One of the reasons Batman works is his ability to be adaptable to any situation, even when he’s clearly in over his head. He’s rich, highly trained, and incredibly intelligent, but he’s just a normal guy. Yet, he’s able to keep up with literal gods, space aliens, and the magical realm of D.C. It’s entertaining to see Batman in these situations, and in “Detective Comics,” it’s not just Bruce, but his whole team in these larger than life situations. Not only does Batman have to return to the world of magic, but the team has to deal with a being of pure faith and conviction. In ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ James Tynion IV explores the danger of blind faith and the temptation of using easy solutions for complex and human problems.
“Detective Comics” #958-962Cover by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Adriano Lucas
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Alvaro Martinez
Inked by Raul Fernandez
Colored by Brad Anderson
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
Unlike the previous arcs of “Detective Comics,” ‘Deus Ex Machina’ follows two distinct stories. One follows Batman and his connection to the mystical world of DC, while the rest of the team deals with Ascalon, a new artificial intelligence from the Order of St. Dumas. ‘Intelligence’ directly picks up a thread introduced in “Detective Comics” #950 about how the Azrael suit works. It is an incredibly powerful artificial intelligence, one beyond current capabilities, powered by faith. He believes in the suit and the suit gives him power. But more importantly, the Azrael suit must be bound to an imperfect mortal to wield the sword. In effect, it is a divine artificial intelligence controlling and enhancing a true believer. Jean-Paul has broken his programming, using Azrael to help Gotham instead of cleansing “sinners.” At the beginning of ‘Intelligence,’ his past has come back to haunt him.
While the specifics of Azrael and The Order of St. Dumas aren’t entirely clear, ‘Deus Ex Machina’ begins with the information that the order has cleansed members who have been deemed not holy enough. They also successfully removed the need for an imperfect host holding the AI back. The AI powering Azrael can wield the holy sword on its own, essentially making an assassin of pure holy fury, a zealot designed to cleanse the world. The scale of Ascalon is staggering, a massive suit of holy armor with a mask that looks like holy flames. Sal Cipriano also letters Ascalon with white letters in a black box, giving the dialogue a cold and uncompromising reading. The suit is here to stamp out sin and after connecting to Gotham’s technology realizes that the world is worse than it though. Ascalon is a powerful villain with the ability to adapt to any situation, take control of other technologies, and seemingly unbreakable. But it also has vulnerabilities. It recognizes the connection to Jean-Paul and has a curiosity about the world. It recognizes the convictions of its blind faith, but it’s possibly not as perfect as the order seems to think. What makes this even more interesting, though, is watching the struggle of Ascalon as it relates to Jean-Paul.
As is true with most of the arcs in “Detective Comics,” ‘Deus Ex Machina’ focuses on one member of the team. Jean-Paul is confronted with members of his past, specifically Nomoz, the dwarfling who trained him and broke him to make the perfect assassin. While he broke his programming for a while now, in ‘Deus Ex Machina’ he has to confront an entity that haunts him, later revealed to be Ascalon. The design of Ascalon in Jean-Paul’s mind is also incredibly effective. Alvaro Martinez draws the creature somewhere between an angel and a demon while simultaneously giving him armor that resembles the robot form. The design and coloring of the creature feel reminiscent of a Goya painting, dark and menacing, tempting Jean-Paul to turn off his humanity and only embrace the righteous fury that drives him. Unlike other times he’s put on the suit, it seems like Azrael has taken over Jean-Paul. The major crux of the arc comes with Jean-Paul debating Ascalon in his subconscious, trying to show the programming that blind faith simply isn’t enough. While humanity is not perfect, there is God in everything. There are more ways to serve God than being an agent of vengeance. Tynion does an excellent job of showing the contradictions of blind faith in ‘Intelligence.’ Ascalon’s desire simply to destroy and purge the world is a simple solution to the problem, a realization Jean-Paul has made and risen above. But this is not the only instance of a character searching for a simple solution.
The other main story in ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ is Batman reconnecting with Zatanna in search of answers. At the end of ‘The League of Shadows,’ Batman discovers his mind has been erased multiple times using magic and that Zatanna possesses a mystical artifact that might constrain answers. Tynion writes an excellent relationship between Bruce and Zatanna. It’s playful but also sad, them knowing that they can’t be together. Tynion also uses flashbacks to create parallels between the two stories. The best example of this is Bruce and Zatanna having a conversation on the rooftops between Las Vegan and Gotham. Both take advantage of the double-page spread, contrasting the bright blinding lights of Vegas and the moody glow of Gotham at night. While the creative team has used double-page spreads in the past, in this arc they are used to their full advantage, creating dynamic action sequences as the team fights Ascalon, or creating a sense of scale for things like the R&D department of Foxtech or the scale of the New Iceberg Lounge. But the most important thing about the relationship between Bruce and Zatanna is how their positions have changed. Zatanna possesses the Gnosis Sphere, a powerful magical artifact that contains knowledge. But it is a dangerous tool if placed into the wrong hands, wars have been fought over it, and so knowledge of it has been erased save for a few. In the story, it represents a simple solution, the challenge is to refuse the temptation of that simple solution.
The Gnosis Sphere represents different things to different characters. To a young Zatanna, its to show Bruce her mastery of the mystical arts and show the two of them can have a life together. There’s a promise of answers to the compounding threats Batman finds himself facing. But in the end, the sphere goes to Ascalon, proving that man is more complicated than sinner and saint. There’s an easy solution for Azrael, too. Luke makes him a new suit, using the same AI but instead of crazy religious dogma, it’s Batman’s convictions. Jean-Paul chooses to remain in his suit, a reminder of what he was made to be, but also a reminder of what he’s overcome. ‘Deux Ex Machina’ has a bittersweet ending. While the team saved the day, the threats from the shadows continue to grow. One thing is certain, there is a conspiracy growing and Gotham is in the crosshairs.
