The heroes of the DC Universe are falling before enemies empowered by their 5th Dimensional Mite counterparts while Batman and Superman are trapped in the 2nd Dimension. While Bat-Mite helps Batman and Superman, Mr. Mxyzptlk goes to the one man who might be able to save the world: Jimmy Olsen. Batman/Superman: Worldās Finest #27 is written by Mark Waid, drawn by Dan Mora and Travis Mercer, colored by Tamra Bonvillain and lettered by Steve Wands.
The Voice, the mysterious figure commanding the Monster Men, has decided it is time to conquer Gotham. The Bat-Man must face his first real test and save the city, while unraveling The Voiceās plans and identity, all while the strange group of allies he has assembled do their best to help save the city. The Bat-Man: First Knight #3 is written by Dan Jurgens, drawn by Mike Perkins, colored by Mike Spicer and lettered by Simon Bowland.
Catwoman has only one life left before she is dead for good, and she has a lot to do. But before she can do any of it, she has to escape from a mysterious black-site prison. And, you know, figure out who it was who stole her corpse. Just another day for everyoneās favorite cat burglar. Catwoman #65 is written by Tini Howard, drawn and colored by Ivan Shavrin and lettered by Lucas Gattoni.
Will Nevin: Hey. You got a spare $249.99 burning a digital hole in your crypto wallet?
Matt Lazorwitz: Of course I do! Nonprofit arts administration and comics journalism are both so lucrative, after all.
Will: Then Iāve got a deal for you, buddy boy. Now available for pre-order at McFarlane Toys: a 12-inch, 1/6th scale statue of the one and only White Knight, Batman ā66 Adam West.
Matt: Well, sooner or later Iāll have my comics cave set up, and maybe I can use that to trigger the secret entrance.
Will: Shove it up your ass, Shakespeare.
Voyage through Multiple Dimensions
Matt: Mark Waid loves the Silver Age. This has been obvious from his writing for, well, forever. And this issue embraces so much of that Silver Age flavor. Lots of villains, crazy higher dimensions and all of Jimmy Olsenās weird Silver Age transformations! This is the kind of madness I adore.
Will: Did you remember the references for any of those transformations?
Matt: The specific issue numbers? No. My knowledge of Superman in the Silver Age is more general. But I know Turtle Boy was a recurring one, as was Elasto Lad, which was his identity when he was a Legion of Super-Heroes reservist. And Flamebird, which was the identity Jimmy used when he and Superman served as Batman and Robin of the Bottle City of Kandor. Jimmy was Flamebird, junior partner of Nightwing, which is the origin of the name that Clark would bequeath to Dick Grayson.
Will: Which one is the guy withā¦spikes? Shards?
Matt: Jimmy the Human Porcupine. I think that was related to Mxy, or some other 5th Dimensional imp. These are all from Supermanās Pal, Jimmy Olsen, which was littered with these stories in its early years before Jack Kirby took over the book and used it to springboard the Fourth World, which is still highly weird. I have to figure out where the werewolf is from, because I need to read that story.
Will: We have, at the very least, āThe Wolf-Man of Metropolisā from Supermanās Pal, Jimmy Olsen #44. But Iām sure it happened at least 17 other times, right? Thanks for making me look as smart as Matt, Google!
But, yeah, this arc continues to be bonkers funā¦although I get the feeling that Waid is going to punch us pretty hard in the feels before it wraps up.
Matt: Oh, absolutely. I think Bat-Mite is learning what it really means to be a hero, and that is going to give us a serious moment at the end where he makes some kind of noble sacrifice or makes some choice, inspired by Batman and Superman. This series has proven repeatedly that Waid knows how to balance Silver Age wackiness with great character beats.
Will: I keep wondering when Waid is going to wrap up his run, but given that he seems to be the architect behind āAbsolute Power,ā maybe heās staying around for at least a bit longer.
Matt: I feel like this is a dream gig for him: Heās getting to write two of his favorite characters with minimal editorial interference and with an amazing collaborator in Dan Mora, who once again kills this issue. The 2D pages inspired by the ā70s cartoon designs, including the Bat-Mite costume from The New Adventures of Batman cartoon from the late ā70s, was an inspired choice.
