Batman (Jace Fox)

Timothy "Jace" Fox is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Len Wein and Irv Novick, he first appeared in Batman #313 (1979) as one of the sons of Lucius Fox, an associate of Bruce Wayne who manages Wayne Enterprises and supplies equipment for Wayne's double life as Batman. After years of absence, the character reemerged during the Infinite Frontier relaunch with a rebooted origin and stars in the I am Batman comic series.

Batman
Jace Fox as Batman, as depicted in I Am Batman #1 (November 2021). Art by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and Dave McCaig.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Timothy Fox: Batman #313 (April 1979) As Batman: Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 (January 2021)
Created by	Len Wein Irv Novick
In-story information
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Terrible Trio Batman Family New York City Police Department
Partnerships	Katana Luke Fox
Notable aliases	The Vulture
Abilities	Genius-level intellect, advanced hand-to-hand combat, marksman, and highly skilled acrobat and gymnast. Utilizes high-tech equipment and weapons

The current version of the character is a former hedonistic playboy whose irresponsible lifestyle led to a hit-and-run killing. When his father uses his wealth to suppress his culpability and ships him to military school, Tim's relationship with his family is strained. After graduating and becoming an adult, Tim secretly spent his time as a covert mercenary, trained by Katana and other mentors under the name Jace before returning to Gotham, where tensions between himself and his family continues. Learning of his father's involvement with Batman, he adopts the Batman mantle and later begins operating in New York City while reconciling his relationship with his family. As Batman, Jace Fox differs from the original in his more restrained approach to crime-fighting and how his identity as an African-American influences his outlook and perception as a vigilante.

Publication history

The character first appeared in Batman #313 in 1979, created by writer Len Wein and artist Irv Novick. A minor character initially, the character appeared less than ten times prior to his reemergence. In 2020, the character would be reinterpreted under the name "Jace Fox" and was provided with a new origin during the Infinite Frontier initiative, appearing as the new Batman incarnation as part of the Future State event. In October of 2021, the character would be the star in the I am Batman ongoing comic series, following the character adopting the Batman mantle. The character's status quo being in New York City was announced shortly after, slated to take place in the sixth issue of the series.

Characterization

"Jace’s origin is completely different. He was the one who inflicted damage on a family. He was the one who shattered a family. He was the one who literally ran from responsibility. And he realizes he has a responsibility, not just to fight crime, but to inspire people to do better. To inspire them as a person, certainly to inspire them as a young Black person. To be part of the solution and not just wait for the system, because the system too often fails, but to have a moral compass, because he saw what happens when justice is, in his opinion, perverted by his father, who had all the means in the world to put his thumb on the scales of justice."

— John Ridley

While discussing the character's status quo in relocating to New York City, Ridley explained the series was intended to focus on a Batman story with a character whose ties were to the Fox family. While Luke Fox's character was considered for the exploration, Ridley believed Tim to be a better fit due to Luke's character being established and required reconceptualizing Luke to fit a new direction. Ridley believed that Jace also represented the discord within the Fox family in the narrative and was already estranged from prior stories and wanted to build off of those previous stories. Ridley also added that he intended for Jace's origin and approach to be different from one another, whereas while Batman operates using fear in part of making villains feel the same kind of fear he had when witnessing his parents' death, Jace was the individual who caused rifts in his family due to evading responsibility thanks to his father's wealth and influence within the criminal justice system and seeks to both own up to it ultimately and inspire others (including African Americans) to do the right thing rather than wait for the criminal justice system to address moral failings.

Ridley also intended for Jace's methods to include a reluctance in how he uses his wealth to fight crime, the character having witnessed how it can obstruct justice and also operates with a different level of restraint in which makes him more compliant with local law enforcement's methods. In the I am Batman series, the character is deputized as part of local law enforcement by the mayor.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths

Timothy Fox was the son of Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox. The two fell out due to Wayne competitor Gregorian Falstaff, who fabricated evidence that Bruce Wayne was a slumlord. Protesting his father and his business, Tim joined a gang led by his friend Ron Watkins, who was secretly an employee of Falstaff. After learning the truth about Watkins and Falstaff, he left the gang and made up with his father.

Later on, Tim fell in with the criminal group, The Terrible Trio, taking on the identity of The Vulture and attempting to rob guests of Bruce Wayne's penthouse, but was subdued and captured by Batman.

Infinite Frontier

After years of absence, Fox returned under DC's Infinite Frontier relaunch. In his rebooted origin, Tim, due to his family's immense wealth, became a hedonistic playboy, indulging in a jet set life of non-stop partying and promiscuous affairs.

