Batman becomes the Dark Doctor in Detective Comics #1045 preview

Detective Comics #1045 excerpt (Image credit: DC)

November 16's Batman #117 may have been the final chapter in the Scarecrow and Simon Saint's 'Fear State' campaign against Gotham City, but the crossover story arc isn't done quite yet and that means Batman hasn't left Gotham yet either.

Well, sort of...

Detective Comics #1045 — (Image credit: DC)

In addition to the Fear State: Omega special scheduled for November 30 that will do a lot to establish the post-'Fear State' status quo in Gotham, November 23's Detective Comics #1045 continues the story, albeit in events that take place around the time of September's Batman #113.

Hey, comic book time!

As the following preview pages show, Batman and his adversary, Mayor Nakano, have freed themselves from the parasite-infected Gotham City sewer system with some medical intervention from the Dark Knight (who we don't believe is licensed to practice medicine like his dad). But the parasites are still getting larger and heading to the streets above and it looks like Batman and Nakano are going to have to put aside their differences to stamp out the infestation, with an assist from Oracle, Orphan, and Nightwing.

Now we kind of already know they succeed given the events of Batman #117, but DC promises the events of Detective Comics #1045 will alter Batman and Nakano's relationship "and cast an eerie shadow over the next major Bat-event to come…" which is a reference to the upcoming 'Shadows of the Bat.'

Detective Comics #1045 is written by Mariko Tamaki and Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Dan Mora and David Lapham with a cover by Mora and a variant cover by Lee Bermejo.

Check out the preview and Bermejo's cover in our gallery,

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The Dark Knight's upcoming departure from Gotham City may well make Newsarama's list of the biggest changes to Batman in his 80-plus year history.

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.