DC Reveals Batman's New Costume

Batman has a new costume - and it's a throwback design!

By Kofi Outlaw

Batman has a new costume, and DC is going the throwback route with the suit's design! 

Writer Chip Zdarsky has taken Bruce Wayne/Batman on one of the craziest self-reflective journeys possible. Batman's militant secondary persona "The Batman of Zur En Arrh" took control of Bruce's body, and used him to bring an android body named Failsafe online, with Zur ultimately "downloading" his consciousness into the robot body. The Zur/Failsafe hybrid has usurped the Batman mantle, convincing the world and Justice League that he is Bruce, having died and become an android as a backup plan. 

In Batman #147, Bruce is alone and on the run after escaping from Zur's private prison. The context of that situation makes Bruce reflect on who he's been and should be – namely, seeing what Zur has become makes Bruce deeply question the "gruff loner" version of Batman he often resorts to being. 

The choice Bruce needs to make gets driven home when Tim Drake, Robin III, turns out to know Bruce so well that he deduces that Thomas Wayne's old cabin is where Bruce would hide. With Batman and Robin (III) back together again, Bruce and Tim prepare for war against Zur. Bruce confesses that he's realized that Zur had been manipulating him for a long time, psychologically seeding him with doubts about his relationships, and the concept that Batman's "strength" is in operating alone. With that kind of perspective, Bruce decides to go in the other direction to fight Zur: relying on his family and allies as his strength. 

That kind of 'new Batman' attitude needs a new costume to match – so Bruce makes one: 

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(Photo: DC)

The new suit Bruce designs goes back to the gray-and-blue color scheme of Silver Age Batman, with a yellow utility belt. That said, even though the color scheme is classic, and the Utility Belt and briefs on the outside are classic touches, the actual aesthetic of the costume is new age, with an armor-plated design to the shirt piece. The cowl incorporates both blue and gray colors and has medium-long ears. 

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The idea that Zdarsky seems to be building toward with his "Dark Prisons" story arc, is that Batman is heading for a new era, in which he's a bit "lighter" in the sense of working with others and embracing his role as a father figure and leader. With Batman lore having taken on a darker tint since the late 1980s, there are probably a lot of fans ready for that kind of change. 

Batman #147 is now on sale. 

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