DC Comics Just Replaced the Bat-Family — And Fans Didn’t See It Coming

While he tends to prefer working alone, few can deny that Batman would not be able to do all that he has for Gotham City without the help of the Bat-Family. However, what is The Dark Knight to do when his trusted allies lose all faith in him?

A preview of the next chapter of Batman: H2SH reveals that the Caped Crusader has found a new Bat-Family, made up of some of his most notorious enemies.

Batman #163 picks up where the last issue of this new story arc left off, with Bruce Wayne on his own after the eponymous villain, Hush, has manipulated vigilantes Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Huntress, and Red Hood into turning against their mentor. Even Catwoman appears to be mostly on their side despite her affection for Bruce.

Much to the hero's surprise, key members of his fearsome rogues' gallery, including the likes of Bane, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Clayface (who actually joined the Bat-Family for a time), and the Penguin, have gathered to form a truce with their sworn enemy. Even The Joker is among the criminals willing to make peace, and ends up being the one who reveals that they are on Batman's side, struggling to get the words out as the vigilante holds his neck in a vicious grip.

Ivy then explains that they were all betrayed by Hush, to which the Clown Prince of Crime adds, "The ones you trusted no longer trust you, and the ones you never trusted are the only ones you – Well, you get it now, don’t you? All your boy blunders and girl whatevers will be coming for us, including you," before declaring that he and these rogues make up "the all-new, all-different Bat-Family!"

After learning that they know the location of Hush's hideout, and with his once close allies conspiring to capture him, Batman reluctantly agrees to join forces with these criminals, accepting that, "My enemy's enemies are my allies." Readers will have to see how this unholy union pans out when Batman #163 is released.

Batman: H2SH is writer Jeph Leob's sequel to his acclaimed Batman graphic novel, Batman: Hush, in which Bruce Wayne comes at odds with the mysterious eponymous adversary, who is revealed to have an unsettling connection to his past. The original DC comic's penciler Jim Lee and inker Scott Williams also return for the follow-up, which will conclude Part One with Batman #163.

Batman Has Joined Forces With Villains Before

To see Batman completely abandoned by the Bat-Family, leaving him to ally with the same people he has been fighting against for years, is certainly a shocking development. Then again, Batman has teamed up with villains plenty of other times before.

The vigilante has even played nice with The Joker on more than one occasion, such as during the events of Scott Snyder's The Batman Who Laughs. Bats realizes that the only way he can defeat an alternate version of himself corrupted by Joker's toxin is to consult with the brains behind the poisonous substance.

The Clown Princess of Crime has also been made into an ally, and not just in the Absolute Universe, which sees Absolute Batman enlisting the Red Hood Gang, led by Absolute Harley Quinn, for help against Bane. In the poorly reviewed animated Batman movie, 2017's Batman and Harley Quinn, Kevin Conroy's Dark Knight tries to get information on how to find Poison Ivy from Harley (Melissa Rauch), only to see her join the hunt.

Perhaps the most unlikely example, however, is the time Bruce Wayne teamed up with the man who murdered his parents, Joe Chill. In Mike W. Barr's Batman: Year Two, he reluctantly allies with the mob to help him take down a vigilante that has tarnished his reputation, called The Reaper, and is given a partner to help, who just happens to be Chill.

There are plenty of other examples to choose from in the comics and other forms of media. However, Loeb may have delivered one of the most shocking examples yet by making Gotham's worst the only ones the Caped Crusader can rely on in Batman: H2SH.

Batman #163, or Batman: H2SH — Chapter Six, Draw, hits the shelves on May 27.