Batman Confidential

Batman Confidential
Cover to Batman Confidential #1, art by Whilce Portacio and Richard Friend.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	December, 2006 - March, 2011
Number of issues	54
Main character(s)	Batman
Creative team
Writer(s)	Andy Diggle
Penciller(s)	Whilce Portacio, Rags Morales, Kevin Maguire, José Luis García-López, Jerry Bingham
Inker(s)	Kevin Nowlan

Batman Confidential is an American monthly comic book series from DC Comics which debuted on December 6, 2006 and concluded on March 2, 2011.

Like a previous Batman series, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman Confidential featured stories by rotating creative teams set in the early years of modern Batman’s career, post-Batman: Year One, and illustrated formative moments in the character’s past, such as first encounters with allies and foes.

The first story arc by Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio features Batman, roughly a year after he started fighting crime, in his first encounter with Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor. A long-distance laser sniper rifle is used to kill a murderer Batman is questioning.

Batman begins investigating the type of weapon, and discovers the only thing that his company had created as far as energy weapons go could not be simply carried by one man. The next day, Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor are competing for a military contract concerning a stealth interceptor robot and the O.G.R.E. disaster rescue robot. The robot tries to kill Lex Luthor, who successfully escapes into the sewers. The machine flies away.

At Wayne Enterprises Captain Jim Gordon investigates the O.G.R.E. pilot chamber and the pilot, who had died of a heart attack. Bruce Wayne is under suspicion. It is learned the pilot died before the Luthor attack. Batman devises a new way to bring down the robot; after figuring out the dead pilot's mind had been lost inside its machinery. Batman vows to restore the pilot back to life if ever possible.

Written by Michael Green with art by Denys Cowan.

One year after Batman began his war on the Gotham underworld, crime is down and people feel safe for the first time in years. Bruce Wayne enters into a relationship with Lorna Shore. Later, he investigates a triple murder and is frustrated to find no motive. Meanwhile, a man in a bar named Jack tells the waitress, Leeny, that he is so good at his job that it no longer excites him. She tells him that he owes it to himself to use his gifts to the fullest, inspiring him to try again. Days later, Jack — a career criminal — robs a bank, but once again finds himself bored. He triggers the security alarm to make the job more challenging. During a firefight with police, Batman arrives. Jack observes Batman's behavior and appearance, thinking "He looks ridiculous," and smiles.