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I Am Batman #4 and Batgirls #1 confirm that the evil army that has recently plagued DC’s Dark Knight is still operating in Gotham City.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from I Am Batman #4 and Batgirls #1, on sale now.
Although their grand debut during “Fear State” was nothing short of a complete disaster, the Magistrate is still affecting the DC Universe. The organization itself has been officially disbanded but the technology it produced appears to still be in use, with multiple factions appearing with access to said tech.
The most concerning of these new groups appears in I Am Batman #4 (by John Ridley, Stephen Segoyia, Christian Duce, Rex Lokus, and ALW’s Troy Peteri). Lucius Fox is seen negotiating with a man named Victor Noonan, a government official attempting to jumpstart a program called T.A.L.O.S. (Tactical Assault Lightweight Operator Suit). The idea behind T.A.L.O.S. is the production of a new and improved Magistrate. The suits themselves would be a mix of battle armor and machine learning even more advanced than the Peacekeeper armor. Ostensibly meant to be a form of homeland security, Lucius rightfully pointed out what it could easily become: martial law ruled by a nearly unstoppable military.
What’s even more disturbing is that despite the many flaws of such a program, the government seems fully onboard to co-opt this technology in an attempt to use that power for their own ends, which may lead to the same problems the Magistrate had. However, this time the issues could potentially affect the whole country as opposed to just one city.
Meanwhile in Batgirls #1 (by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Jorge Corona, and Sarah Stern), Spoiler and Orphan have run into a new group of criminals calling themselves the Saints. These people are utilizing what appears to be a more extreme form of Peacekeeper armor alongside robotics. While not much is known about this new group, they have stated that they exist to prevent the Magistrate from dying out, meaning they will continue their mission to hunt down masks and enforce their own brand of military justice on the streets of Gotham, ostensibly becoming the equivalent of a highly weaponized street gang.
This raises a number of concerns, as Batman has already had problems containing one Peacekeeper, let alone an entire group. Even worse is the fact that the Saints seem to be using much more advanced armor than their predecessors, putting much more destructive power at their disposal.
Through the introduction of these deadly new groups, the Magistrate is still doing harm to the world. It’s continuing to make Gotham’s streets unsafe and potentially lending its power to would-be dictators who want to enforce their will on the entire country.
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