And for yet another issue, the Knightmare continues. After the last issue that, for some reason, involved the Looney Tunes, the actual story looks to get back on track before the whole thing derails. What will the Batman see this time?
(Spoilers Incoming)
The issue opens with Supergirl opening the Fortress of Solitude for Lois and Selina. As Supergirl flies off to deal with an asteroid heading for Earth, the two women drunkenly run into the Fortress. At the same time in Gotham, Bruce and Clark are having Bruce’s bachelor dinner. However, while the girls are bonding, the boys are relegated to awkward small talk. As Lois and Selina move through the Fortress, they find a room filled with alien alcohol that was gifted to Superman. Of course, the two drink as much of it as they can. At Wayne Manor, Bruce is walking Clark around, showing him the artwork spread throughout the house.
After drinking all of the alcohol, Lois shows Selina something called a Paradise Pool that Superman took from Brainiac. According to Brainiac, whoever gets in the pool will experience “bodily bliss” to the point where they may never want to leave. So, naturally, both ladies strip out of their clothes and dive in. Meanwhile, Bruce and Clark sit awkwardly in front of a tv. After getting out of the pool, Selina and Lois raid Superman’s suits and dawn them for themselves. Not long after, Lois summons Superman’s robot security (that look exactly like Clark), and has them start a…show for herself and Selina. Back at the manor, Bruce beats Clark at chess. After the show, the girls get massages from the Supermen and decide that they should probably call it a night before Selina throws up again. However, rather than bother Supergirl again, they use Jimmy Olsen’s signal watch to call Bruce and Clark. Things at the manor, however, have taken a turn.
While sitting there discussing marriage, Clark tells Bruce that his worse nightmare has always been being happy. “This is why you drove her away. This is the reason she left you on that rooftop…Why you think I can be married, and you can’t. I love being Superman, but I hate that I have to be Superman. You, Bruce…you hate being Batman. But you love that you have to be Batman.” Before Bruce can respond, Clark hears the signal watch, and the two of them head to the Fortress. As the couples reunite, Selina tells Bruce that she made a friend, and Bruce tells her that he loves her. As she tells him she loves him too, we see where Batman has actually been this whole time. We see the Dark Knight strapped into a machine with wires attached to his head, chest and arms, screaming out, wishing for the nightmare to end.
It was nice to see Selina and Lois back together, even if it was only for an issue during a nightmare. Unfortunately for Batman, I think something Clark said in the nightmare was true: that Bruce loves that he has to be Batman. While this was leagues ahead of the previous issue, I do hope that since we actually saw Batman in the machine, this marks the close of the Knightmares arc. It was a solid idea that added to the story, but I feel like it began to drag on after having to break for the Price crossover with Flash. Hopefully now, the story can regain the momentum it had when Flashpoint Batman attacked the Batcave. I think that it’s time to get the ball rolling again and kick the story into a higher gear. After all, nightmares can only last so long.