Batman: The Imposter is a three-issue prestige format limited series published by DC Comics in 2021 as part of their Black Label imprint written by Mattson Tomlin, The Batman's original co-screenwriternote (and director of other unrelated movies and short films), and illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino.
The series is set in an Alternate Continuity where Bruce Wayne has been active as Batman for around three years. While he's been making a difference, he's also made some powerful enemies. All the traditional power brokers of Gotham resent the disruption the Batman has brought to town…and it seems one of them has a plan to neutralize him. There’s a second Batman haunting Gotham’s rooftops and alleys — and this one has no qualms about murdering criminals, live and on tape.
With the entire might of the Gotham City Police Department and Gotham’s rich and powerful coming down on his head, Batman must find this imposter and somehow clear his name…but how can you prove your innocence from behind a mask?
This comic has the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Arnold Wesker's father is physically and emotionally abusive to him, resulting in poor Arnold being a stew of psychoses on the verge of becoming Ventriloquist.
- Action Girl: Blair Wong naturally counts as this, being a detective of the GCPD.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Due to Bruce's somewhat different circumstances from most other interpretations, he has no close friends or support system, since Alfred quit when he was a child, and Gordon was fired from the GCPD for working with him. He was a highly disturbed child diagnosed with OCD and acute anxiety, who was prone to violent outbursts. As an adult, he remains an emotionally damaged individual, who falls in love with Blair Wong, but has no qualms about manipulating her to gather intel from the GCPD's investigation of Batman. His therapy sessions with Leslie do help him to an extent but by the end he hasn't changed that much, and his circumstances as Batman have gotten even worse since the authorities and the public still view him as a dangerous vigilante at best and a serial killer at worst. In general, this continuity takes the "Batman is as crazy as his rogues" idea and deconstructs it by showing Bruce as a genuinely mentally ill and hugely flawed person instead of an
Escapist Character, with his emotional issues being played in an uncomfortably realistic manner. - Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: As part of the deconstruction, Bruce and Alfred are nowhere near as close here as in most versions; rather than being part of the Wayne family, Alfred really is just their butler and worker, and he's consequently totally unprepared to handle raising Bruce.
- Adaptational Sympathy: Ratcatcher and Ventriloquist are given more sympathetic portrayals as genuinely mentally ill people victimized by society and an abusive father respectively, with that victimization being what leads them to commit crimes. The latter never becomes a supervillain (though he comes perilously close), while the former thinks his actions are helping people and tragically commits suicide when he learns otherwise.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Batman himself is presented in this light. While he is managing to have a genuine and positive impact on Gotham, it's clear that him doing so is utterly untenable in the long term, due to the horrific damage it does to his body, the extraordinary difficulty and danger involved in pulling it off, and the collateral damage that ensues when he makes mistakes.
- Big Bad: Harker, a Rabid Cop who is killing the criminals freed by a mass overturning of convictions caused by one of Batman's prior cases and intends to frame Batman in the process.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tends towards Downer Ending. While Batman does stop the murderous imposter, his legacy remains tarnished, perhaps irrevocably, since it's impossible for the authorities and the public to really know which Batman did what. The wealthy and the powerful of Gotham remain opposed to Batman, so he's unlikely to ever enjoy again the limited leeway he once did with the GCPD. Detective Blair Wong knows his true identity, and is ambivalent about him at best, further complicating his situation. The one positive for Bruce by the end of the story is that he's come to some kind of an understanding with Leslie Thompkins, and even sends Arnold Wesker to her for therapy.
- Canon Foreigner: Blair Wong was created for this comic.
- The Commissioner Gordon: The Trope Namer is deconstructed alongside many of the franchise's other tropes and conventions. Here, Gordon destroyed his career and got fired from the force for working with Batman due to that sort of thing being highly illegal, and the GCPD is noted to still be struggling to repair their reputation, which has been ruined by the revelation they were "dependent" on a vigilante to do anything. Most cops hate Batman for a litany of reasons and the closest he gets to this trope in the present day is lying to and manipulating Blair Wong to steal evidence from her.
- Covered in Scars: Bruce, to an extent that's extreme even by the standards of most depictions of Batman. His vigilantism has taken a horrifying toll on his body and even his would-be girlfriend Blair is clearly a bit unsettled by the sheer volume of scars covering his body.
