Batman Admits His Lifelong Mission Will Never Succeed
Batman admits that he'll never really win his war on crime in Gotham after a climactic final battle with the new antihero vGhost-Maker in Batman #105.
Spoilers for Batman #105 by James Tynion IV, Carlo Pagulayan, Danny Miki, Alvaro Martinez, Christian Duce, and David Baron!
Batman just acknowledged that his war on crime will never end and that Gotham can never truly be saved - though it's certainly not for lack of trying on his part. Batman's war on crime is all-consuming, and recent complications in the Caped Crusader's personal life have made it much more difficult. Alfred Pennyworth is dead, and Bruce Wayne's fortune is gone along with his beloved butler and father figure.
To make matters worse, Batman is being targeted by an old, lethal rival in the form of the Ghost-Maker. A fellow crime-fighting student trained by many of the same masters Bruce was, Ghost-Maker arrives in Gotham shortly after the end of the Joker War, hoping to take the former's role as he believes Batman has failed Gotham. At one time, the two vigilantes were close friends, but Ghost-Maker saw incredible weakness in Bruce's refusal to kill his enemies and the care he showed for people in general.
In an effort to teach him of his failings, Ghost-Maker locked Batman up in Arkham along with Harley Quinn and Clownhunter. As Harley was with Joker on the night he killed Clownhunter's parents, Ghost-Maker left the young man unbound in an effort to have him kill the reformed villain. Batman breaks out of the gurney he was strapped to and sets Harley free, where she apologizes to the young man and warns him of the path he's going down. Clownhunter leaves just as Ghost-Maker arrives, setting the stage for a brief sword fight between the former friends. Bruce admits that he'll be fighting to save Gotham for as long as he lives, arguing that it's not about changing the city, but the people who live in it. Putting down his sword, he asks Ghost-Maker to join him on his mission on the condition that he stops killing. Ghost-Maker accepts the offer, and the two set out as friends and partners.
The idea that Bruce's war on crime will never end isn't an old one. It's been echoed in stories like Frank Miller's seminal The Dark Knight Returns. As long as Gotham stands, there will always be a vicious criminal element terrorizing the city, but then again, there will always be a Batman there too. It might not always be Bruce under the cowl, a theme prevalent in everything from The Dark Knight Rises to the upcoming Future State event, but Batman's crusade is eternal.
Bruce admits that he knows he'll always be fighting makes his heroism all the more moving. As seen in the issue, his motivation is rooted in how much he genuinely cares for the people of the city, even it's criminals. It's part of the reason why he famously refuses to kill. Because Gotham is a people, not a city. If there's a chance someone can change for the better, Batman will do everything he can to help. Harley's reformation is living proof of this and that Ghost-Maker's brutal methods are not what's right for the city. Because Batman will never fail Gotham.