This week from DC Comics we learn about one of the henchmen behind the scenes of Future State. Simon Saint may run the Peacekeeper project, but in Detective Comics 1039 we meet Mr. Vile. Somewhere in the timeline a Predator had a human child! Of all the villains we have seen running the streets of Gotham, Vile is something new all together.

How is this city still standing?!

The first half of Detective Comics 1039 shows the chaos spreading throughout Gotham. Between Vile and Mr. Worth, Gotham is falling apart. Mr. Worth continues his quest to exterminate both Batman and Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, the entire Gotham family races around Gotham rescuing citizens from exploding buildings and fires. We get a small glimpse into Vile, but I’ll come back to that later. Needless to say he infects people who then go off the deep end of the violence meter.

In the middle of the scramble to rescue people, Batman comes across Mr. Worth, and the mayhem ensues. This ties up Batman, leaving Huntress to take down Vile alone. Thankfully Oracle keeps in touch with everyone because no sooner does Huntress encounter Vile, he infects her. Now crazed and hungry for violence she turns on Batman against her will. Where’s Black Widow when you need her? I miss the old Huntress. This version seems to be much younger and less capable than other versions. Of course Batman takes Mr. Worth, Huntress and everyone else down, but thanks Oracle and Huntress indomitable will, Huntress manages to tell Batman light is the weakness of this parasite.

Happy days right? Not quite. Hue Vile still roams Gotham and Batman cannot operate with the police on his heels, so he tells Oracle he’s going to turn himself in to the cops. That really does not sound like a good idea, but when does Batman ever NOT have a plan?

Detective Comics 1039 – The Real Story

The first half of Detective Comics 1039 uses mostly action to tell its story. The second half, however, backs up and fills in the gaps of Hue Vile’s impossible existence. I have no idea what this alien thing is, but its been with Vile for almost his entire life. It also possesses some of the strangest powers we have seen in a Gotham villain in perhaps forever. The writers truly outdid themselves with this one.

Early attempts to remove the thing from Hue nearly killed him, so he had to live with it. What the thing did to Hue’s face is disgusting. It gave him four independent mandibles much like the Predator beasts. When they open they reveal multiple squid like tentacles that look green, slimy and gross! Then in the ending panel when he goes full on predator mode a giant…appendage, sucker tentacle, something, comes out of his mouth. This makes me wonder if he works for Simon Saint or if he’s manipulating and controlling him for his food? Its what he uses to sustain life that gets even weirder.

This thing doesn’t need to kill. It won’t suck your face off or anything. Like I said above, it feeds on fear, violence, aggression. Not only that, but it uses victims to do the feeding. He takes over the bodies, if not the mind, of a victim and sends them out to do the violence. This thing then uses some sort of telepathic link to drink in the violence and mayhem. It’s the perfect set-up really. The thing never puts itself in danger, only its surrogates. Although, after infecting Huntress we did learn one thing. The telepathic link not only lets it feed, but it feels the pain as well. When Batman uses its one weakness, light, against Huntress, not only does the infected Huntress scream, but so did Vile.

The oncoming doom of Future State just became a lot more interesting. What did you think of Detective Comics 1039? Head over to DC Fanatics and leave a comment on what you thought.