The events of this issue happen just before the events of Batman Incorporated #8 where the Damien Wayne Robin dies. My look at the ramifications and import of this issue comes a little out of order with the death of Robin but this particular issue sheds significant light on the mindset of Batman and his team just before the entire Batman universe is turned upside down by Damien's death.
As I said before, Tomasi entitles this issue, "Nightmare City" he could really called it the "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" issue as that is what it specifically deals with. This issue not only comes at time of deep turmoil within the Batman family but it holds up a mirror to our society in general as the men and women of our armed forces are returning home from war.
Here's how the U.S. National Library of Medicine defines PTSD, "PTSD is a potentially debilitating anxiety disorder triggered by exposure to a traumatic experience such as an interpersonal event like physical or sexual assault, exposure to disaster or accidents, combat or witnessing a traumatic event. There are three main clusters of symptoms: firstly, those related to re‐experiencing the event; secondly, those related to avoidance and arousal; and thirdly, the distress and impairment caused by the first two symptom clusters."
Tomasi and his artists, Gleason, Gray and Kalisz, give the Batman readership a valuable lesson in what our fighting men and women are coping with as they return home not to mention the thousand of ordinary citizens that are inflicted with this painful disorder.
Before I get into the real life issues that PTSD represent let's take a look at Tomasi's version as depicted in the of a Batman comic.
Damien's dream state immediately takes him to place where he is seemingly safe aboard a submarine while the turmoil of the forbidding ocean roils just outside replete with images of those both loved and hated. He meets with a mirror image of his self wherein he struggles to work out the duality of his life and it often threatens to tear him apart.
His subconscious reverie is rudely interrupted when the image of a drowning Alfred swirls before him. Why Alfred and not his Father? Alfred represents a rock of stability to Damien. Someone to come home to and provide him with the nurture and safety his young mind sorely needs. To see this endangered beyond Robin's reach is the trauma his conscious mind can't hope to deal with. His father on the other hand represents everything that is wrong with Damien's world as we'll see in the next panel.
Damien's mind releases him from the shock seeing Alfred in danger but sends him to the other pole of his broken psyche where his father's influence dwells. Here Damien is faced with the brutal image of his father being fed off of the inspiration that had led him on the path of darkness and revenge. A giant horrific bat embodies this trauma, the very thing that led Batman down the path of crime fighting also threatens to suck all that is good out of him and with him Damien also. Again, another duality that threatens to divide Damien into pieces.
As for Alfred, his nightmare includes him looking from a helpless distance as the Joker destroys the family he has charged himself with protecting from their own worst fears as he provides them with a sounding board to release their inner demons, provide them with sustenance and balm the wounds both internal and external. To be apart from this family is Alfred's worst fear.
Unlike Damien, Alfred's subconscious provides him with an outlet that resolves his internal conflict with the neat and tidy solution of blowing the Joker's head off.
Despite the obvious pain this act causes Alfred, enough to wake him up and reflect on his subconscious actions, this resolution actually calms Alfred's tattered psyche and he is at peace with his mind's solution as evidenced by the slight smile as he drifts off to a now peaceful sleep.
Batman's internal struggles takes him to familiar territory. That of the loss of his parents as a young boy. His dead parents still speak to him and his life is represented by the fragility of a paper boat.
It's not long before that fragility is tested and Batman finds the two things that tethered him to his innocent past are pulled away from him and he is helpless to see them disappear into his life's work personified by the Bat symbol.
The only thing that tethers Batman to his sanity is the thought of his son, his biological son, reaching out to him and tangibly representing the family that he now knows, loves and embraces.
While Batman has set his life work on avenging the loss of his parents and dedicating his future to the salvation of others, his true salvation comes in the form of Damien. Now Batman takes the role of parent helping him heal the psychological trauma of losing his own parents and being there for Damien. Bruce can come to terms with his internal struggle by balancing his work with that of fatherhood. While this doesn't exactly solve Damiens problems, it does help Bruce by giving him someone to share his problems with and while Batman/Bruce is aware he's putting Damien in harms way it is better than going it alone and falling into the abyss that is comfortless isolation.
This is made all the more distressing by the events of Batman Incorporated 8 and the loss of Damien.
To turn the page from fiction to reality we get the stark reality of Chris Kyle and his shocking death. Kyle, the so called, "Devil of Ramadi" was a veteran of the Iraq war and dedicated his life to helping those that returned from armed conflict. Sadly and ironically he died at the hands of a fellow veteran he had sought to help through what the thought was the healing force of handling a gun and the power of wielding one peacefully. Unfortunately, this didn't extend to his last subject as his weapon was turned against Kyle ending his life. Please read this excellent story by Time magazine into this tragic tale.
We can all help our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers as they return from war such as giving to efforts as PTSD Survivors of America and Pets for Vets.
*Update*
Here are two more charitable groups that deserve our support the first of which is Team Rubicon that does so much to rebuild area hit so hard by natural disasters. The second is Team Red, White and Blue where group therapy provides the boost our returning veterans need.
As fans of Batman we owe a debt of gratitude to DC Comics and the creative team of Peter Tomasi and company for exposing the dangers of PTSD. If you know of someone that needs help reach out to them immediately and start them on the road to recovery.
Be a real life hero. It's what Batman would do.
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