Dr. Annika “Anna” Zeller is a new face in the Batman mythos whose presence is shaking up the status quo in Gotham. Anna works as an experimental psychiatrist and her greatest invention has made her a target, and catch the interest of the illusive Bruce Wayne (Batman).
Who is Annika Zeller?
Annika first appears in Batman (Vol. 4) #1, written by Matt Fraction with artwork by Jorge Jiménez.
A brilliant neuroscientist and researcher, she’s working as a psychiatrist at Arkham Towers on behalf of Wayne Experimental Sciences. Her focus is on treating the severe mental disorders plaguing the criminals of Gotham City instead of imprisoning them.
When Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) escapes from his cell in Arkham Towers, Batman meets with Annika as a part of his investigation. When he asks why Killer Croc is mentally regressing, Annika explains it’s the result of being exposed to unknown chemicals called morphotoxins.
Later on, Batman confronts Killer Croc at the Gotham Natural History Museum. Instead of fighting Waylon, Batman decides to talk to him about how Waylon’s “head is bad” and dinosaurs until Annika arrives to take Waylon back to Arkham Towers.
The Crown of Storms
In Batman #3, we learn more about what Annika’s project is: a device called the Crown of Storms. It’s designed to regulate electrical activity in the brain, calming down overactive areas and boosting underactive ones. The goal is to heal severe mental trauma so that individuals can become more functional members of society.
The Crown of Storms raises some ethical concerns, but it also raises a serious question: can Gotham’s criminally insane be cured of their respective traumas and various mental illnesses?
She goes head to head with Hugo Strange in a televised debate. Strange believes dangerous minds are dangerous and should be controlled. Annika believes trauma and mental illness can often be treated. Bruce watches this debate and is clearly impressed by her.
In that same issue, the Riddler (Edward Nygma) breaks into Wayne Experimental Sciences to steal the Crown of Storms. Batman intercepts the Riddler, who gives him a clue: Annika is testing her device on the patients of Arkham without oversight.
Bruce Wayne gets involved (as Bruce, not Batman)
In Batman #4, Bruce visits Annika’s office as her boss, since her research is funded through Wayne Experimental Sciences. At first, she doesn’t recognize him. Once she does, the conversation shifts, and Bruce ends up inviting her to dinner to talk more about her work.
Is this a real, no-strings-attached invitation? Probably not. Bruce is suspicious of her after the Riddler incident. It’s not surprising Bruce would use his “billionaire playboy” reputation to get closer to Anna and find out what’s really going on with her research. That said, the writing does suggest genuine respect on his part too. It’s not purely an act, but it’s not completely sincere either.
Meanwhile, a new crime boss called the Minotaur starts taking over Gotham’s gangs. Annika doesn’t have a direct connection to this, but it’s worth keeping in mind since it becomes a much bigger plotline later in the run.
Date night goes sideways
Batman #5 is basically one long, chaotic “is this a date or not” type of romcom that turns into a fight for survival.
Bruce picks Annika up for dinner. Both of them insist, a little too firmly, that it’s not a date. Bruce brings a small gift, which turns out to be a rare and valuable material called titanographene, something Annika desperately needs for the Crown of Storms.
Then a gang of sword-wielding assassins on motorcycles starts chasing them. Bruce evades them, and the two end up cornered by a mysterious assassin called the Ōjō, a swordswoman who nearly kills Annika. The blade is blocked by that little titanographene cube Bruce brought, in a nice bit of foreshadowing.
The Ōjō is starting to wear Bruce down, as he didn’t have his Batman gadgets with him. Thankfully for him, Robin (Damian Wayne) shows up and drives the Ōjō off. He reveals he learned about Ōjō back when he was with the League of Assassins. During the debrief, Damian slips and calls Bruce “father” in front of Annika, who’s still shaken from the attack.
Does Annika learn Bruce is Batman?
Batman #6 has Bruce and Annika wrapped in blankets, processing what just happened.
