In a major rewrite of Batman lore, DC reveals there’s been a secret team working for him for over eight decades. The Dark Knight is famous for keeping secrets, but this is one of the biggest of his entire career.
While Batman has a reputation as a loner, he’s been cultivating allies from the very beginning. Starting out with butler Alfred Pennyworth as support staff, the Dark Knight formed his first true alliance with Commissioner Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent (who tragically became Two-Face.) After them came not just the Bat-Family, but the Justice League, Outsiders and Batman Incorporated.
However, it turns out there’s been a secret team working for Batman behind the scenes all along – one he only just discovered himself…
Batman Lore Introduces the Society of the Midnight Key
In the recent Batman #12, the creative team of Matt Fraction, Jorge Jiménez, Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles officially introduce the Society of the Midnight Key. The group are a secret organization who work to support vigilantes from behind the scenes.
Before his death, Batman’s longtime butler Alfred Pennyworth was a member, arranging for his grand-niece Verity Pennyworth to take his place should he perish in the line of duty. Alfred’s hologram (or possibly hallucination) informs Bruce that “as long as there have been men and women such as yourself, there have been men and women such as myself at their sides. We built the society to train our successors.”
The Society wasn’t exactly a secret from Batman – Alfred had left details in documents the Dark Knight couldn’t bring himself to review – but its scope certainly is. Batman didn’t know his father figure was part of a secret society who work to support superheroes, and was totally surprised to find a replacement for Alfred arrive on his doorstep.
Verity Pennyworth Is Officially a Bat-Family Hero
Alfred Pennyworth started out as the Wayne family butler, but when Bruce’s parents died and Batman was born, he was forced to become support staff for a sprawling superhero family. Alfred was investigator, medic, chef and tech support for a whole group of superheroes, as well as personally fighting supervillains like Joker and Scarecrow when they got too close to home.
His death left the family without that support, and Verity is here at Batman’s new majordomo to take over. In Batman #12, Bruce and his son Damian battle to stop six assassins who have come to the city to assassinate Bruce Wayne. The first two are taken out because Verity pits them against each other, proving her value to Batman’s operation.
While Batman expected Damian to be deeply suspicious of Verity, Alfred’s word goes a long way, and it seems she’s very quickly earned the position she was trained to fill.
Which Other Heroes Are Working with the Society of the Midnight Key?
With the introduction of the Society of the Midnight Key, fans are left asking which other heroes are connected to this clandestine team. Alfred’s comment that the Society goes back to the start of the age of vigilantes implies that several Justice Society of America members could be connected, with heroes like Hourman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Sandman and Doctor Fate all being wealthy enough to have personal staff in the vein of Alfred.
Other likely candidates are Oliver Queen’s Green Arrow and Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle, however it’s possible that the Society of the Midnight Key goes beyond just butlers and majordomos. Which other characters are secretly members of the Society without anyone realizing? (Superman’s pal Jimmy Olson would be a likely candidate.)
Batman lore just introduced a secret society of normal people who have trained their entire lives to back up DC’s greatest vigilantes. While Alfred and Verity Pennyworth are officially confirmed as members, who else in the DC Universe is part of the Society of the Midnight Key, and exactly how influential is Batman‘s new secret society behind the scenes?
Batman #12 is available now from DC Comics.
- Created By
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Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- Alias
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Bruce Wayne
- Alliance
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Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family
- Race
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Human
- Franchise
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D.C.