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The world needs a human Batman, and Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez have stepped up to give us one. From the very first issue of the latest Batman saga, this Bruce Wayne has been meeting our current moment by proving himself more than just gadgets and rage, and very soon, he'll be meeting the moment even more directly, dealing with something we see too often on the news these days: Police and political corruption.

That's the story being teased for DC's Batman in 2026. As part of what the publisher is calling DC All In Act II, Batman will go toe-to-toe with his semi-regular ally, the GCPD, although it won't exactly be the GCPD fans are most familiar with.

"Commissioner Vandal Savage’s increasingly hostile GCPD and Gotham’s new mayor, Pamela Isley, escalate their war on the Bat‑Family," DC is teasing about the new status quo for Gotham City in it's press release about All In Act II. "Tightening their grip on the city and forcing Batman into impossible choices. As the pressure mounts, the story builds toward a devastating police assault that will forever alter the status quo for one of Batman’s closest allies."

Now, if you're a reasonably cynical comic book reader, you might be rolling your eyes at the phrase "forever alter the status quo" in the context of a monthly superhero book. But friends, let me remind you that Alfred Pennyworth is still very much dead in mainline DC Comics, over six years after Bane broke his neck in Tom King/Mikel Janin's Batman #77. So... this really might be about to stick, whatever is about to happen.

Of course, the key question here isn't just what the result of this assault will be, but to whom it happens. We did see Tim Drake have a run-in with police in Fraction/Jiménez's Batman #1, but that doesn't mean he'll be the target of this police assault facing the Bat-family next year. So who will be? Sorry folks, at this point, that's something even the world's greatest detective couldn't figure out.

The first issue of the new Gotham City status quo, Batman #7, hits comic shops everywhere March 4, 2026. 

He is vengeance, he is the night, he is... one of Popverse's favorite subjects. Learn how to do a Dark Knight movie marathon right with our Batman movie guide, and for the true World's Greatest Detectives out there, dive deep into the heart of Gotham City by getting to know Batman with Popverse. Here are some of our latest Batman stories:

• Batman and his prank war side from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen days will pop out some in Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez's upcoming DC relaunch
• How The Wire, prank wars, and superhero-forward comics inspired DC's upcoming Batman relaunch according to writer Matt Fraction
• DC's Batman teams up with Inception storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman for R-rated "open class warfare" story pitting the Dark Knight vs. Green Arrow and the Question