Fatally wounded in a battle against Mr. Freeze, Cole Cash’s life was revealed to have been saved by a familiar company,
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “The Long Con” from Batman: Urban Legends #2 by Matthew Rosenberg, Ryan Benjamin, Antonio Fabela & Saida Temofonte, on sale now.
Batman: Urban Legends #2 continues to reintroduce elements and characters from the Wildstorm Universe into the DC Universe, namely as they’re related to Cole Cash, Grifter. A quick-tempered gunslinger known for his easily recognizable mask, Grifter fits in more than any of his Wild C.A.T.s contemporaries with the grounded world of Batman.
Batman’s ties to Grifter are now stronger than ever, however, with the issue further exploring Cole Cash’s origin. Fatally wounded in a battle against Mr. Freeze, Cole Cash’s life was revealed to be saved by a familiar company, plus Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. Here’s how the trigger happy WildC.A.T. is now indebted to Bruce Wayne’s technological ally.
Grifter’s Origin
The story begins by picking up from Grifter’s origin flashback from the previous issue, where he and his brother Max were caught in the midst of an explosive battle in Gotham City against Mr. Freeze. Cole awakens in a hospital and is greeted by Lucius Fox, with the former not being sure how he survived his previous ordeal. Fox assures him that the injuries were truly as grievous as they felt, but that he should be fine now.
His situation was stabilized by breakthrough medical technology courtesy of Bruce Wayne’s funding. Wayne partnered with the Halo Corporation, a company familiar to Wildstorm fans, in order to have this technology used on Cole. Though exact details of what happened to Cole and how his life was saved aren’t mentioned, Halo’s expertise in biotech is definitely a factor, along with the fact that the procedure somehow helped Cole survive being shot 16 times.
This mysterious procedure, unfortunately, utilized experimental equipment and materials, meaning that there weren’t enough to use to also save Grifter’s brother Max from his similar injuries. Lucius gives Cole Max’s now tattered mask, which became the iconic Grifter mask, before Cole angrily tells Lucius to leave.
His accelerated healing shows up later in the story when one of Cole’s stitched wounds miraculously heals up fairly quickly. This matches the original incarnation of the character, who developed an advanced healing ability after having his psionic Gen-factor powers activated. These seem to stem from whatever Halo did to Grifter, though they may also be somewhat innate in this continuity.
Grifter and Lucius Fox
The story then goes back to the present day, where Cole is working as a bodyguard for Lucius. The job isn’t exactly going as he planned, however, when an obvious attempt on Lucius’s life resulted in a car crash and a shootout. Lucius is convinced that the car accident is merely that, but Cole springs into action when reality proves otherwise. Cole makes quick work of them, taking out would-be assassins armed with guns and even axes. He’s so devoted to the task of protecting Lucius, in fact, that he barely notices when his neck is struck and begins bleeding profusely.
Once he awakens from passing out, he immediately pulls a gun on the medics, as he doesn’t trust them with himself or Lucius. This intuition proves correct when he soon after has to save him, as they’re also part of the plot to have him killed. When he initially does slightly trust them, however, he ensures that Lucius receives medical care before he does. This loyalty to Fox may simply be part of getting his job done, but it may also stem from his new origin.
After all, Lucius was instrumental in using the Halo/Wayne technology to help save Cole’s life, meaning that Cole is inarguably indebted to him in some way. He hasn’t mentioned harboring any such loyalty to Bruce Wayne, who he seems to have only met in his alter ego. Whether this will affect his ties to the Halo Corporation and other Wildstorm characters, as well as the full story behind Halo saving him, remains to be seen.
