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Last month's issue of Batman – now in the final arc of Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez's run – ended with a pretty solid double-cliffhanger. Gotham's Mayor Nakano was fatally gunned down by a mysterious assassin while Bruce learned that he may have a long-lost brother (yes, another one). In this week's Batman #154 the mystery deepens as someone lends credence to the possibility of a secret Wayne sibling and the identity of Nakano's killer is seemingly revealed...
Spoilers for Batman #154
The issue picks up in the aftermath of the murder. Harvey Bullock is investigating when Batman and Jim Gordon arrive to carry out their own assessments. Nakano's assistant suggests a few potential suspects. Not surprisingly the apparently reformed Edward Nygma is top of the list, as is Commissioner Vandal Savage. Then there's the mysterious (and ominously named) Leonid Kull. Batman interrupts a dinner meeting between Nygma and Kull and confirms a suspicion: the latter is the new leader of the Court of Owls, something that Kull doesn't exactly deny.
Later, Bruce has a meeting over the claims of his apparent brother, here named as William Pureford. Zdarsky's script hangs a lantern on the fact that this is a storyline we've seen before, with Bruce quipping, "My 'long-lost brother.' I've had people claim to be secret Wayne heirs before." Indeed he has, with Lincoln March in the original The Court of Owls storyline from 2012 claiming to be Thomas Wayne Jr., something that was never quite resolved. This line from Bruce seems to suggest that he considers March an imposter, though it's worth noting that The Court of Owls was part of the New 52 continuity and its links to the current DC era are... flexible.
Regardless, Pureford has some serious legal backing and it turns out his mother Tara, a nurse at Gotham General, did know Bruce's dad, according to Dr Leslie Thompkins. It seems that Thomas and Martha Wayne went through a rough patch some years ago and "something brief" happened between Bruce's surgeon father and the nurse. Thomas eventually told Martha about his indiscretion and the couple worked through it. Thompkins, a good friend of the Waynes, knew all this but still believes that Pureford's claims are false as there's no way that the Waynes would have abandoned a child. Still, Bruce can't shake off the possibility that he really does have a lost sibling.
Later, Batman and Gordon reunite once more. This is an issue primarily built around their relationship and showing how the World's Greatest Detective and the grizzled P.I. work together. That only makes the final pages of the issue that bit more shocking... As they investigate the scene of Nakano's murder once more, Gordon catches Batman unawares and pulls a gun on him, muttering "I was defending myself." Batman responds furiously by punching him in the face and disarming him. "I didn't mean to... You've got to believe me..." Gordon sobs and the two collapse to the floor. And that's yer cliffhanger...
It's a strange one, this, and at first it's a little unclear exactly what's going on. The obvious implication is that Gordon murdered Nakano (in self-defense, assuming that he's telling the truth). Still, both are acting a little out of character in those final two pages and it all happens so suddenly that we wonder if there's something else going on here. It's certainly enough to have us eagerly waiting to find out the truth next month, though, with this turning into a gripping final act for Zdarsky and Jiménez's run.
Batman #154 is out now from DC.
Here's everything you need to know about Batman's mysterious Court of Owls.
