Batman Just Beat His Worst Enemy – And It May Have Cost Him Gotham City

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Batman

The following contains major spoilers for Batman #157, on sale now from DC Comics.

Taking down Gotham City's false savior may have cost Batman his reputation as its greatest hero.

Batman #157 brings all the tension that has been building over the past few months to a head, as the long-fomenting feud between the titular hero and Gotham City's new star-spangled vigilante - Commander Star. Of course, at this point Batman has already figured out that Commander Star is in fact none other than the dreaded KGBeast. As such, the Dark Knight has no qualms with not holding back when he finally gets the chance to take "Commander Star" down for the count, although beating him halfway to death in full view of the public may have very well been just how KGBeast was hoping things would end.

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Batman #157

Written by CHIP ZDARSKY
Art by JORGE JIMÉNEZ & TONY S. DANIEL
Colors by TOMEU MOREY
Letters by CLAYTON COWLES
Main cover art by JORGE JIMÉNEZ & TOMEU MOREY
Variant covers by JORGE JIMÉNEZ & TOMEU MOREY, TONY S. DANIEL & TOMEU MOREY, TONY HARRIS & JEREMY CLARK, MITCH GERADS, JEROME OPEÑA & TOMEU MOREY, and RAFAEL GRASSETTI

Anatoli Knyazev, better known as the KGBeast, first appeared in the pages of 1988's Batman #417 by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. In his past life, the KGBeast was an accomplished assassin for the Russian government who was transformed into a cybernetically enhanced superhuman mercenary. Already one of the world's most feared combatants, Anatoli had no problem establishing a terrifying reputation for himself under his new moniker. In the years since his debut, the KGBeast has been at the heart of numerous storylines, usually menacing the likes of Batman, occasionally on behalf of an even more malevolent force.

In the past year, KGBeast has slowly carved out a place for himself as what seemed like Gotham City's most prominent patriot and most heavily armed vigilante. Under the guise of Commander Star, KGBeast rooted his presence in the innate fears and jingoistic fervor that the citizens of Gotham City were already swept up in. This made it that much easier for KGBeast to orchestrate various tragedies, each of which was played up to portray him as an even greater hero, all while giving him an opportunity to sink his hooks into the city without any fear of repercussions on the part of Gotham's Dark Knight.

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The KGBeast's long-running role as Commander Star is just one of many recent revelations that have shaken Batman and Gotham to their cores. On top of all the death and destruction that KGBeast has wrought, Gotham has been awestruck by the chilling murder of its own Mayor Christopher Nakano at the hands of former Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. While it was discovered that Gordon and Nakano had come to blows over the former's newfound romantic relationship with the latter's wife, it was also discovered that Gordon wasn't acting of his own volition when he gunned the former mayor down. Instead, he was under the control of the Riddler via the Mat Hatter's mind control technology, at least enough so to clear his name of any wrongdoing.

Batman #157 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics