[WARNING, THIS CONTAINS LIEK MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR A BATMAN COMIC AND SHIT]

So I just finished reading Batman: The Cult, and I came across the biggest WTF moment I've ever seen in a Batman comic until probably the day I pick up All-Star Batman and Robin (aka The Goddamn Batman.)

First I believe some exposition is in order. The book starts off with Batman getting abducted by an underground cult led by Deacon Blackfire, who has taken in homeless people and converted them with a combination of brainwashing, drugs and his sheer natural charisma. He then uses these homeless people to go out and brutally slaughter criminals. He hopes to convert Batman the same way, albeit a bit more forcefully, as Batman's not too keen about the idea. Eventually, Deacon finally manages to break Batman, and in his lucid, brainwashed state, it's hinted that he finally was responsible for killing a criminal. Soon it turns out that Deacon's plan is to gain the trust of the Gotham people and then seize control of the city.
After a mistake on the part of one of the cultists, Batman manages to regain a bit of his sanity and escape, though after realizing the full extent of what he's done and what's happened to him, he has to resist the strong urge to just lock himself up in his room for the rest of his life and get back at Deacon. However, he's in absolutely no shape to kick ass, and instead gets his own ass kicked pretty easily and has to be bailed out by Robin, the two of them and half of Gotham fleeing the city after the cult rises up, assassinating the mayor, near-fatally shooting Commissioner Gordon and seizing control of the city, having found a stockpile of military-grade weapons and becoming so powerful not even the National Guard can stop them.
After a several days of prep work and Batman trying to overcome the effects of Deacon's brainwashing, they finally decide to storm the city and take down Deacon once and for all. As a group of cultists stand guard in front of the only bridge left leading out of the city, they're suddenly scattered by the arrival of a...



Bat-Monster Truck





I repeat: Batman and Robin storm through cult-controlled Gotham, in a BAT. MONSTER. TRUCK.


!?!?

Maybe I'm just overreacting here. I'm sure this thing wouldn't look out of place at all in the Adam West series (actually, this looks to be too much even for Adam West Batman,) but what makes this particularily jarring is, this isn't Adam West Batman. This is a serious, brutal, and surprisingly good story about one of the most memorable fictional crimefighters ever created having to cope with being broken and possibly even brainwashed into breaking his most cardinal rule of not killing anyone. It's not meant to be campy, it's not meant to sell a line of toys, and yet out of nowhere comes BAT-MONSTER TRUCK!


CULTISTS BEWARE! YOUR GUNS AND ROWS OF PARKED CARS ARE NO MATCH FOR BAT-MONSTER TRUCK!

All that's left is for the assault to have taken place on a SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! and the cycle of insanity will be complete.

(btw, the machine guns on the BAT-MONSTER TRUCK actually shoot tranq darts and the missle launcher is for clearing a path for the National Guard to move back in.)



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