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Summary
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
#18 can instill doubt in heroes, potentially leading to their defeat.
Doubt affects all heroes, like Batman and Superman, making them question their impact on the world.
This new villain’s power could exploit heroes’ doubts, but also push them to confront and overcome their insecurities.
Gotham City has an alarming number of powerful villains in it, but rarely do they venture outside of Gotham, especially not to take on the Justice League. Usually, Batman on his own is enough to take down whatever villains Gotham City throws at him, but a brand-new villain has not only the power to take down Batman but the entire League as well.
The solicitation for the upcoming Batman: The Brave and the Bold #18 shows that the next villain Batman will be going up against, in a story by Christian Ward and Patric Reynolds, will wield a power that could affect any hero in the DC Universe. This power allows the villain to seed doubt in anyone he wants, and doubt is one of the biggest and most destructive things that heroes deal with.
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #18 (2024)
Release Date:
October 23rd, 2024
Writers:
Christian Ward, Jeremy Adams, and more
Artists:
Patric Reynolds, Laura Braga, and more
Cover Artist:
Simone Di Meo
Variant Covers:
Christian Ward, Carmine Di Giandomenico
It runs through all of us—corrupting hope into fear, love into apprehension, and our strongest selves into our weakest. Its name is doubt, and when a mysterious new villain arrives with the ability to wield it as a weapon, Batman will face an inner journey unlike any he’s ever experienced! Finally, Aquaman and Ms. Martian unite to face a threat with shocking ties to both of their pasts—and possibly their futures!
With the power of doubt, this villain would be able to make any hero, Batman or the Justice League, simply believe that what they’re doing doesn’t matter, that they aren’t making a difference. Because of this overwhelming doubt, they would end up losing all will to fight, allowing this brand-new villain to win without throwing a punch.
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Batman Is Brought to His Knees by a New Villain: Doubt
Variant Cover by Christian Ward
Doubt is a major emotional issue for nearly all superheroes at one point or another. Doubt has led to genuinely iconic storylines — such as Peter Parker giving up being Spider-Man — and Batman has struggled with doubt in the past as well. Batman has feared that Arkham Asylum is just a revolving door and that he doesn’t really make any difference by continually putting criminals like the Joker in Arkham. Considering just how awful Gotham has been for so long, it’s natural that Batman would doubt that he’s actually making any difference, and he’s not the only hero who struggles with this feeling.
Christian Ward also made his mark as a writer/artist on Batman in the DC Black Label series
Batman: City of Madness
, which is available as a hardcover on September 3rd, 2024, from DC Comics.
Tons of superheroes have doubts about what they’re doing. Superman has all the power in the world and could simply enforce his ideals of justice on the world. He doesn’t do that because, ultimately, he believes humanity needs to keep free will, but sometimes he has doubts about whether this is the right choice. This new villain would be able to easily tap into all of these doubts and turn them against the heroes, which would be remarkably effective at shutting them down. But this power will also give the heroes the chance to confront their doubts directly and even overcome them.
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Heroes do their best to save and change the world, but because of the unending status quo of comics — and just the sheer number of villains working to make the world worse — it’s rare that they ever see any progress through their actions. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for heroes to have doubt in their hearts over what they’re doing. Batman is the best example of this, as he’s fought crime in Gotham City for decades with very little change, and now this new mysterious villain will play on those doubts, and he might just bring down the entire League.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #18 is available October 23rd, 2024 from DC Comics!
“}]] One new villain can defeat every hero. Read More