The Drowned Introduces Us To An Evil Female Batman

So far, DC’s latest mega crossover event, Dark Nights: Metal, has introduced us to some pretty far out characters and concepts, both in the mainline series itself and the tie-ins that complement. And not surprisingly, the one-shots detailing the backstories of each evil version of Batman to hail from the Dark Multiverse have sold like hotcakes, much like the books being penned by Scott Snyder himself.

To date, we’ve become intimately familiar with most of the Dark Knights that Barbatos and the Batman Who Laughs have unleashed on Earth-0, such as the Red Death and the Murder Machine. More recently, we were able to meet the Drowned, who is not only a twisted amalgam of Batman and Aquaman, but also someone who originates from a gender-flipped universe.

You see, where Bryce Wayne is from, she’s the Batwoman and, from what you read above, you likely came to the right conclusion in assuming she has way more in common with Bruce Wayne than Kate Kane. Now that I think about it, does this mean that Kate’s doppelganger would be the Batman of that universe?

Anyway, we’re all familiar with how much our Batman loves his Catwoman, and a similar love extends out to other universes. On her Earth, Bryce was romantically linked with a Sylvester Kyle, and the loss of him is what caused her to go off the deep end (pun intended).

Long story short, the tragic demise of her lover was what initiated her downward spiral, causing her to put in motion an abominable series of events not unlike her fellow Dark Knights. After willingly enduring painful surgery and altering her own DNA, Bryce emerges as the Drowned and causes unimaginable havoc on her world.

Likewise, she continues unleashing hell on Earth-0, focusing her unending hatred on the hometown of our Aquaman, Amnesty Bay. To put it mildly, she and her buddies are racking up quite the body count, so we’re wondering how much of a victory the Justice League will be able to claim once this story arc wraps.

Batman: The Drowned #1 is now available in comic shops.