Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Other History of the DC Universe #3
In the latest issue of DC Comics’ The Other History of the DC Universe, the idea is presented that Batman’s ‘no killing’ rule is a myth. This line of thinking comes from none other than Tatsu Yamashiro, otherwise known as the former assassin-turned-hero Katana. Serving as the issue’s narrator, Tatsu shares her life story and her own unique perspective on the ’80s and early ’90s of the DC Universe, and this includes her first impressions of Batman. From the outside looking in, Katana proposed that the idea of Batman having never having killed anyone was a great big lie that all of Gotham City chose to believe.
In The Other History of the DC Universe #3 from writer John Ridley with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Katana shares how she first met the Dark Knight in the nation of Markovia during the origins of the Outsiders. From her point of view, Batman had already become a legend in the ’80s, though she was confident that his legend was purely “self-generated” and that the rest of Gotham simply bought into it in order to maintain the idea that they had some sort of savior watching over them.
While Katana herself never had a problem with people recognizing the fact that she brought death with her Soultaker blade as an assassin, she seemed to think Batman was covering up his own lethal methods up in order to appear more righteous than he actually was. Katana believed that the biggest lie and hypocrisy of the Dark Knights’ mythology was that Batman never killed anyone, and she breaks down several reasons why she thought that there must be countless bodies buried all over Gotham City that were conveniently ignored.
It’s not hard to see where Katana is coming from after seeing her whole argument laid out. How could Batman really never kill someone, given the immense amount of damage he delivers on a nightly basis? Is he really so benevolent and righteous as Gotham’s protector and Dark Knight that he’s never taken a life? Perhaps even DC readers themselves have been duped this whole time into believing that Batman has never killed anyone in his crusade for justice.
In truth, Batman actually is that noble and determined to not kill, and the damage he delivers without taking lives is the result of his immovable commitment to his code, as well as his years of highly specialized and comprehensive training to deliver controlled, precise, and restrained force. Furthermore, Katana’s hypothesis is told in the past tense, indicating that she (probably) doesn’t still believe in the first impressions and beliefs she initially had about the Batman, more than likely seeing the truth the more time she spent working alongside him with the Outsiders. While they wouldn’t ever grow to become close allies or friends, it does seem as though she came to see Batman for the moral hero with an unbreakable code he truly is in DC Comics.
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