- Deconstruction : In taking a punishingly realistic approach to Batman and his world, this mini ends up deconstructing several conventions of the Batman mythos, including Bruce's relationships with his close friends and allies, his equation with the GCPD, his skills as a fighter and the logistics of his one-man war on crime.
- Alfred Pennyworth is traditionally depicted as being Bruce Wayne's surrogate father, mentor, butler, and closest confidant all rolled into one, usually unwavering in his support for 'Master Bruce' and his crusade. In this continuity, however, Alfred, as a mere butler, finds himself utterly unable to cope with being the guardian to a traumatized, rage-filled, and disturbed child who's also technically his boss. So, he resigns and Bruce is packed off to a boarding school in Russia instead.
- The iconic partnership between Batman and Jim Gordon ended in this continuity with Gordon being discredited and drummed out of the police force for working with a vigilante—a far more realistic outcome for a cop in his position than the usual status quo.
- Leslie Thompkins, far from being another surrogate parent to Bruce who is largely supportive of his crusade, is depicted here instead as someone who refuses to blindly enable his violent vigilantism and forces him into therapy by threatening to expose his true identity once she discovers it. (Although this is very Depending on the Writer even in mainstream continuity; Leslie's attitude to Batman has ranged from "largely supportive" to "will murder a child to make him stop", and is generally somewhere in the middle.)
- All the property destruction and chaos caused by Batman's war on crime is unlikely to endear him to Gotham's wealthy and powerful, who in turn pressurize the police into taking a tougher stance on the vigilante.
- The story begins with Batman being seriously injured and on the verge of death following an encounter with armed store robbers—the kind of low-level criminals whom, in more mainstream adaptations, he would be able to take down almost effortlessly. Here we see all too well the very real physical risks involved in even the smallest acts of vigilantism.
- Instead of using an ostentatious vehicle like the Batmobile, Batman gets around Gotham inconspicuously using an elaborate network of ziplines and hidden motorcycles. Even this isn't inconspicuous enough, however, since the GCPD finds and confiscates many of the motorcycles and cuts the ziplines.
- Far from being the impeccable and dignified manor-house it's usually depicted as being, Wayne Manor here is a mess since Bruce lives alone without a staff or butler—Alfred having quit during Bruce's troubled childhood years.
- Batman's depictions as being just as crazy as his enemies and a Jerkass towards his allies is harshly criticized and deconstructed here, portrayed in a realistic light as uncomfortable to watch and making him often seem unlikable as a person. As noted above, this Batman doesn't have a family; he's been driving away anyone who could serve as sidekicks or support staff for years through being that unbearable to work for and that prone to either rebuking help or betraying peoples' trust.
- The franchise's usage of Insane Equals Violent is also given a very harsh condemning; while many of Batman's rogues show up, the mentally ill ones are near exclusively portrayed as being the victims of abuse and crime rather than the perpetrators, as tends to be the case in real life. The one time the typical "crazy supervillain" almost gets played straight, it's the result of Arnold Wesker almost retaliating against his abusive father for his abuse, and it's prevented by Batman, who instead helps Arnold fight a therapist in the form of Leslie. Of particular note is Ratcatcher's portrayal; where his misanthropy and love of rats was played as a typical case of Idiosyncrazy in the original comics, it's here portrayed as the result of him being an innocent man suffering from severe mental health problems - including depression - born out of a very difficult life who only commits any crimes because of being manipulated by a completely sane man who takes advantage of him.
- Demoted to Extra: Alfred Pennyworth and James Gordon only receive a few mentions, compared to the central members of the supporting cast they are elsewhere. Furthermore, the comic generally eschews Batman's more notorious rogues in favor of his less famous ones; the biggest name to appear is Penguin, and his appearance consists of about two silent cameos.
- The Dreaded: Batman has become this to the criminals of Gotham to an even greater degree than usual; he is so brutal and terrifying in behavior that few people realize that he even has a Thou Shalt Not Kill rule; Penguin pisses himself with fear when confronted, being absolutely convinced that Batman is there to kill him. The imposter's Frame-Up only works because of this fear, as nobody finds the idea of Batman snapping and killing people particularly difficult to believe.
- Driven to Suicide: When he realizes that he's been manipulated by a fake Batman to help murder people and is beaten up by the real deal, Ratcatcher is so horrified that he shoots himself right in the middle of being interrogated by the police.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Downplayed. Harker ends up being brought down partly by hesitating to kill Blair on multiple occasions when he has the chance; while she's a threat to his plans, she's also a friend of his and good cop, and he'd prefer if she didn't die.
