Batman's New Costume Permanently Rewrites DC Lore For The Better

DC's latest Batman redesign gives the Dark Knight a costume that permanently changes DC lore, transforming a historic alliance in a way that's likely to ripple out into the future.

In recent comics, DC has been flashing back decades to an earlier era of Batman's career, exploring how he tried to mentor and work alongside a young hero codenamed Prion, aka Ramon Reynoso.

Flipping between Ramon's short career and the modern day, DC has revealed how this young hero changed Batman - a transformation made manifest in the Dark Knight's latest costume change.

Batman Adds Flight Squadron Delta To Official DC Lore

In earlier issues, Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary worked alongside Prion, who suggested they become an official team as 'Flight Squadron Delta.' Impressed by a powerful hero stealthy enough to follow him undetected, Batman considered the offer, but sadly Ramon died soon after in a freak training accident.

In the modern day, Ramon's daughter Arabella has taken his place as the new Prion, uncovering a dark conspiracy to brainwash her superhuman family into becoming tame assassins. To investigate the conspiracy, Batman breaks out the Flight Squadron Delta costumes he'd been storing away in the Batcave, finally bringing Ramon's dream to life.

The black and grey costumes turn Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Arabella's Prion into a matching team, as they free three generations of Reynosos from inhuman control. The costume comes complete with a logo that combines each of the heroes' identities.

The new costume is a big deal because it takes Flight Squadron Delta from an 'almost' team to a 100% official one. Batman has joined very few teams he's not the unquestioned leader of, and being in Flight Squadron Delta makes his relationship with Green Arrow and Black Canary far closer, while also forging a strong bond with Arabella that's likely to continue into the future.

Prion Deserves a Future in DC Comics

Recent issues of Detective Comics have revealed that as well as enhanced physiques, each of the Reynoso family possess a 'death touch.' They're able to cause death on contact, leaving no evidence and even delaying the effect for hours after, making them the ultimate assassins.

The story ends with Arabella free from the malevolent brainwashing that was forcing her to act as an assassin, and permanently taking up her father's Prion codename. It's likely Arabella will return in future Batman stories, with Batman respecting Arabella and feeling he has a serious debt to pay, holding himself responsible for Ramon's family remaining enslaved after the hero's death.

It's also revealed that Flight Squadron Delta's adventures alongside the two Prions have brought Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary closer, with Batman finally admitting her respects Oliver Queen's Emerald Archer despite their differences. Fans can expect to see the quartet back in their matching costumes in future, as this onetime team is the exact kind of detail that tends to spawn later comic adventures.

DC Pulled Its Punch On Prion's Darkest Twist

As compelling as this arc has been, the story ends by taking back its most interesting twist. In previous issues, it was suggested that a tragically unlucky punch by Black Canary killed the original Prion, causing near-immediate heart failure.

The story ends by revealing he was killed by his own family's death touch, with the heroes hiding this fact from his mother and daughter, one of whom was presumably forced to kill Ramon.

While it's understandable that DC doesn't want to hang the death of a young hero around Black Canary's neck, it's disappointing to lose this dark, morally complex plot point so quickly, especially with Dinah's guilt relatively unexplored. However, with Batman keeping the true cause of Prion's death a secret from his daughter and Arabella taking the first steps into a superhero career under the Dark Knight's wing, the saga of 'Flight Squadron Delta' is clearly only just beginning.

Detective Comics #1112 is available now from DC Comics.