One of the paradoxes Morrison is slowly unpacking over the course of Batman and Robin is that Dick Grayson's search for an identity of his own, as Nightwing, has led him right back to the Batcave, not just to return as Robin but to take on the identity of Batman for himself. Happily, this has not been done through a lot of woe-is-me-ism, but Grayson is clearly conscious of the difficulty the cape presents: the cowl of Batman isn't merely a way to stay anonymous, it's an identity unto itself.

There have been some marvelously human moments, too, such as Grayson doubting his own performance after speaking to Commissioner Gordon, and a cop noticing that Batman's voice sounds different now. These little comments and asides reveal the seams on the suit: Batman is not the costume, he is the person inside and when that person changes, people notice.

This theme comes to fruition in classic Batman style in Batman and Robin #5. Batman's villains have always been variations on ways Bruce Wayne could have gone wrong: the Penguin and money, the Joker and his peculiar combination of madness, chaos and meticulous plans, Catwoman and vigilantism, the Scarecrow and fear, and on and on across the dozens of villains in the Batman pantheon. The current arc, featuring the rise of a "new" antagonist known as the Red Hood, is the first appearance on the scene of an unquestionably Batman-esque villain - ie, an opponent who is an example of one of Batman's potential missteps - who is also uniquely an example of how Dick Grayson could have taken a wrong turn.

Take it as read that the person under the hood in this particular incarnation of that villainous identity has a history that mirrors Grayson's own, as I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might be a few weeks behind on their comics and who doesn't read every Batman-related title. Suffice to say, there is a compelling and tragic story there. Beyond that, though, this Red Hood is obsessed with one thing and one thing only: brand management. Repeatedly over the course of Batman and Robin #5 we see him explicitly aware of a perceived need to construct a specific brand through catch phrases and literal calling cards, perform that identity in attention-getting ways and then reinforce this new spin on an old name across those performances.

The Red Hood knows that he isn't the first person to wear that helmet and he's become more obsessed with wearing it in a specific style than he has with any sincere motivation. The Penguin is sincerely obsessed with money and power and ceaselessly pursues them. Harley Quinn is sincerely obsessed with the Joker (and Ivy - I am entirely in agreement with AHR on this point). The Red Hood, or at least this one, may have moments in which he seems to be sincere about what he calls "results," and he does demonstrate tactical success in his efforts, but the fact that his every decision is made in the context of what he believes Batman would or would not do reveals his real purpose: he's obsessed with the identity and role of Batman in Gotham and what it takes to be seen as rivaling, replacing or opposing that, not with his stated mission. I've read several reviews of this issue in which the writer hated #5 because they felt the Red Hood was insufficiently developed or too run-of-the-mill. I didn't have those difficulties with this issue, in part because I see the Red Hood as at least in part a parody of characters such as The Punisher and in part because this is an issue that knows Batman's villains are meant to be twisted reflections as much as anything else.

The Red Hood is an explicit study of what goes wrong when someone lets the symbol become the substance, when an obsession with assuming the mantle of an archetype leads to obliteration of the self. He is someone who calls down fire and can't feel it burning him. That tragic paradox is the very thing Grayson has to avoid. Rather than let himself and the lessons he has learned as Robin and as Nightwing be erased in service to the bat signal, Grayson must make the identity of Batman his own. As much as he needs to fill the gap left by Bruce Wayne he also needs to make the bat suit fit Dick Grayson. The most dangerous thing to Grayson isn't necessarily Batman's or Gotham's enemies; his greatest risk is that he'll become so obsessed with Batman that he'll forget those enemies even exist.

The Batman myth - and plenty of other comics, but I think especially the dark knight - has in the modern era always been about the question of whether the hero wears the mask or the mask wears the hero but this is the most explicitly I've seen it explored and I love it. Dick Grayson's own story has for decades been about his own attempt to escape from Batman's shadow and create a name and place for himself. Is the story of Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin that Grayson will find a way to let the very mask he sought to escape become the armor he molds to protect and promote the sense of self he's developed over the years? If so, kudos. That would be something genuinely unexpected.

I think part of why I find these aspects of this issue to be so compelling is that they're questions we've all had to ask ourselves. Who in the queer communities has not at some point in their lives had to question the performed role they present to the world and their own ability or inability to play that part? Dick Grayson is doing something that feels like the opposite of coming out but that's exactly what it keeps making me think about. I keep trying to describe the feelings that generates in me, but without success. I just keep thinking about friends I've known who could or could not face who and what they were and how each of them tackled that in their own way. Grayson's story, especially in issue #5, resonates with those people and their experiences somehow, more so than the simple allegory of most heroes with secret identities and dual lives.

In many of Morrison's other writings, comics or otherwise, he explores questions of the fluidity of identity and both the empowerment and dangers that can come from experimenting with who and what one is at a given time. With Batman and Robin #5 he seems to be telling stories of both the good and the bad that can result from that, in every case: Batman, Robin, the Red Hood and Scarlet are all people wearing new names, new faces, who find power and peril in them and who aren't yet quite sure what to do. He's talking to every teenager in the world with that story, every closet case, everyone who's just realized they were born the wrong sex, everyone who feels like their skin doesn't fit. That's powerful stuff, and what Batman may be better at demonstrating - and Morrison better at writing - than any other example in mainstream comics these days.