DC is kicking off what it calls "act two" of the upcoming 'Shadows of the Bat' event in February 2022's Detective Comics #1051 with the return of one of the Dark Knight's most bizarre enemies, the master of Multiversal madness known as the Psycho-Pirate.
And what's more, Psycho-Pirate seems to have some nefarious connections to the recently built Arkham Tower, which could spell disaster for Huntress, who is undercover inside.
For those not in the know, the newly-built Arkham Tower was constructed as something of a replacement for the fabled Arkham Asylum, which was destroyed in the events of Infinite Frontier #0.
However - if you can believe it - the building which inherited the name of one of the weirdest, most haunted places in Gotham City is hiding some secrets of its own. And judging by the solicitation for Detective Comics #1051, it's the Psycho-Pirate's "mind manipulations" driving the dark forces at play in Arkham Tower.
So who the hell is Psycho-Pirate? He started life as an obscure Golden Age villain before playing an odd role in the landmark '80s event Crisis on Infinite Earths, which rebooted DC continuity, as one of the only beings to remember the timeline of the original DC Universe before it was overwritten.
Psycho-Pirate came back to Gotham City during writer Tom King's 'Rebirth' era Batman run, with 'Rebirth' eventually leading into the current 'Infinite Frontier' era which has restored most of the continuity that Psycho-Pirate remembered from his lost timeline.
Psycho-Pirate was last seen (in a new costume) as a herald/righthand man of Darkseid in Infinite Frontier #6 . He was dismissed by Darkseid in the final pages of the series for failing in his tasks, and is last seen fading away saying that he was "needed in another event..."
Interestingly, the character's fundamental role in the DC is altered, given the events of last year's Dark Nights: Death Metal, all DC characters are beginning to remember all their past pre- and post-Crisis histories.
Detective Comics #1051's Psycho-Pirate-centric main story is written by Mariko Tamaki with art from Max Raynor, with a back-up story from writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Fernando Blanco, and covers from Irvin Rodriguez, Lee Bermejo, and Jorge Fornes.
Detective Comics #1051 gors on sale on February 1.
Detective Comics is just one of the many, many Gotham-centric titles on offer from DC. That's why we've stocked our utility belt with a handy listing of all the new Batman comics planned for release in 2021 and beyond.
