It’s not surprising when an interesting plotline doesn’t pay off, but it’s always disappointing – and few instances were as disappointing as the way DC Comics wasted Batman's “Cursed Wheel.” Developed by Batman and Alfred, the Cursed Wheel is a training program with no official name. Alfred simply refers to it as the Cursed Wheel because of what it puts its users through. A perfect example of wasted potential, the Wheel is a concept that most fans probably haven’t even heard of at this point. But with the Dark Knight crossing paths with so many new characters like Clownhunter or even Ghost-Maker, this is the perfect time for the Cursed Wheel to make a comeback.
First appearing in All-Star Batman #1 by Scott Snyder, John Romita Jr, and Declan Shalvey, it’s described by Batman himself as a sort of condensed training regimen featuring both his experiences and Alfred’s wisdom. The Cursed Wheel is a program that he puts all of his partners through. Not only does it boil down and refine his own training experiences in order to more efficiently pass them on to new heroes, but it condenses the training regimens of his partners as well so that each new user has more experience to draw from. Represented as an intricate color wheel, each partner leans towards different aspects of the program, all represented by different colors. Naturally, characters like Nightwing and Red Hood lean towards the blue and red, respectively, and oftentimes they would be completing the Wheel’s training without even realizing it.
One character who knows about the Wheel from the start of his training is Duke Thomas a.k.a. the Signal. When Duke first moves into Wayne Manor and begins fighting alongside Batman’s side as his new partner, Bruce hints that the training program will take up the next year of Duke’s life, with the first section, the black section, being the most difficult. As part of his training in the Wheel’s black, Duke works with Bruce on a case to take down Victor Zsasz and truly understand the nature of evil. As Duke’s training continues, the wheel turns faster, sending him up against Two-Face alongside his mentor, and spinning further as he's tasked with solving how the Riddler was terrorizing Gotham while locked in his cell in Arkham. In actuality, Riddler is working through an old friend of Duke’s, Daryl Gutierrez, the original Mister Bloom. While Duke is able to beat Bloom and help stop Riddler, the events of Dark Nights: Metal get in the way, as does Duke’s subsequent power manifestation and training with the Outsiders, and the Cursed Wheel training falls by the wayside.
In the time since, the Wheel has been M.I.A., which is quite a shame due to its awesome storytelling potential. With such concentrated training, Batman could use it to create a whole new wave of crimefighters or refine those he’s already worked with. It’s a real surprise that it never made a reappearance in James Tynion IV’s run on Detective Comics as Bruce trained the Gotham Knights alongside his cousin, Batwoman. The whole point of their group was to ensure the next generation would be ready, and it seems like the Cursed Wheel could have really helped with that.
Not only is the wheel a fast track in creating and training new heroes for the Bat Family, but it could also give fans some insight into the personalities and dynamics of their favorite Gotham vigilantes. Readers would love to know just what the colors on the Wheel represent and how they tie into characters like Kate Kane or even Damian Wayne. The members of the Bat-Family are some of comics' most interesting characters, and it’d be a shame to keep wasting this potential look into their psyches.
The Cursed Wheel never truly got the chance to live up to its potential, but it's overdue for a comeback. With a gorgeous design and an interesting setup, there’s no limit to what its return could do for the next generation of Batman's protégés. And with any luck, the return of the Cursed Wheel will happen sooner rather than later.
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