Batman’s New Appearance Changes Everything With Just 2 Words

Minotaur, the masked crime lord with seven fingers on his right hand, has been left to simmer since the beginning of Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez’s ongoing Batman run. Meanwhile, Gotham City Police Commissioner Vandal Savage has been a thorn in Batman’s side.

The latter’s schemes will transpire in Batman #8 and #9, with Batman and the Bat-Family on the run. It is unknown what shady deal Savage makes with Gotham City Mayor Pamela Isley, but it will obviously incite a mass assault on Batman that could alter what little stability and footing the book’s status quo has in its infancy thus far, including at least one Bat-Family affiliate being captured and incarcerated as a result of Savage’s successful plot.

Vandal Savage Executes “Operation Peregrine”

Ironically mirroring Mayor Wilson Fisk’s AVTF (Anti-Vigilante Task Force) pursuit of Daredevil in the Daredevil: Born Again TV show, Batman’s Operation Peregrine is simple on its face: hunt the Bat-Family and arrest them. This plot will ensue in Batman #9, with its issue solicitation reading as follows:

THE GCPD LAUNCHES AN ALL-OUT ASSAULT ON THE BAT-FAMILY!

After making a sinister deal with Mayor Isley, Commissioner Vandal Savage initiates “Operation Peregrine”, sending his brutal TUCO squads across Gotham City on a singular mission: bring in the Batman! Batman and his team must destroy and abandon their hideouts, safeguard their data, and escape the long arm of the law... but not everyone will make it safely through the night!

Operation Peregrine is still a couple of issues away, but it will be fascinating to see how the Bat-Family’s status quo is affected by it, especially with the Bat-Family going to measures as extreme as destroying and abandoning their hideouts in order to flee. This could mean entirely new bases of operations, or, more detrimentally, the discarding of the phenomenal technology and advanced gadgetry that Batman has boasted.

Operation Peregrine Seals Barbara Gordon’s Fate

Only a week after Batman #9 is released, Batgirl will be receiving the first issue of Barbara Gordon: Breakout, which is supposedly a limited series. Here, Barbara will be a Supermax inmate in a prison arc. Its solicit spares no expense in spoiling what becomes of Barbara in Batman, as it naturally must with such a specific premise for the book, and explicitly teases where Batman may have been taken if he, too, was caught during Operation Peregrine:

LEAPING FROM THE PAGES OF MAY’S BATMAN #9 INTO THE NEXT LEVEL!

Framed. Outlawed. Hunted. The extralegal activities of Gotham’s vigilantes have never been more dangerous. After Barbara Gordon is arrested for aiding the Bat-Family, she is shipped off to Supermax, GCPD Commissioner Vandal Savage’s pet-project prison for all who oppose him. She will find herself alone, surrounded by dangerous criminals and equally dangerous guards, in a place where nothing is what it seems. The true danger is just beginning…

Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and fan-favorite artist Amancay Nahuelpan reunite to deliver a twisty, unexpected Bat-book for DC Next Level.

So, with Batman #10 then dealing with the fallout of issue #9, it is clear how significant and profound Operation Peregrine will be. No mention is made of Damian Wayne, for instance, but Barbara’s capture alone is surely enough to boil Batman’s blood as crime and injustice continue to flood Gotham.

If nothing else, Operation Peregrine will likely guarantee a lot of action in upcoming issues of this ongoing Batman series. Tim may have retired from the Bat-Family of his own accord, and yet it will be intriguing to see what the status is of the rest of the Bat-Family in Batman #9 when the dust settles.

Batman #9 is scheduled to be released on May 6, 2026.