Batman Vol. 4 #9 Review & Character Guide: Operation Peregrine Begins

If you have been following my reviews, you know I actually praised Batman Vol. 4 #8 for taking a break from the action. In that issue, Commissioner Vandal Savage sat in a room with Mayor Poison Ivy and quietly, legally turned Gotham City into a weapon against the Bat-Family.

Batman Vol. 4 #9 is what happens when that weapon fires.

I am going to do this review a little differently. Usually, I stick to a standard breakdown of the story, the art, and whether the book is worth your money. But this issue throws the entire Bat-Family into a meat grinder, and if you are a new reader who just jumped onto this 2025 relaunch, you might be wondering who all these people running from the police actually are.

So, we are going to start with exactly what happens, and then break down the players on the board.

Full Spoiler Summary: The Night Gotham Burned

Consider this your spoiler warning. If you have not read Batman Vol. 4 #9 yet and want to go in blind, skip to the character guide below.

Last issue was the boardroom deal. This issue is the execution. Savage initiates Operation Peregrine, sending heavily militarized GCPD and TUCO squads crashing through the doors of every known Bat-hideout, bunker, and data center in Gotham City.

This isn’t a fistfight in an alley. It is a coordinated, city-wide eviction. Bruce, Barbara, Damian, Duke, and Stephanie are forced into full retreat. They aren’t trying to win; they are just trying to wipe their hard drives and get out alive before the cops bag them. Matt Fraction writes this with pure panic, and guest artist Ryan Sook makes the claustrophobia feel real.

They almost pull it off. But the issue ends with a massive status quo change: Barbara Gordon is caught and arrested. The Bat-Family is scattered, their resources are burned, and Oracle is in handcuffs. It is a brutal cliffhanger that sets up everything coming next.

Who’s Who: The New Reader Guide to Batman Vol. 4 #9

If you only know Batman from the movies, seeing five different heroes scrambling in the dark might be confusing. Here is exactly who is on the board in this issue, and why they matter.

1. Batman (Bruce Wayne)

• The Basics: You know him. Billionaire, no superpowers, obsessive about saving a city that currently wants to arrest him.
• His Role Here: Bruce isn’t throwing batarangs at supervillains in this issue. He is acting as a wartime logistics manager. He is making the hard, cold calls about which caches to save and which to abandon while the police break down the doors.

2. Oracle / Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)

• The Basics: The former Batgirl who became the information hub and tactical center of the entire Bat-Family. She is the glue that keeps them all alive.
• Her Role Here: She is coordinating the massive evacuation, trying to keep everyone one step ahead of the TUCO squads.
• Why She Matters: Her arrest at the end of this issue is the biggest moment of the series so far. It completely removes Bruce’s tactical advantage and directly sets up her upcoming spin-off series, Barbara Gordon: Breakout.

3. Robin (Damian Wayne)

• The Basics: Bruce’s biological son, raised by assassins. He is highly trained, arrogant, and constantly trying to prove he is better than everyone else.
• His Role Here: Damian is handling the physical evacuation tasks while dealing with the emotional tension of watching his father treat a catastrophic loss like just another day at the office. He is the most volatile piece on the board right now.

4. Batgirl / Spoiler (Stephanie Brown)

• The Basics: She has been a Robin, a Batgirl, and Spoiler. Unlike Bruce or Damian, she actually acts like a normal human being who stumbled into a family of damaged geniuses.
• Her Role Here: She is boots-on-the-ground support during the raids. If you are a new reader, Stephanie is usually the easiest character to relate to when things go completely insane.

5. The Signal (Duke Thomas)

• The Basics: A newer addition to the family. He operates as Gotham’s daytime protector and has actual metahuman powers (light manipulation and enhanced vision), which makes him unique in this lineup.
• His Role Here: Duke is part of the resistance trying to keep their operations breathing while the city burns them down. If you want a hero closer to a modern generation’s perspective, Duke is a great entry point.

Why Issue #9 Actually Matters

This is not just a bad night in Gotham. It is a fundamental shift in the rules.

For the last eighty years, the GCPD might not have always liked Batman, but they tolerated him. With Operation Peregrine, the city government is now a hostile occupying force. Savage isn’t acting outside the law; he is the law.

Furthermore, pulling Barbara Gordon off the board changes the dynamic for the upcoming Bad Seeds summer event. Bruce is flying blind, and the family is broken.

If This Is Your First Batman Comic…

If you just picked Batman Vol. 4 #9 up because you heard the relaunch was good, take a breath. Do not panic about knowing eighty years of backstory.

You do not need to know the history of every single safehouse that gets raided. Just focus on the core dynamic: Bruce and his family are fighting an entire city system that has turned against them.

If you want to catch up on how we got here, I highly recommend going back and reading my Batman Vol. 4 #1 Review to see how this reboot started, or checking out my breakdown of the Batman Vol. 4 #8 political takeover.

Score: 8.5/10

Buy it because the stakes actually feel real. The Bat-Family doesn’t lose often, but when they do, it hurts.

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