Annika brings up Bruce’s “parenting decisions, ” worried about the danger Damian is in. Despite her concerns, she also tells Bruce that as Damien’s father, it’s none of her business whether he wants his son to run around in a Robin costume. Bruce starts to explain himself, then stops once he realizes she hasn’t figured it out. Bruce ends the conversation, saying good night right after apologizing.
How can someone who works as a neuroscientist and psychiatrist not piece together that Damian is the Robin, costumed vigilante who fights alongside Batman? Or that Bruce Wayne is Batman? Annika is either dumber than she realizes or she’s more manipulative than Bruce realizes.
The Joker is Annika’s most dangerous patient
The Joker (referred to in-story as “Patient Ten”) is one of Annika’s subjects. He’s housed in an experimental float tank as part of his Crown of Storms treatment. He managed to get a message to Batman through an orderly named Josiah Jones, a former cop the Joker had scarred years earlier.
When Batman shows up at Arkham Towers, Annika meets him and makes it very clear that if Batman tries to touch Joker, she’ll trigger a set of lethal countermeasures. Yes, she said she would kill Batman if he harms Joker. She’s been monitoring their conversation.
Joker claims his treatment worked. Thanks to the Crown of Storm, he remembers every crime he’s ever committed, and he’s genuinely grateful to be contained. Batman isn’t buying any of this, and says he’s about to leave. That’s when Joker tells Annika he wanted to talk to Batman privately.
Once Annika cuts the audio to her room temporarily, Joker reveals that someone is coming to kill Bruce Wayne, not Batman. Somehow, Joker figured out Batman’s secret identity, changing their dynamic. If Joker knows Bruce is Batman, then what other secrets is the Mad Clown aware of?
More importantly, what does this mean for Annika’s project? Did she actually succeed in rehabilitating the Joker? Or is he playing Annika for a fool as a part of some grand scheme?
Joker is still dangerous and he has an excellent alibi, doesn’t he? There aren’t a lot of crimes you can pin on a guy trapped inside of a giant tube.
Annika wants out
Fast forward to Batman #10. A Wayne Enterprises board member named Blake tells Bruce that Annika has filed paperwork to shut down her Crown of Storms project, mockingly calling it the “Boondoggle of Storms.”
Blake sees an opportunity since shutting the project down frees up a large, expensive supply of titanographene that was earmarked for her research. More than once, he pushes Bruce to redirect that material toward military applications instead. Bruce refuses both times, even when Blake threatens him with angry shareholders and a dropping stock price.
Why is Annika shutting down the Crown of Storms? We don’t have a clear answer, but keep in mind that she’d just survived an assassination attempt tied to her research.
Annika found out Joker is manipulating her. Could it be that Annika is losing faith in her ability to cure the twisted minds of Gotham’s criminals?
Bruce talks to Annika
During Batman #11, Bruce checks in on Annika, who’s still shaken from her encounter with the Ōjō. Bruce shares a version of his history with Damian’s mother, Talia al Ghul. He’s trying to convince Annika not to walk away from Wayne Experimental Sciences since she’d apparently submitted her resignation as well as the paperwork to end the Crown of Storms project.
Bruce tells her he wants her to stay.
Will Annika accept Bruce’s offer to stay at Wayne Experimental Sciences? If she rejects him, what happens to the Crown of Storms technology once she’s gone?
What will happen to Joker and the other patients who were being treated with it?
If she leaves, will she still have a target painted on her back? Shutting down the Crown of Storms project doesn’t erase her knowledge of altering someone’s brain chemistry.
Does Annika even suspect that Bruce is Batman? And where is their relationship going?
Dr. Annika Zeller is more than just another fleeting love interest for Bruce. If her Crown of Storm device works as intended, she’d have the power to rid Gotham City of its most dangerous criminals without killing them or locking them up in Arkham Towers. There’s also the Joker’s interest in Annika. If he ever gets his hands on the Crown of Storms, only God knows what he’d do with that kind of technology.
Where will Annika’s story go? We’ll see as Batman (Vol. 4) continues its run.
