Warning: spoilers ahead for Batman: Urban Legends #8!
While Batman may have trained a large number of wards over the years, they're generally on equal footing when it comes to fighting. While every Robin excels at one particular thing such as hand-to-hand combat or detective work, usually they’ve had a similar overall competence and amount of power. As of Batman: Urban Legends #8, however, DC has revealed one of Batman's wards is likely to grow far more powerful than the rest, and it’s none other than Duke Thomas, the Signal.
In Batman: Urban Legends #8’s 'The Outsiders: The Fearful' by Brandon Thomas and Cian Tormey, 30 years have passed after the events of Future State, and Gotham City is an apocalyptic mess lorded over by Gothamites driven insane by Scarecrow. As one of the few survivors, the Signal embarks on a quest to fight his way to the ruins of Arkham Asylum. Having become a powerful mage since the events of Future State, Duke plans on using the site of Arkham Asylum to conduct a ritual to send the soul of Black Lightning back in time to prevent the creation of the Fearful, a metahuman who secretes potent fear gas from his pores, and serves as an accelerant to Scarecrow’s plans to plunge Gotham into fear-driven anarchy. The ritual is successful, and Black Lightning travels back in time, regroups with the Outsiders and convinces them to help him in his quest to alter the timeline.
While already a powerful metahuman, Duke’s power only grows in the years following Future State, as he opens himself up to the mystic arts and thrives under pressure. In this dark future, Duke wields a soul-stealing blade containing the soul of his dear friend, Black Lightning, and manages to learn magic, taking on the powerful demon familiar Teekl as an ally (and steed.) Duke also comes into possession of something called a “Demon Arm,” which further increases his magical capabilities. Black Lightning himself states when explaining his situation to the present-day Outsiders that Duke has become “one of the world’s most powerful mages.”
The Signal is already being groomed by Batman to take his place at the head of the Justice League, but now it’s apparent that Duke is one of the most powerful people Batman has had the duty of training. While the Robins have their strengths and weaknesses, the Signal is the only one of Batman’s apprentices who can boast fully-fledged metahuman abilities (his light-based powers), and in the future it appears he’ll add magic to his already fearsome arsenal. In the dark Future State timeline, Bruce's other sidekicks also rise to the occasion of a broken Gotham, but none with abilities or importance to rival Duke. While this future will hopefully be averted, magic in the DC Universe depends on a natural aptitude (hence why Batman couldn't learn it), and the fact that Duke could grow so proficient suggests he already has that in abundance.
As time passes and various creative teams explore the full breadth and depth of what the Signal can do, it appears that Gotham’s native metahuman has the potential of becoming a Superman-level hero. While most of Batman’s proteges spend some as Robin, Duke Thomas was one of the first under Bruce’s direct employ to forgo the red and green bird motif. In the end, it appears that the Signal may be the most powerful member of Batman's family, supplementing his already impressive metahuman abilities with magical powers, a lightning-powered Soultaker sword, and a magical sidekick in DC's near future.
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