HS Alliance
Batman: The Detective # 4 reveals the Dark Knight has prepared for anything in Europe by activating what appears to be an army of allies!
This article contains spoilers for Batman: The Detective # 4.
Batman revealed he had a secret army of agents working in Europe. The Dark Knight has always had a reputation for preparation, but in Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert Batman: The Detective, he faces a very threat that he could not have foreseen. A group of psychopaths determined to restore some sort of insane balance try to kill everyone Batman saved. Their logic is more fragile than Thanos’, but they prove to be quite dangerous, even managing to involve Bruce Wayne in an attempted murder.
Fortunately, while Batman could never have anticipated Equilibrium, it becomes clear that he always anticipated the need to travel to Europe. His European Batmobile is essentially an entire Batcave, an elaborate vehicle that includes even smaller versions of his trophies. This makes perfect sense as freedom of movement in the European Union would allow this mobile Batcave to travel across the continent to any location it needs. But this new Batmobile doesn’t mark the limits of Batman’s preparations for a European adventure.
Batman: The Detective # 4 ends with Batman deciding it’s time to call in reinforcements, first reaching out to Oracle and forcing him to cover his escape so no one understands that Bruce Wayne is Batman. With that done, he orders Oracle that it’s time to activate the European Bat Alliance. “Contact them all,Batman orders, and his words make it clear that this is no small organization.
Batman has always claimed to work best on his own, but it has long been clear that he is deluding himself; the Bat-Family has grown over the years in Gotham and spread far beyond its city borders. Batman has been a member of countless incarnations of the Justice League. He might have a hard time trusting, but Batman has surely learned that it’s critical he has allies to work with wherever he goes. His words to Oracle suggest that the “European Bat Alliance” are basically sleeper agents, ordinary men and women whom he has decided to incorporate into his plans.
Equilibrium completely underestimated Batman. They have no idea what resources the Dark Knight can bring, and there’s no way they know about the European Bat Alliance. It’s safe to assume that these operatives are scattered across the continent, some in positions of political influence and others in European law enforcement, which means Batman will have eyes everywhere. It will be exciting to see the European Bat Alliance in action in the next issue of Batman: The Detective.
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