Batman ’89: Echoes #2: Your Real Face

In the first issue of Batman ’89: Echoes, a lot was established. Bruce Wayne vanished a month ago, but Batman has been inactive for two years. Barbara Gordon is now the captain of the GCPD, and Firefly, a.k.a. Robert Lowery was busted and is now being admitted into Arkham Asylum where the shady Jonathan Crane treats patience.

The first couple pages in issue two sees and confirms a developing conspiracy around the disappearance of Bruce Wayne. Alfred heads into an auto repair ship where he meets with a man that tells him that Bruce is in need of his fingerprint kit. Fearful, the man also warns Alfred that the “whole thing” might blow over and if it does, to mention three names to Captain Gordon: Maynard, Desmond, and Kashif. Alfred eventually speeds away from the shop, zooming past a character that seemed to be following him.

Believe it or not, one of the biggest criticisms of this era of Batman ’89 is that, two issues in, there is no Batman. Given the cover of the comic back and the name “Echoes” could mean a couple things. One, this is the origin story of Batgirl. The other potential meaning could be that Bruce’s time as Batman is up, and that Harley Quinn is Batgirl’s version of the Joker, which most likely isn’t too far fetched. While Harley hasn’t committed any nefarious acts so far in this run, she has an unstable demeanor about her.

Then there’s the development of Dr. Crane himself. Being a doctor at Arkham, he sits with Mr. Lowery in his office. They talk about his manifesto, allude to Hugo Strange’s crimes where he supposedly made people into weapons, and then Dr. Crane suggests a fear test where he will show Mr. Lowery a couple images and see how his heart responds to the sight of them.

Lowery’s responses were significantly better than the supposed last time he took the test under Strange’s administration. This causes Dr. Crane to harbor the suspicion that Lowery is not the person he says he is.

On top of that, a news anchor is trying viciously to get more information about the psychotic Firefly through Harley Quinn, who has insight knowledge on what goes on in Arkham. Harley tries to go through with the anchor’s request, only to be shut down by Crane. One interesting thing that Harley does do, is that she administers what she calls “Persona Therapy”, where a patient disassociates from the version of themselves that wants to perform socially unacceptable acts. When she checks in with her patients at the end of the second issue, one asks to see her real face, which is when she begins to paint her face white.