Over the years, the Batman mythos have undergone numerous changes to their status quo, to the point where Bruce Wayne no longer being Batman is not a particularly strange scenario. With the new status set by Scott Snyder’s Batman #41, in which Jim Gordon is now Batman via a giant, mechanized Batsuit and Bruce Wayne can no longer remember being Bruce Wayne much less Batman, the comic has depicted Bruce in a unique position: a humble man trying to live a humble life. Now working at a teen center, and even in a serious relationship with Julie Madison, the change has provided a humanizing glimpse of how Bruce might have spent his time and days helping the public had he not decided to become Batman. But, as is always the case with Bruce, the specter and legacy of Batman are never far behind, including the rogues gallery he’s spent so many years combating. In Batman Annual #4, Scott Snyder takes the opportunity to explore Bruce’s relationship with Batman’s villains, and the always-narrow barrier between them.
The story shows Bruce returning to Wayne Manor, which prior to the events of Endgame was transformed into the new Arkham Asylum. To Bruce, the home represents a person and a life he can’t remember or even imagine. One of the more interesting aspects of the new Batman status has been what readers are to make of the new Bruce Wayne, who is essentially a different man than the Bruce they’ve known. He views the old Bruce as a separate person, with a story and life he doesn’t relate to. Snyder uses this unique situation to put the rogues in a position of knowing more about Bruce and his life than he does, including parts of Bruce’s past not explored before.
As Bruce, Julie and Alfred walk about the mansion with the new Arkham head, Geri Powers, they are suddenly attacked by Clayface, Mr. Freeze and the Riddler, who have stowed away in the mansion and blacked out communications to the police. Riddler makes it clear the three of them intend to hold Bruce accountable for his actions and their years of trouble. And despite their wish to kill him, the rogues are not satisfied with Bruce’s amnesia regarding his role in their miseries. If he’s to suffer, he needs to know why. This leads to the Riddler gradually narrating Bruce’s life back to him as Bruce searches the manor for his missing friends.
What follows is an intriguing alternative look at the classic journey of Batman, one in which the rationality of Bruce’s decisions is called into question. While even the most diehard Batman fan can endearingly criticize his motivations, Riddler chide’s Bruce’s character on a more personal level. He reveals how as a child Bruce would often act out, even lighting fire to a school teacher’s lawn, and how for a while, amidst news coverage of Bruce’s outbreaks, he was everyone’s “favorite TV show”. Riddler reiterates a plot point made in past issues of Snyder’s Batman: how Bruce even admitted himself to Arkham for a period of time in the midst of his trauma. He condemns Bruce for running away for eight years, making no effort at communication or contact with friends and family. All leading to one conclusion that he finally makes Bruce admit himself: in the aftermath of his parent’s deaths, Bruce “went crazy”. Bruce is quick to defend himself, however, stating he’s “not that man anymore”. It’s another interesting instance of the new Bruce frowning upon the actions of his past self, viewing the Batman he created with a Frankenstein-esque chagrin.
The reveal of such details as Bruce’s boyhood troubles and therapy at Arkham sheds a new light on the story of the dedicated, strong-minded boy who became a hero, one that is as much a surprise to the reader as it is to Bruce. Bruce’s narrative as a troubled boy and man, sounding not unlike media coverage of unhinged celebrities, provides a striking additional facet to the journey of Bruce into Batman, one realistically more fraught with mental struggle than normally depicted in his origin. Riddler lets Bruce know that he’s always been a fine line away from being institutionalized, and he should never have left Arkham, but instead kept locked up like the rest of them.
Bruce eventually finds where Julie, Aflred, and Geri are being held by the villains, who take the chance to air their grievances. It turn out that the villains aren’t aware that Bruce was Batman, but instead under the impression he was the one funding Batman’s arsenal. They each express their beef with Batman, and illustrate where they could have been if not for him. Mr. Freeze says he could have been living with his beloved Nora, saving people with his cryotechnology as an employee of Wayne Industries. Clayface laments not being able to become an actor with his unparalleled abilities, and the Riddler says he could have had his own island with the ransom money he demanded of Gotham in Zero Year (again not hearing the absurdity of his own argument). But before Riddler is able to shoot Alfred, Julie, and Geri in front of him, Bruce fires off a shotgun round at one of the signal jammers, thereby allowing communication with the police. Bruce then signals an electrified trick chandelier to fall and incapacitate Clayface and Freeze (who were probably curious as to why he had one of those in the first place).
Bruce takes the moment to school the now-defenseless Riddler about his and the villains’ own irrational motivations. Instead of achieving what they’d always wanted, they choose to commit to crime and continue their grudges against Batman. “You know what crazy is? Crazy is setting up a fun house because someone hurt your feelings instead of taking the chance to escape,” he says, before knocking him out with a swift kick to the jaw. It’s a good reminder that as unhinged as Bruce/Batman may be, the evil in gotham is always crazier.
Batman Annual #4 is another example of Snyder’s considerate exploration of the psyche of Batman, providing us another glimpse of the man beneath the cowl who’s been analyzed for decades. While most can admit Batman has never been of completely sound mind, the story is another reminder of why he’s exactly the kind of crazy a madhouse like Gotham needs.
