Batman #2
This second edition of the nonfiction analysis explores the psychological depths of Batman, his rogues' gallery, and the mythos surrounding Gotham City, drawing on real-world psychology to examine the character's enduring appeal. Part of the Popular Culture Psychology series, it updates the original with new insights into recent portrayals of the Dark Knight across comics, film, and other media.
In "The Bat-Man of Gotham: Part One," Batman grapples with the aftermath of losing a hand in his fight against Ghost-Breaker, pushing his limits as he confronts a new threat that transcends Gotham. With Red Mask merging with the Joker’s fractured psyche and spreading chaos across the Multiverse, Batman must follow him through fractured realities, while Alfred rallies Gotham’s elite and Selina and Julia fight on the front lines. Written by Chip Zdarsky and illustrated by Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jiménez, and Mikel Janín, with inks by Di Benedetto, Jiménez, and Janín, and colors by Tomeu Morey and Romulo Fajardo Jr., the issue’s dynamic art and layered storytelling are anchored by Jorge Jiménez’s striking cover.
In "The Bat-Man of Gotham: Part One," Bruce Wayne wakes to find himself on a fractured Earth where Harvey Dent has become a feared judge of Gotham’s guilty—forcing Bruce to step in as a protector against Dent’s harsh justice. As his presence draws attention, the Selina Kyle of this world is sent on a mission to capture him, setting a tense, unpredictable clash in motion.
In "The Toy Box: Part 1," Tim grapples with the aftermath of Batman’s apparent demise, convinced that the Dark Knight isn’t truly gone. He reaches out to Jon and Dick, pulling them into a search that blurs the line between memory and mission.
In "The Bat-Man of Gotham: Part Two," Bruce Wayne confronts a Gotham where he never existed—where fear rules under a corrupt elite and no Batman has ever risen. As Red Mask pressures Harvey Dent to capture him, Bruce crosses paths with a Selina Kyle from this broken world, setting the stage for a tense, uncertain alliance.
In "The Toy Box: Part 2," Tim Drake teams up with Mister Terrific to pilot a device built by the Toyman, using its strange mechanics to leap across the multiverse in a desperate bid to find Bruce Wayne and bring him home. The journey is as unpredictable as it is urgent, with each new world revealing something unexpected about the man they’re searching for.
In a Gotham where Bruce Wayne is dead and the Batman legend never existed, a newly arrived Bruce Wayne takes up the mantle of the Bat-Man to terrorize the city’s criminal elite. As he hunts the truth behind his counterpart’s murder, he draws the attention of the Red Mask, who sends Judge Dent to hunt him down.
In "The Bat-Man of Gotham: Part Four," Batman faces a twisted mirror of his own legacy on an alternate Earth, where Red Mask—revealed to be that world’s Joker—seeks to replicate the trauma that forged the Dark Knight. As poison gas spreads through Gotham, Batman must confront Ghost-Breaker, the Earth’s version of Ghost-Maker, in a desperate race to stop the city’s collapse.
In "The Toy Box: Part 4," Jon steps into the role of Batman while Tim, aided by Mister Terrific and the unlikely ally Toyman, crosses into another Earth to find the missing Dark Knight—only to discover his mother, alive and waiting for him, in the midst of the journey.
In "The Bat-Man of Gotham: Conclusion," Batman, still reeling from the loss of his hand after facing Ghost-Breaker, races across the Multiverse to stop Red Mask—now fused with the Joker’s fractured mind and spreading the Joker’s madness to every Earth. As Julia and Selina fight the Leatherwings, Alfred rallies Gotham’s elite to break their isolation and aid the city under siege by the Red Mask’s gas. The story follows Batman’s relentless pursuit through fractured realities, where every world holds a new, twisted echo of the Joker’s legacy.
In "Dusk to Dawn," Batman returns to Gotham’s shadows, facing both his wounds and the city’s chaos, beginning with the Cobblepot twins. As he pushes away help from those who care, Bruce grapples with the weight of his choices while reaching toward a fragile connection with Selina.
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