Chase's adventure in Gotham ends in a fashion that I don't think either of the main characters was suspecting. Placed in the position of unmasking Batman, Chase chooses not to, unaware that Alan "Sentinel/Green Lantern" Scott has taken Bruce Wayne's place beneath the cowl.
There's some interesting character development here for Chase, paralleling what we saw for Batman in the previous issue. Chase's attitude toward masked vigilantes has bordered on hatred for much of the series, but here we see her taking on a more tolerant attitude. It could be that her exposure to the kinds of threats that are presented by the villainous side of the superhuman community has swayed, if only slightly, into realizing that such extreme circumstances require extreme reactions. I think what I'd like to see is her interacting with one of the more public, and altruistic, characters, someone like Superman, perhaps.
One of the ramifications I could have seen growing from this issue, one that would have made for a very interesting shift in the DCU, would be the interest of the superhero community in the workings of the DEO. Batman even evinces some respect for Chase's abilities as an agent, and is genuinely surprised when she fails to unmask him. Though we're meant to be seeing Chase as a human operative in a superhuman world, she's on her way to becoming a liaison of sorts, and one that takes no shit.
Johnson and Williams III produced a number of further Chase stories in the Secret Files and Origins specials published through 2001 - 2002, so I'll be doing my best to track those down over the next few days. I still have the one million issue to read, so that'll be tomorrow, and hopefully I'll find a copy of issue 9 fairly soon. This series has been a pure joy to read.
See you tomorrow.
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