Batman #125 features the Dark Knight recalling a moment in history where he debated the futility of his mission and considered throwing in the towel.
The latest issue of Batman reveals a moment in the Dark Knight's history where he briefly considered hanging up the cape and cowl and letting the world know about his secret identity.
Batman #125, the beginning of a new story arc by writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Jorge Jiménez, features Batman and his third Robin, Tim Drake, infiltrating a party for Gotham's rich and famous.
When the party is crashed by Clayface masquerading as the Penguin, panic breaks out and Tim Drake is shot by a thug in the neck.
As Batman races his sidekick to the hospital and quickly switches Tim out of his costume to keep his secret identity from being exposed.
In a series of flashback panels, Batman remembers "a different time, a different soldier." In the aftermath of Jason's demise at the hands of the Joker,
who beat the boy senseless with a crowbar and then blew him up in the classic 1988 tale A Death in the Family, Batman also had to frantically change so that civilians could discover his body.
When Jason died and I removed that costume I thought...is there a bottom to this mission?" Batman asked himself in the moment.