Warning! Spoilers for Detective Comics #1035 ahead!
Huntress may have found a new way of helping the city’s people that the Dark Knight would never even think to try. The latest issue of Detective Comics sees Huntress come to a realization about how to be of service to those who need it most. And even though she is unable to prevent a tragedy, she does discover that being a hero sometimes means being a friend, and not just going around punching bad guys in the face.
a stalwart member of the Birds of Prey.
In Detective Comics #1035, the first part of the story “Huntress: Mary Knox” by Mariko Tamaki and Clayton Henry shows Huntress trying a new approach to helping people in need. After saving a woman named Mary Knox from a mugger who wants to take her phone, Helena then helps her find her cat, who ran off in the excitement. After finding him, the two argue about how Mary should have just given the mugger her phone instead of resisting him, and how it is not safe for Mary to go out alone at night. But rather than letting their interaction end there, Huntress does something that few vigilantes in Gotham have tried: She strikes a sort of friendship with Mary. Night after night, Helena encounters Mary, who likes to walk her cat on a leash to soothe her brain. Mary likes to talk a lot, and Huntress indulges her by just walking with her and listening to her talk.
Helena gradually gets to know Mary, who tells her about her job and her past. Huntress tries to get her to find other ways to relieve her stress so that Helena doesn’t have to keep checking on her. One night when Mary doesn’t show up at her usual spot, Huntress goes looking for her and learns she had a panic attack. Huntress tells her again that it is dangerous for her to be out. This angers Mary, who tells her that she doesn’t understand and that if she can’t be nice, she should just leave Mary alone. Huntress obliges, with disastrous results. A few weeks go by, during which Huntress is busy helping Oracle with a robbery case. After a while she goes looking for Mary again, and finds her dead in an alley. Knowing that she let Mary down by not being there for her, Helena decides to find the people who killed her and get revenge.
The story presents a new notion about what a hero in Gotham City can really be. Gotham is a broken city, and Batman’s way of healing it is to strike fear into the hearts of criminals and take down over-the-top villains. But that is only half of the equation. Huntress is able to make a difference in a person’s life by just being there for her, talking with her and listening to her issues. She’s not using fists or gadgets, she’s using empathy and basic human decency. In fact, it’s when she stops going on her walks with Mary and returns to traditional vigilante activities that tragedy strikes. Huntress is left filled with regret and things she wish she had said to Mary. And even though this instance ends with somebody's death, perhaps it will be Helena's "Uncle Ben" moment and teach her the value of connecting with people on a more personal level. It’s hard to imagine Batman taking a walk with any of the citizens of Gotham and listening to their problems, Huntress shows that by reaching out to people and being there for them, she is the hero that Gotham both needs and deserves.