- Foil: Detective Blair Wong serves as one to Bruce Wayne. They were both orphaned at an early age, with their parents being murdered by criminals. However, while Blair followed her father's footsteps into the police force, waging her war on crime on the right side of the law, Bruce chose to become an outlaw vigilante. Blair is also far more emotionally healthy than the damaged and disturbed Bruce.
- Frame-Up: The overarching mystery. An imposter dressed up as Batman begins killing criminals to frame the Caped Crusader as a serial killer.
- Good Is Not Nice: Batman, to a downright scary degree. He's cold, aloof, rude, and manipulative even as he fights to defend Gotham, and is shown to take some cruel delight in the way people fear him.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: To say Batman is not popular with most people in Gotham in this continuity is an understatement, as his Terror Hero qualities are taken so far they make the public fear him as much as the criminals he fights. This makes it all to easy for the imposter to frame him.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Alfred's brief appearance in a flashback has him come off as rather rude and short-tempered, but it's made clear that he's only acting like that because he's justifiably at his wit's end trying to raise a traumatized, mentally ill, and violence-prone child who is technically his boss, and his snapping at Leslie, while nasty, is simply because he's understandably mad at her for not being able to give him any sort of concrete solution to help Bruce. When he quits and hands Bruce over to the state, it comes off as an act of desperation that he genuinely wanted to avoid.
- Knight Templar: The Imposter who's murdering criminals. He's a disgruntled cop who actually seems to have once supported Batman, but turned on him after a case Batman and Gordon solved led to a bunch of convictions being overturned and criminals returned to the streets. He sees himself as cleaning up Batman's mess and saving the city by killing criminals.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Ratcatcher hates humanity and much prefers rats, seeing people as selfish and cruel. A rather sympathetic example, as it's made clear his misanthropy is purely the result of depression and mental illness rather than his actual beliefs, and he's not a bad person.
- Mythology Gag: A piece of graffiti saying "Beware the Black Spider!" can be seen at one point, referencing one of Batman's rogues. Fittingly given the theme of this comic, said rogue is another Vigilante Man figure.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: This is what kicks off the central plot. Sometime prior to the events of the mini, Batman and Captain Gordon exposed a couple of judges with Mob links. This in turn led to all the convictions handed down by those judges being overturned and dozens of violent criminals being released. The imposter Batman is a disgruntled cop who blames Batman for this and tries to "set things right" by killing the released criminals and framing the vigilante for it.
- No Endor Holocaust: Averted and deconstructed, as the destruction and sometimes even death that occurs because of Batman's behavior is given focus and part of why he struggles to be accepted by anyone in Gotham. Wesker complains about the damage his company has suffered thanks to Batman-related property damage, and the first crime we see Batman deal with is a simple convenience store robbery that goes horribly wrong thanks to his intervention, resulting in a wounded clerk, a traumatized child, and a dead carjacking victim all as collateral damage when the robbers probably would've just taken the money and left if he hadn't been there.
- Parental Abandonment: Bruce Wayne, of course. Both of Blair Wong’s parents were also murdered in front of her when she was a child.
- Race Lift: Leslie is Caucasian in most of her portrayals, but is Black in this comic.
- Secret Identity: Deconstructed, as Bruce's keeping his identity a secret and exploiting said secret to manipulate Blair ends up destroying his first healthy relationship in a long time.
- Secret-Keeper: The story kicks off with Leslie Thompkins learning that Bruce Wayne is Batman, and keeping his secret while using it to coerce him into attending therapy sessions with her. By the end, Detective Blair Wong knows the truth as well, and chooses to keep it to herself due to her own complicated feelings about Bruce and Batman.
- Spiteful Suicide: Harker purposefully makes Batman drop him to his death for seemingly no reason but to spite him.
- Terror Hero: Like many aspects of Batman, this is deconstructed, as he's just as terrifying to civilians and police as criminals and Leslie accuses Bruce of taking sadistic pleasure in terrorizing people because it makes him feel stronger.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Batman still has one, but is so unnecessarily brutal in his treatment of criminals that not many people realize this. The imposter frames him to make it look like he's gone off the deep end and broken his rule.
