Advertise with Us. Grant Morrison. Penciller, Variant Cover Artist. Tony S. Inker, Variant Cover Artist. Sandu Florea. Colorist, Variant Cover Artist. Guy Major. Jared K. Cover Artist. Alex Ross. Associate Editor. Jeanine Schaefer.
Mike Marts. Executive Editor. Dan DiDio. Alfred Pennyworth. Bruce Wayne. Guy Dax. Carlo Calzone. He tells her she's "the best thing that's happened to [him] in a long time" and that he doesn't want to risk her becoming a part of this whole thing. He talks about how their meeting each other was fated, saying he felt like he'd always known her during their first meeting, which catches her off guard.
She says the "Bruce Wayne" of their first meeting was witty and charming, but now she's fallen in love with "Batman", whom people say may possibly be mad, pointing out that she could ease her nation's national debt with what it takes to operate the Batcave. Meanwhile, James Gordon bursts into the Mayor's office defending his friend Bruce Wayne from allegations of schizophrenia put forth by Gotham Gazette reporter Ed Sheldrake.
Demanding evidence, the Mayor provides documents found in a locker during the Gotham Grand Central bomb scare which include allegations that Thomas Wayne was an alcoholic and user of hard drugs; Bruce Wayne may be the son of an affair between Martha Wayne and Alfred, the family butler; and finally a photo containing John Mayhew, Mangrove Pierce, Marsha Lamarr, Alfred Pennyworth, and Thomas and Martha Wayne--the latter of which with a "brain-dead expression and needle tracks".
The Mayor also informs Gordon that during Pennyworth's acting days he used the stage name Beagle, the private investigator hired by the Martha's family who found this information went missing twenty-five years ago, and that there are rumors that Thomas killed his wife and is still alive in hiding somewhere. All of this shocks Gordon. A man parachutes over Wayne Manor. Under it, Jet tells Bruce that Alfred and the boys fear him and won't tell him the truth about himself.
He denies it and she presses about how he's spent years of his life and billions of dollars on becoming someone who scares people. Saying she loves him, and thus will tell him the truth, she tries to tell him that becoming the protector that wasn't there when he needed them was ingenious, but that now it's disturbing.
She explains that he could use his wealth and influence in other ways, calling the Batcave a "gigantic, underground museum of death and technology" and crying at the thought of him not being well. After a moments thought, Bruce realizes that the Black Glove knows everything about him and his vulnerabilities, saying they would even use her as a weapon and make him doubt himself.
He pleads to show her one more thing. As he walks her to another Batcomputer he tells her about the Joker dealing him a dead man's hand --talking about the numerous other meanings it could have.
He explains that anything he doesn't know, the computer is designed to pick up, allowing him "match wits" with any number of sadists to keep innocent people from dying. Considering this, Jet suggests that he, as the only man who could possibly hate Batman that much and match wits with him, is the Black Glove, waging war against himself.
Bruce dismisses that theory, saying the Batcomputer would know, then says it's screens are displaying static. Jet tells him she sees graffiti reading Zur-En-Arrh. Bruce immediately says something is wrong, seeing a face on the screen now and believing the "hotline" phone is ringing from the Commissioner, and tells Jet to leave the cave as he collapses and thugs appear and close on them.
Some time later, Alfred arrives in the burning cave. We find out that Alfred is more than he has appeared to be -- is he the Black Glove? And Thomas Wayne may be alive after possibly faking his own death years ago -- is he the Black Glove? And Jezebel Jet confronts Bruce Wayne about the possibility that his fractured psyche has created a second, evil persona -- is he the Black Glove?
None of these suspects is identified as anything other than a possibility, but this issue certainly tackles the question of the mysterious identity of the Black Glove in a more direct way that we've seen in previous installments. It seems like Morrison is moving toward a big reveal, although like a good mystery, the story is full of red herrings and misdirection.
The Thomas Wayne situation, though, is certainly a shocker. Even if he's not ultimately the Black Glove, the "truth" about his background, as revealed in this issue, completely changes the game.
No longer is he the noble father-figure, romanticized in Batman's memory. Or at least he won't be, once Batman finds out the truth for himself.
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