WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman/Superman #18 by Gene Luen Yang, Ivan Reis, Jose Luis, Danny Miki, Jonas Trindade, Sabine Rich, & Saida Temofonte, on sale now
Batman/Superman has recently introduced two new Golden Age-inspired realities, both with classic incarnations of Superman and Batman at their core in minor pocket dimensions seemingly mirroring the core-DC Universe. In Superman’s world though, Martha Wayne survived the fateful night her husband died. She took over his company and became publicly beloved for her scientific breakthroughs. But Alfred — her dedicated protector — increasingly became violent in his efforts, and Bruce Wayne grew up to be a scummy and unreliable party boy.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Working together to try and find out what’s happened to them and the realities around them, Superman, Lois Lane, and a visiting Batman and Robin face off with Martha and Alfred. But along the way, her son quickly becomes the latest evil version of Batman that DC has introduced in recent years.
Bringing her son to the mysterious Dr. Atom and handing over her world’s version of Lex Luthor, she receives a syringe full of a substance that will transform someone into a being with the strength and endurance of Superman. She uses it on Bruce when Batman and Superman arrive, deciding it’s better than Bruce becomes a monster if that’s what it takes to survive the world around them. The transformation is almost instant, bulking him out and forcing him to grow at an increased rate. He speaks in a distinct reverse dialect, and his skin grows grey as it rips the suit he’d been wearing. In essence, Dr. Atom’s serum has transformed this version of Bruce Wayne into a unique take on Bizarro, a classic Superman villain who’s a twisted mirror of the Man of Steel.
It’s an unexpected fusion for the character, which even gains an additional layer of irony by the end of the issue. The heroes are able to work together to defeat Wayne-Bizarro and Dr. Atom, while Batman unmasks himself in front of Martha — shocking her into surrendering. The pair are turned over to the Gordon of this reality, which is when Bruce reveals to his mother her serum only wore off on half of him. He’s now trapped permanently with half of his face restored to his typical handsome visage, while the other is still grey and cracked. He even alternates between speaking in plain English or in Bizarro’s oddball dialect. It all makes this Bruce a surprisingly apt stand-in for this world’s Two-Face, with both sides of his identity possibly at war with one another going forward.
It’s a surprising redux of two classic villains, especially as a new evil multiversal Bruce Wayne. Dark Nights and Dark Nights: Death Metal largely focused on entire armies of corrupted Batmen waging war on the DC multiverse, with plenty of unexpected reinventions of Batman to fill the armies of the Batman Who Laughs. With the multiverse reborn following the event, it makes sense that there would villainous versions of Batman reintroduced — including with the Crime Syndicate, where Owlman has become a prominent player in on Earth-3.
It’s still surprising to see another version of Bruce Wayne make that transformation so quick after the events of that storyline. But at least in this newly constructed dimension, another Bruce Wayne has broken bad — and could become a more consistent foe for the Superman of this world, if his reality is able to continue.