Review: Beware the Batman “Nexus”

Find out how the story fleshes out six months after the Gotham City blackout!

Who’s the owner of that stylish mug? That, my fellow Bat-Fans, is Harvey Dent. He used the blackout to get himself elected District Attorney, and has been on a manhunt for any and all caped crusaders. In another turn of events, Lieutenant Gordon is now Commissioner Gordon. The interaction between Gordon and Dent is really funny, because Dent just wants to nail Gordon to the wall for colluding with Batman, even when Dent has no proof except the Bat Signal. The Mayor was smart, because she wants to get the hell out of dodge before the argument gets worse.

Now, the interaction between Dent and Batman is where things get interesting. When Batman kidnaps Dent to flush out whoever is framing him (who turns out to be Anarky), Dent wants Batman nailed to the same wall as Gordon, just because he’s Batman. This is a stark contrast to the Dent we’ve grown to know, who is willing to help Batman whenever and wherever he can. In fact, Dent is a friend to Batman. This got me a little salty for a minute, then I realized what I’ve been telling everyone for the last three weeks: this is a different representation of Gotham, and it’s inhabitants. What made me laugh about all this, was the absurdity that Dent showed after Batman saved Dent’s life, by still wanting Batman in jail. Thank god for Gordon, because he was the voice of reason.

Anarky thought of a pretty devious plot to keep Katana with him, and force Batman into a trap. He used two pairs of proximity bands, forcing Batman and Dent to make their way to Symbion Park. Of course, after Batman and Dent leave, Katana gets a little case of cabin fever, and forces Anarky to leave the warehouse. It was a really bold play, and the type of play that is usually reserved for Batman. Katana doesn’t normally throw herself in harms way, and it was pretty cool to see her take that role when it was needed.

The best part of Beware the Batman is that it really plays to Batman’s detective side, and “Nexus” really plays it up, with the help of the Bat-Gadgets. The moment that it really hits is when Batman and Dent make it to Symbion Park, where Batman thinks Anarky planted the bomb. When his code breaker didn’t help, he remembered back to when Anarky was talking about a symbiotic relationship between birds and bees. Somehow that made Batman think of the password, and voila, we have two free people.

Beware the Batman is taking a really awesome approach to bringing in the bigger names of the Batman enemies. Very slowly, they are slowly starting to trickle in, with this episode introducing Harvey Dent. If you don’t know who that is by now, take about three hours, and watch The Dark Knight. It’s probably the best favor you can do for yourself. Depending on the writer for the comics, Dent has always been of of the three biggest mistakes that Batman has made. That’s how integral Dent is to Batman. I almost lost my shit when Anarky first came out, because his tone was eerily like the Riddler. Now, that would have been an awesome twist.

“Nexus” definitely played to Beware the Batman’s strengths. We saw a lesser known villain in Anarky, the introduction of Harvey Dent, and what looks like Batman in the middle of a mental breakdown or a temper tantrum. I’m not really sure. The last scene was Batman breaking wood dummies in a training room, so it could be anything at the moment. Batman’s stories work best when Batman has to be the detective while in the throes of a lot of mental anguish, so it will be pretty killer to see where things go from here. The writers have proven that they know Batman, and I only hope things can get better.