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Warning : Spoilers ahead forFear State , includingBatman#113,Detective Comics#1034 , andHarley Quinn#7
As the newest crosswalk level to attain Gotham reaches fever pitch inFear State , Batman’svillains are once again convening to take over the metropolis , and , tried and true though it is , something in the old recipe just does n’t finger the same any longer . As longtime bacillus - level villainScarecrowprepares to let loose his common fear - based program upon the beleaguered inhabitant of thecrime capital of the mankind , it ’s difficult to not find a pang of déjà vu at the spectacle , an unexplainable sensation that all of this has pass off before . That ’s because it has , and Gotham deserves well .
mastermind by James Tynion IV , Fear Stateis the Bat - titles ' 2021 follow - up crossing to 2020’sJoker War , which see the people of Gotham call on away from Batman following an prolonged period of chaos , elect an anti - vigilante city manager , Christopher Nakano . The account has deep tie to the Gotham City see in DC’sFuture Stateevent . In that potential future tense , Gotham becomes a police state where vigilantes are killed on slew and Batman is believe to be beat , lead a new Dark Knight to rise and take up his crusade .
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TheFear Statestoryline pits Batman and allies against a multifariousness of confederated enemies who have various contend schemes to take over Gotham , most notably Scarecrow , who is using Gotham ’s citizen as a test in his strange , large - scale science experiment known as the “ care state , ” andbillionaire industrialist Simon Saint , who is trying to slide his style into power in Gotham with his Magistrate security program . And both of these villains , while superficially imposing threats , are really just kind of the same old thing , along with the sleep of Gotham ’s current nuisance .
A Series of Vague, Unrealistic Plans
In edict to sympathize the current job with Batman ’s villain stable , it ’s important to recognize the chief inspiration behind the current story - arc : the 2015 video gameBatman : Arkham Knight . In that plot , the primary storyline involves Scarecrow teaming up with the Arkham Knight , unveil tobe a version of Jason Todd , who together usurp near - consummate restraint of Gotham using Arkham Knight ’s rogue paramilitary operation . Batman , over the path of a individual nighttime , must end their reign of terror , all the while struggling to stave in off genial willpower by The Joker(played by the inimitable Mark Hamill ) , who , having break in the former game , appears as a delusion throughout the narrative .
revere Statesets up a similar premise , with Saint , a thinly veil Steve Jobs parallel , standing in for Jason Todd . UnlikeTodd and Scarecrow in the Arkhamverse , however , their partnership does not last long . While the two are in the beginning allies , with Saint breaking Scarecrow out of Arkham and in secret financing his “ fright state ” experiment , Scarecrow release on Saint inBatman#111 following a typically megalomaniacal declaration that he will push the masses of Gotham “ into a true fear DoS . ”
Saint ’s original idea is to use the ghost of Scarecrow ’s terroristic activities to induce Mayor Nakano to follow up the Magistrate curriculum , where Saint will render cybernetically - enhanced private soldiers to act as police against both supervillains and masked vigilantes like Batman , a condition illustrated in theFuture Statealternate timeline . By eventually derive complete dominion over the urban center , Saint hope he will be able to go through Scarecrow ’s fright state hypothesis to test his own schemes of Orwellian ascendance , likely in preparation for an even big - scale platform . His plan have already begun breaking down , though , ashis first vigilance man , Peacekeeper-01is presently wander the street of Gotham in a fear toxin - induced ego - aggrandizing delusion , killing anyone he amount across . Mayor Nakano , whose approval Saint needs to go forward operate on the Magistrate programme , is view shutting down the programme as ofDetective Comics#1043 .
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An Overreliance on Fear
The Scarecrow , also fuck as Dr. Jonathan Crane , is one of Batman ’s erstwhile villains , having debut inWorld ’s Finest Comics#3 in 1941 , and is well - known for using his “ fear toxin ” to psychologically destroy anyone who stands in his way . In fact , most of , if not all of his previous villainous schemes also rely upon this gimmick . Tynion introducesa potential origin to Scarecrow ’s obsessionwith panic and the “ fear state ” experiment through a flashback to Crane ’s graduate education inBatman#113 . The younger Crane explain his possibility that , by pushing a population into a state of absolute little terror , hump as the “ veneration province , ” it is possible to enact veridical societal change , in that , the act of forcing a group of people to confront a collective fear they otherwise would not confront countenance a universe to then jointly conquer say previously insurmountable fear and be better for it . It is a plan that takes a rather impersonal linear perspective on human psychology , quite fitting for a pitiless madman .
In his fulmination , Scarecrow reveals a cardinal part of his design demand the use of narrative handling in the spiritualist to further beget an atmosphere of paranoia and uncertainty , andTynion does conspicuously focusquite heavily on the media ’s bearing throughout the story - spark . Simon Saint is completely preoccupy with his media appearance to the compass point where he will alter his fantastically complicated plot for jibe a more suitable media story . One germane plot of land thread demand his scapegoating of a circle of vagrant nomads known as the Unsanity Collective , about whom Saint plants stories in the medium charge them of form with Scarecrow so he can judge them as terrorists and set the Magistrate upon them ( after he himself employ them to commit criminal offence . )
However , give an environment of mistrust using the media and imbue fear in the public with draconian law enforcement measures in an campaign to reenact control are not raw or particularly novel idea , as both were written about extensively by academics such as George Orwell and Michel Foucault . These tactics were on full exhibit in fascistic societies of the early 20thCentury such as Nazi Germany , with by all odds less than healthy results when implemented . Scarecrow’splan is basically flawedbecause concern on a large scale does n’t charm mass to conquer their inner daimon together : it by and large just get people to slash out in anger and mistrust . While this might be Scarecrow ’s ultimate goal , it is a hackneyed one , as he ’s attempted this dozens of time across the 80 - year history of the character .
A Chain of Fools
What Saint and Scarecrow are relying on for their plans to succeed are multiple factor that are well beyond their mastery : Saint needs the support of municipal government , the continued public achiever of his Magistrate initiative and the cooperation of the medium , while Scarecrow want to push a certain doorsill of the citizenry past a nebulous limit of “ fear ” where he might properly lead off his experiments . Neither one has a square holdon all the variable to their schema , and , compounded by the presence of a massively power - up Poison Ivy underneath the urban center , it ’s potential this crossover is n’t even going to cease up with them as the main villain , given how much they ’ve struggled already .
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Perhaps the most emblematic villain of the bankruptcy of Batman ’s scallywag ’ art gallery inFear Stateis Hugo Strange , an evil psychiatrist who was also sprung from jail by Saint to assist his effort . While antecedently Strange had been exploit on the city ’s behalf to “ clean house up ” the streets ( while secretly inject former Joker thugs with a mystic serum ) , thanks toHarley Quinn ’s successful strikeon his laboratory / prison , Strange is reduced to literally running around Gotham in a Batman costume , scaring random criminal by punching them . While certainly a direful prospect , this is objectively a far cry from the more serious terror Gotham has look .
Batman’sFear Stateis a story about how injury can push citizenry to the brink of saneness , but so far , all it ’s demonstrating is thatBatman’svillains are the unity who in all likelihood need the therapy . Which makes gumption , after all , because they are insane .
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