The Batcave is one of the coolest locations in comic book history, and a large part of that is because of Batman's habit of collecting trophies, which serve the crucial purpose of reminding his readers – and just as importantly, himself – of the adventures he's been through. In one story in particular, this was taken a step further, by giving Batman his darkest trophy yet.
In the story "Twenty-Seven" – written by Scott Snyder, with art by Sean Murphy, featured in Detective Comics #27 – Bruce Wayne awakened in a strange version of the Batcave, one full of trophies and other things that he didn't recognize, except for one: Crime Alley.
Of course, Crime Alley is the location where Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered. Meeting an older version of himself, Bruce learned that the neighborhood of Park Row was destroyed during a meteor shower, but he managed to preserve Crime Alley, bringing it into the Batcave.
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While it might make sense to Bruce that he would preserve the place of his parents' death, to most, it is another alarming sign of Batman's inability to heal from his trauma.
Crime Alley Was The Place Where Batman Was Traumatized For Life
Detective Comics #27 "Twenty-Seven" by Scott Snyder, Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth, and Steve Wands.
"Twenty-Seven" envisions a far-future Gotham, in which Bruce Wayne has enacted a unique contingency plan, in order to continue protecting the city in perpetuity. As readers learn alongside the freshly awakened latest incarnation of Bruce, every twenty-seven years, a new Batman clone is grown to take over for the previous one.
From nearly the character's beginning, it has been a unique facet of Batman's character that he has a habit of keeping trophies. From a giant penny to a robotic dinosaur, a giant Joker playing card to the diary of a detective, and dozens of other things. Most of them are celebrations of the adventures he's gone on. Others, like Jason Todd's old Robin suit, are mementos of his failures, so that he'll never forget, or repeat his mistakes. Bruce has always been someone who keeps trophies, but the future in "Twenty-Seven" showcases the darkest trophy the Batcave has.
While it might make sense to Bruce that he would preserve the place of his parents' death, to most, it is another alarming sign of Batman's inability to heal from his trauma – something that is passed down through his line of clones. With the vast amounts of resources Bruce Wayne has, he could also have fixed and renovated Crime Alley anytime he wanted. He could've paved the entire neighborhood over, but he didn't, because he needed that place to continue to exist.
Crime Alley Is Where Batman Was Born, And He Can't Let It Go
Bruce Needs Crime Alley
With Batman being completely unable to let go, he needs to be able to visit the site of his parent's deaths, to remember what he's fighting for. As "Twenty-Seven" makes clear, each successive incarnation of Bruce removes the previous Batman's trophies from the Bat Cave, signaling a fresh start. That is, with one major exception: Crime Alley. Since a past Batman made it part of his lair, that has always remained a constant through subsequent generations. As heartbreaking as it is, Crime Alley is Batman's darkest, and most important, trophy.
Detective Comics #27 is available now from DC Comics.
Batman
One of DC's most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world's leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
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