Batman Is Very Tired of One of Comic's Worst Tropes And You Can Hardly Blame Him
Warning! Spoilers for Batman: Dark Patterns #2!There are a lot of tropes in superhero comics that wouldn't work in reality, but Batman hates one in particular. From swinging across skyscrapers with a grappling hook to always being able to find crime in a city with a population of several million, there's no end to the lack of plausibility in common superhero tropes. While readers often suspend their disbelief for the sake of the story, Batman is calling out his most hated comic cliché.
Currently, Batman is going up against a villain even more terrifying than the Joker, all in the pages of Batman: Dark Patterns #2 by Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman. This story follows Batman as he tries to defeat the Wound Man. But the problem is that the Wound Man has so many injuries, any physical force might kill him, which presents a problem for the famously non-lethal Batman.
Obviously, the easiest solution to this problem seems like just hitting the Wound Man with knockout gas or something similar to render him unconscious without the use of force. Knockout gas seems like a great idea, but Batman is calling out this cliché in comics, specifically bringing up that while knockout gas can work, it's not nearly as effective as movies and comics have led people to believe.
Batman Knows That Knockout Gas Isn't as Easy to Use as Some May Think
Batman: Dark Patterns #2 by Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman, Tríona Farrell, and Frank Cvetkovic
Whenever someone needs to get one person from one location to another in a movie or comic book, the solution is almost always blunt force trauma or knockout gas. Miraculously, no one in a movie ever wakes up with a concussion or brain damage, even if they're unconscious for several hours. Knocking someone out is a major plot device that most people don't deeply consider, but Batman is specifically calling this trope out, as he explains that knockout gas isn't a magic solution. To get it to work properly, someone needs to know the victim's height and weight so that they can create an exact dosage without permanenly harming the target.
If the user doesn't have the exact right dosage for the victim's height and weight, then the knockout gas can very quickly become an instant-killer gas instead. With the wrong dosage, it would be very easy to give someone a seizure or heart attack, killing them in a matter of minutes. Batman demonstrates this problem pretty clearly in his fight with the Wound Man, as Batman had to guess his opponent's height and weight, which he does so incorrectly, resulting in the Wound Man going into cardiac arrest and nearly dying.
Batman Demonstrates Why Knockout Gas Isn't Always the Easy Solution
Batman Has Used It a Lot Less Over the Years
Batman has used knockout gas in the past, but usually under very controlled circumstances, such as knowing exactly how many thugs will be in the room and knowing the general size of them. Fighting the Wound Man has been a lot more difficult, as Batman has practically no information to act on. With Batman's staunch stance on never using lethal force, knockout gas is simply too risky for him to use in most situations. While movies and comics might use it to solve every problem, Batman knows that it's just not that simple most of the time.
Batman: Dark Patterns #2 is available now from DC Comics!
- Created By
- Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- First Appearance
- Detective Comics
- Alias
- Bruce Wayne
- Alliance
- Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family
- Race
- Human
- Franchise
- D.C.
One of DC's most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world's leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
- FIRST APP
- Detective Comics #27 (1939)
