen Ortega Talk Batman #127
Batman #127 is on sale at DC Comics.
