10 Incredibly Dark Batman Moments To Haunt Your Dreams

6. Batman Kills

From: "The Cult" by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson As stated in the previous entry, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is rich with comic references. But while major stories like "The Long Halloween" and "Knightfall" tend to come away with most of the credit, an alluring cult leader named Deacon Blackfire built an army in the Gotham sewers long before Tom Hardy's Bane ever did the same. This is the one where Batman breaks bad. After being kidnapped and brainwashed by the titular cult, our shining hero proceeds to gun down someone who may be the Joker, or maybe Commissioner Gordon, or maybe someone else entirely, or maybe he didn't even shoot them after all - this back and forth uncertainty is a function of Batman hallucinogenic state, and it is simultaneously frustrating and terrifying. The most haunting element is the intimation that Batman is so close to the edge of evil. "The Cult" has many, many problems as a narrative (Starlin can do better), but never has the sense of "thank goodness he's on our side" been conveyed so urgently. Despite his constantly-reiterated aversion to killing, Bruce Wayne can't deny the power provided by a gun in his hand - bringing to mind Robin's comment on the subject, "Feels good, doesn't it?", in the "Batman: Odyssey" series by Neal Adams. The real-world implications of this are, unfortunately, very relevant, with gun control laws in flux in the United Sates and the world over. This relevance takes "The Cult" into dark territory that isn't often explored in comic books.