In Batman: Urban Legends #5, the Dark Knight just got outsmarted by DC’s most cunning liar and it costs him a very important piece of intel.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers from “The Long Con” in Batman: Urban Legends #5, on sale now from DC Comics.
In Batman: Urban Legends #5, by Matthew Rosenberg, Ryan Benjamin, Antonio Fabela, and Saida Temofonte, Grifter has been playing a sinister game in “The Long Con,” working many players in Gotham City to achieve some ulterior motive. Cole Cash manages to manipulate the likes of Lucius Fox, Wayne Enterprises security, and the evil organization Leviathan in a skilled and masterful way that has rarely been seen.
As the story wraps, it becomes evident that Cole has outsmarted Batman as well, proving that he’s DC’s most cunning and effective liar.
Even though Cole is generally not a man to be trusted, Lucius hires him as a bodyguard out of respect for his skills as a mercenary. Bruce Wayne also saw potential in him, using biotech and partnering with Halo to make Cole a version of a super-soldier. After taking up the Grifter mask from his dead brother, Max, though, Cole’s turned into something of an anti-hero, yet still making his mentor, John Lynch, proud. Unfortunately, Cole’s working against the Dark Knight as his endgame is to steal Bruce’s info from Lucius’ computer.
He begins by faking the deaths of Nora Fries and Toyman, all to get the Bat-Family against him. It takes Bruce a while to figure out the bodies are fake, due to Cole’s talent at pulling off the ruse. Things got worse for the Dark Knight when Cole was revealed to be an agent of Leviathan, seeking a trade to get a seat at the top of the table.
Amazingly, Grifter is manipulating Leviathan as well, as he wants the data for himself. Still, despite stealing a guard’s key pass, he only has access to the room and not to the machine itself. To get what he needed, Cole slept with Lucius’ security chief, Chance, and realized he needed Lucius himself to open the database. To get this done, Grifter faked a war with Deathstroke to distract Batman and had Leviathan attack Lucius’ office. Cole was setting himself up as someone who couldn’t do the job and had a change of heart, tricking both Batman and Nightwing into helping him get in the building. As he protects Lucius after regaining his boss’ trust, it’s revealed that he’s really duping him into removing the data off the machine. In the crowning moment, Cole holds Lucius at gunpoint and steals the data.
Cole then reveals the final part of his puzzle — the WildC.A.T.S — who teleport in, help him evade the attackers and then teleport him out. Grifter makes it clear he’s not on the villains’ side and they’re indeed the good guys, leaving Lucius and Bruce more than a little concerned. It’s a genius stroke, playing off logic and emotions, and fools several highly intelligent individuals including the Dark Knight Detective.
Cole shows his worth as a tactician, using sex and violence to form the perfect strategy. Ultimately, with Zealot helping him out in the field, Void handling the teleporting, and Nora working with the rest of Cole’s team, there’s no telling what’s coming next.
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