Warning! Spoilers for Batman Secret Files: The Signal #1!
In The Signal is on the case to protect Batman's ego, or else he might get offended at what this market has to offer.
Revealed in the first issue of Batman Secret Files: The Signal by Tony Patrick and Christian Duce, daytime protector of Gotham City and integral Bat-Family member, The Signal aka Duke Thomas, is doing his rounds in the early hours of the morning when he’s attacked by two ex-We Are Robin . Originally friends to these new vigilantes in the not too distant past, Duke is quickly taken down and quite literally used to open a portal to this secret White Market via his own light-based powers, and the powers of his former friend.
Opening up into a bustling market full of criminals and low-level super villains, this White Market is immediately seen to be a place where anyone (or anything) can obtain any number of powerful weapons, rare enhancements, unique elixirs and serums, job offers and more; all orchestrated by sellers and buyers that aren’t exactly on the up and up. And it’s here – as Duke jumps into the portal and turns himself invisible to snoop around the market unseen – that it’s made known how far along this market is in of gadgets and tech that rival The Dark Knight’s own.
Wandering around the market to get the lay of the land, Duke notices some gadgets that might actually be better than Batman’s, but are far more deadly than anything he’d ever consider using. Watching as criminals literally disintegrate unlucky captives to test out the most powerful weapons on display, witnessing exchanges as villains are sold on genome juicers that can “multiply your skill set times three!”, and ing by a baddie that utilizes a knockoff yellow lantern ring to give yet another unfortunate captive a shortened lease on life, it’s clear that most of these gadgets and pieces of tech match Batman’s in of quality and uniqueness.
But perhaps one of the best “gadgets” that Duke comes across that’s most certainly leaps and bounds better than what Batman has to offer is a single tiny vial of Joker toxin serum. Assumedly able to cure anyone afflicted with Joker’s specific brand of lunacy, Duke almost snatches the vial, no doubt wanting to cure his parents from the effects of a toxin that even Batman hasn’t been able to figure out.
So while this White Market also has a security protocol that magically “dissipates” the entire location before The Signal can further investigate, it can’t be denied that Gotham City's new one-stop shop for the criminal element has proven to have better gear than even Batman himself. But don’t tell Bats that, he’s kind of running low on that kind of fancy stuff as of late.
