Batman's problems in Gotham cannot be resolved as easily as calling the Justice League. For many, it is disconcerting to see Batman carrying out his mission to save Gotham as a one-man army when he is the founder of the Justice League. Sure, he's got the Bat-Family to help, but when DC's quintessential superteam is just a distress call away, this should probably solve all of the city's problems in one fell swoop.
Batman: Dark Ages #5 by Mark Russell and Michael Allred goes a long way towards reiterate how and why the Justice League cannot be the Dark Knight's – or any superhero's – one-stop shop for solving their own personal problems. Batman comes to the League begging his friends in Gotham for help, and since there are more pressing matters at hand, the Justice League is forced to turn down his friend.
Several cities in the DC Universe are forced to take a backseat to Justice League affairs because The Justice League's affairs span the entire galaxy and cannot focus on just one city on Earth.
The Justice League tells Batman they can't save Gotham – it's too small
Batman: Dark Ages #5 by Mark Russell, Michael Allred, Laura Allred and Dave Sharpe
In the fifth edition of Batman: Dark Agesthe Caped Crusader was put to the test in a conflict with Ra's al Ghul. In this universe, Batman's rivalry with Ra's led the latter to burn down Arkham Asylum – where Bruce's mother was once a patient – in an explosion that killed the love of his life. His rivalry with Ra's was grueling enough that Bruce Wayne not only feared he couldn't beat him, but almost dropped his hood because of the ordeal.
His last resort to save Gotham City was to ask the Justice League for help.. In the Hall of Justice, Batman addresses the League, voicing his grievances and concerns about Ra's Al Ghul, and practically begs for their help in saving Gotham City. However, his call to action falls on distracted ears, not necessarily because of a lack of interest from any of the heroes, but because something much bigger happened while Batman was away and focused on Gotham.
After speaking with Brainiac, the Justice League now knows that the Anti-Monitor is about to drain the entire universe in antimatter. But before that happens, Brainiac plans to remove Earth's biosphere. Briefly, the Justice League has bigger things to worry aboutproblems that affect the entire galaxy, and they don't have time to focus on just one city on one planet. Batman's concerns about Gotham have to wait, and if he can't wait, then he will be left alone to defend Gotham alone.
Gotham isn't the only city left behind by the Justice League
Just ask black lightning in the suicide slums
Gotham City isn't the first city in the DC Universe that can't receive the Justice League's full attention, and it likely won't be the last. Another example comes in the form of the suicide slums of Metropolis, now renamed the Southside Heights neighborhood. Readers familiar with Jefferson Pierce will remember that one of the main reasons he became Black Lightning is because Suicide Slums was once the area of ​​Metropolis that all superheroes ignored, including the Justice League.
While there's obviously more to Black Lightning's origin story than that, the fact is that the Justice League failed in the Suicide Slums. At a time when crime was rampant in the neighborhood, superheroes passed through the area every time. However, as with Batman, it wasn't a personal firing – it's just that there are always more pressing, often crisis-level, problems elsewhere. Metropolis itself is rampant with Superman's rogues gallery, a group full of intergalactic threats that will always take precedence over the street villains of the slums.
The Justice League is an intergalactic superteam, not a citywide task force
Batman learned his priorities the hard way
There's a reason why the affairs of Metropolis are Superman's sole responsibility – until a potentially global threat appears, like Judgment Day. There's a reason why the Flash Family handles affairs in Central City while the Justice League doesn't have a presence there. And going back to the past, this is why Black Lightning makes the Favelas do Suicida his responsibility, despite it being a neighborhood within Metropolis. Even Metropolis is too big for Superman to handle alone, but all Other League heroes are also busy taking care of their own cities when they are not handling League business.
THE The Justice League must first prioritize the biggest threats that affect everyone in the universe.
Batman puts it best when he says that trying to compare his Gotham problems to the intergalactic crisis at hand was like “a man in a burning house trying to blow out a candle.” As great as they are as a unit, the Justice League can't be in more than one place at once. It is not a question of negligence, but rather a question of time and effort without running the risk of drainage. THE Justice League needs to first prioritize the biggest threats affecting everyone in the universe, so if that means putting Batman's Gotham on the back burner, so be it.
Batman: Dark Ages #5 is now available from DC Comics.