As a Batman writer, Peter Tomasi has given us so much when it comes to Harvey Dent and his relationship with Bruce, but thereโs one very weird bit that Iโve never been able to talk about without spoiling a major (and completely bonkers) twist.
In Tomasiโs โMythologyโ storyline, the final plot twist reveals that Bruce spends every birthday in a sensory deprivation tank with a VR hookup, brainwashing himself into living out a nightmare scenario where heโs pushed past his physical and psychological limits. Itโs kinda like the Batgirl โdeathโ episode of TNBA, only Bruce purposely does it to himself to make himself a better Batman.
So, yeah: totally normal, perfectly-hinged Bruce behavior.
In this particular VR brainwashing birthday scenario, he makes himself believe that Leslie Thompkins has been murdered and Alfred (who has not yet been really killed in Tom Kingโs run) is wounded and on the brink of death. Looking for answers, Bruce does what any Worldโs Greatest Detective would do: beat the shit out of random Arkham inmates for info.
We then skip ahead past Bruceโs bloody interrogations, a choice thatโs barely treated as Batman having crossed a moral line. In effect, just him being a cop-on-the-edge trope. Not one of his better moments, even if we already know this is just a computer program scenario that Bruce himself programmed.
We donโt see the actual beatings, just the aftermath. It wouldnโt even be notable to me if it werenโt for the brief moment at the end:
Bruce. Why. Why did you program a VR scenario where you beat up your tormented murderer best friend and have Harvey take your fists with a smile and a happy wave while you promise/threaten to return to beat him up some more? What does this say about you? What the hell do you even think your relationship with Harvey is at this point???