On the night before his seventeenth birthday, an angry Tim stormed out of his party after a failed attempt to seduce a girl who had caught his eye. While driving on the phone with another girl, Tim failed to notice a man crossing the street, ramming into him with his car. Tim went to check on the man, who was terribly injured, and, despite the man's pleas, Tim ran away to his father. Lucius hired a team of lawyers and private investigators to protect his son from the legal consequences. It was discovered that the victim was an alcoholic domestic abuser, and the team made the case that he was too drunk to notice the traffic light change. When Tim protested his father's actions, he was shipped off to military school. After a decade abroad being trained by multiple teachers, including that of Katana, Timothy, now going by his nom de guerre of "Jace", returned home as his father inherited the Wayne Family's fortune. His return home briefly upended the family, with his sister Tamara falling into a coma, his brother Luke refusing to acknowledge him, and his sister Tiffany becoming estranged from Luke. Eventually, Jace discovered one of Bruce Wayne's old Batsuits in an abandoned area in Wayne Enterprises.

The Next Batman

Jace officially takes up the mantle of Batman, choosing to appropriate the Dark Knight's identity under the notion that his father and Bruce Wayne were corrupt. Subsequent skirmishes with the Magistrate led him to reconcile with Lucius, moving to New York City where Tamara would undergo her recovery. His arrival in New York resulted in him being forced to join the NYPD's Special Crimes Unit, nicknamed "Strike Force Bat", by Mayor Villanueva. He soon after faces off against Manray, his first villain, in an encounter that ends with Batman being forced to run, much to his embarrassment. Their next fight ends with Batman finally gaining the upper hand, though it sets off his tumultuous relationship with other NYPD officers.

The new Superman asked for Batman's help amidst the death of his father and the Justice League, seeking to form a new one, though Batman rebuffed him, not wanting to end up like his dead predecessor.

The Question came to New York City, seeking Batman's help with solving the murder of Anarky. Their investigation led them to discover that, although Anarky had been shot by a kid named Morris Caulfield, the lethal wounds had already been inflicted by someone else. They were able to solve the mystery, apprehending a group of radicals named The Rest of Us, with the Question passing on her mantle to Hadiyah, a friend of Batman's. However, Tiffany Fox had recently donned her own vigilante outfit, seeking to help a friend, and briefly fought with members of Strike Force Bat. Looking into the recent encounter, Batman was attacked by Sinestro, who manipulated his sense of reality to make him believe he'd murdered an officer.

Dark Crisis

Being quickly defeated by Sinestro, Jace resolved to face his fears, going to confront him directly. Though Sinestro employed numerous constructs to whittle down the new Batman's hope, handing him a ring to end his own life, Batman used the ring to defeat him before Pariah retrieved him through a portal. Recognizing that Superman needed a Batman, he traveled to the Hall of Justice, where the heroes and Deathstroke's forces were having their final battle.

Arriving at the Hall of Justice with multiple other heroes, Batman worked with Mr. Terrific to alter Pariah's Anti-Matter Cannon, while Yara Flor used her lasso to distract him, and Superman held off his Dark Army. Batman successfully altered the machine, using it to defeat Pariah, and then joined the other heroes in the final battle, along with the returned Justice League.

Abilities and equipment

Similar to Batman and other human crime-fighters in Gotham, Fox possess no inherent superpowers but is skilled in hand-to-hand combat due to both his military training and mentorship under Katana. Furthermore, despite the character's view that both Luke and Lucius are geniuses, Jace also possess a high level of intelligence within his own right. Jace also demonstrated a strong will from enduring experiences in a Markovian secret prison and Sinestro's yellow power ring, a trait credited to making him worthy of the Batman mantle. Supplied by his friend Vol, Jace has a Batsuit designed with Non-Newtonian fluid, allowing his armor to be powerful but lightweight.

Other versions

• In the possible future of "Future State", Jace succeeds Bruce Wayne as Batman, fighting to topple the Magistrate. He is also a member of the Justice League.

In other media

• Jace Fox as Batman appears in DC Legends.

Collected editions

Title	Material collected	Published date	ISBN
Future State: The Next Batman	Future State: The Next Batman #1-4 and material from Future State: Dark Detective #1-3, Future State: Nightwing #1-2	June 2021	978-1779510648
Batman by John Ridley The Deluxe Edition	Future State: The Next Batman #1-4 and material from Batman Black and White (vol. 5) #1, Batman: The Joker War Zone #1	June 2021	978-1779511263
The Next Batman: Second Son	The Next Batman: Second Son #1-4 (original published online as The Next Batman: Second Son chapters #1-13)	September 2021	978-1779513601
I Am Batman Vol. 1	I Am Batman #0-5	August 2022	978-1779516619
I Am Batman Vol. 2	I Am Batman #6-10	March 2023	978-1779519979
I Am Batman Vol. 3	I Am Batman #11-18	September 2023	978-1779520548