After 85 Years, DC Reveals the Moment Batman Realized He Should Quit

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Batman: Off-World #5!Batmanhas been around for many years, and he has been through quite a lot in that time. He’s hopped around a broken timestream, trying to make his way back to his own dead body; he’s fought gods and demons from other dimensions; he’s even brought his own children back from the dead. But in Batman’s first space adventure, DC reveals the moment that finally made Bruce Wayne consider hanging up the cowl.

Batman is completely out of his element in Batman: Off-World #5 by Jason Aaron and Doug Mahnke. He’s stranded in space and fighting to the death with a Thanagarian bounty hunter. But it’s only when Batman witnesses the after-effects of the devastation of a planet of thirteen billion people and its various moons that he decides he’s absurdly out of his depth.

Batman says it best: he’s just a boy in tights trying to fight criminals – so what is the Dark Knight doing out in space trying to topple an alien empire? But the answer – and the solution – is more complicated than one might think.

Batman Is an Earth Hero Out of His Element in a Space War

The Caped Crusader Can Solve Any Crime – But Can He Save Planets?

Batman’s first appearance in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger introduced the world to a crime-fighting vigilante dressed as a bat. It took decades for his mythos to grow and his Bat-Family to increase, but nowadays, in contemporary comics, he’s the major force behind DC’s power, both narratively and financially. He’s the World’s Greatest Detective, he’s one of the smartest men alive, and he has a contingency plan for everything and everyone, friend and foe alike.

But at the root of it all, Batman is still a hero of Earth – and more than that, he’s a hero without powers. The realms of space and aliens belong to heroes like Superman, while Batman has always been an angry orphan from the blood-soaked streets of Gotham. Standing on an alien planet with an evil empire breathing down his neck isn’t something even the gnarliest version of Batman could ever plan for. Even with all of his training, nothing could prepare Batman for his adventures in Batman: Off-World.

Batman Never Gives Up

The Dark Knight Fights to the Death in Space

Other characters say it all the time: Batman should finally retire. But it’s practically blasphemy to hear Batman say it himself: that he should hang up his cowl and go to therapy instead. And yet, it’s important to see that Batman wants to give up. The central theme of most Batman stories is that he never gives up; to show that he wants to only gives more power to the fact that he never will. Just as with a Green Lantern overcoming fear, Batman wins not because he has no fear but by fighting through that fear.

Batman is only getting started with his space adventure, which may just prove that he should leave Gotham for good. He’s not just a boy fighting crime on his own streets anymore. He’s vastly outgrown Gotham, and though he may be under-prepared to topple an alien empire in Batman: Off-World, Batman is nothing if he’s not going to try anyway.

Batman: Off-World #5 is available now from DC Comics!