Major Batman Villain Returns in Surprising New DC Locale

Amid the ongoing Shadows of the Bat storyline, which sees the larger Bat-family working in a Batman-free vacuum in Gotham City and investigating the mysterious Arkham Tower and the latest issue for which we are about to spoil, a surprising villain has returned into the fold. The mystery of who is operating this new alternative to Arkham Asylum has been driving the plot for a few issues now and in the final pages of this week’s Detective Comics #1050 we finally learned who was at least partially responsible, none other than the dastardly and emotional manipulating ne’er-do-well, Psycho Pirate!

Fans will no doubt recall that Psycho Pirate played a big role previously in Tom King’s run on Batman, fueling Bane’s quest to defeat the Bat. Since then he played a major role in the Infinite Frontier event, his knowledge of the multiverse making him a prime player, having fought against the multiversal Justice Incarnate team. At the end of that story however he disappeared, noting he was “needed in another event.” It’s hard to know if the event he was referring to is the current story unfolding in Gotham City or if he’s referring to another major crossover that will take place in DC Comics, like the upcoming death of the Justice League.

Frankly we shouldn’t be surprised to have seen Psycho Pirate in the final page of this month’s issue of Detective Comics as he’s prominently featured on the cover and in the solicitation for the next issue of the series, both of which you can find below.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1051
U.S. Price: $4.99
AVAILABLE ON 2/1
Art by: Max Raynor, Fernando Blanco
Written by: Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg  
Psycho-Pirate! Qu’est-ce que ç’est? The mind manipulations of one of the DCU’s most calamitous villains are revealed at the heart of Arkham Tower…but who’s really calling the shots? As Batwoman’s undercover operation takes a disastrous turn, Huntress finds her own mission inside the Tower growing more perilous by the moment! All is revealed in this explosive first chapter in act two of the “Shadows of the Bat” weekly event!

Then, in “House of Gotham” part five, the Boy emerges from his Scarecrow caper with a new perspective on the world…but what’s scarier: Dr. Crane’s fear toxins, or Batman’s control of Gotham’s militarized youth?