Will: My goodness, those 2D pages were something to look at.
Matt: The 2D and the 6D pages were all incredible. Thereās not much more we can say about Moraās work than we already have, but he finds new ways to dazzle me each issue.
The Monsters Are Due on Gotham Square
Will: Again, this was my absolute fuckinā jam, no complaints, no serious notes. *But* did this feel like a perfectly paced five-issue mini (or arc) crammed into three oversized books?
Matt: Yes, I think this was probably conceived of as a different format, and so there might have been some concessions made to the three issues. But I would rather have gotten to read it in a mildly altered format than for it to wind up on a shelf, because this was excellent.
Will: Wasnāt it, though? Weāve raved about it from the first book, and the quality never let up. Art, tone, story ā all home runs. I mean, if the biggest complaint we have is a mild pacing issue, that says a lot for the quality of this story. And what a fuckinā surprise to *not* have Hugo Strange in the end.
Matt: I loved it! We didnāt need Strange, we didnāt need a supervillain here. And our villainās motivation continues to work with the themes Jurgens has been playing with all along; tying the world of today into the world of the late ā30s. This guy is a rabid isolationist who wants to make Gotham a city on a hill that will inspire the rest of America to stay out of the war in Europe. Weāre not hearing anything like that in any corners of political discourse in the year of our lord 2024, right?
Will: Matt! āAmerica Firstā is a political slogan dead and buried never to return, didnāt you know? We jest, but this book spoke quite well to a modern America beset by racism and broken institutions. And by god, thereās plenty of material if Jurgens wants another go here. What do you say? Pick Chapter 2 up right after Pearl Harbor?
Matt: Bruce actively fighting Fifth Columnists in Gotham after the U.S. has entered the war? Sign me up! Or do you see a Batman in Europe or the Pacific as where it would go?
Will: Gotham PD ranks are depleted as good, honest cops enlist and/or get drafted. The scum stay behind. Foppish Bruce Wayne also remains in the city, so Batman can do the hard work alongside Jim Gordon (bad heart and too old to serve). Anti-Japanese sentiment poisons Gotham while the Red Hood Gang plunders.
Matt: Yes! And no Joker, just Red Hood gang. Maybe set up Joker to appear in the third miniseries, but keep this grounded. I like the idea of Batman facing rising anti-Japanese sentiment in Gotham, because it would continue the theme we got in this series with Rabbi Cohen.
Will: And if this was the loosest retelling of āNight of the Monster Men,ā why not go with a similar idea in the next chapter? Have the Red Hood Gang call their shots for when the rich and powerful in Gotham are going to die.
Matt: I would be curious to see what Jurgens might do with other characters from the DC Universe, or at least the Batman corner of it, in this world, but I also feel like itās best to keep it tight. We donāt need the Elseworlds sin of too many references spoiling a streamlined story.
Will: That was something done really well here: We got Bruce, Julie Madison and Jim Gordon. Kept it real simple. And, hey, as weāve talked about before, bringing Alfred into the story would make perfect sense given the history of the character.
Matt: Oh, or introduce Robin, but lean into Dick Graysonās Romany heritage, tying into the marginalized groups who are most affected by whatās going on in Europe.
Will: Iām going to be so fuckinā pissed if we donāt get a second series.
Buy The Bat-Man: First Knight #3 here.
Catwoman Escapes
Matt: OK, so a plus first. This issue definitely does more to forward the endgame of āNine Livesā than the last issue did, while still being a set piece caper. We have a better idea of Viceroyās general scheme, and Selina is getting the band back together. Thatās all wins in the column after a fun enough previous issue that really only pushed any plot momentum forward at the very end.
Will: I gotta admit, the one-offs were pretty fun. But youāre right ā for the sake of getting this thing to the end, we had to have some kind of bigger picture. Selina canāt keep dying ā thatās the whole-assed point of the thing. What did you think of the different ā and Iāll say ācomedic,ā even ā art style here?
Matt: That was not my favorite choice for this issue. I think that might have better served last issueās whacky space caper. The zombified guards were creepy enough, but I think a more realistic, and more horrific, art style would have helped capture both the body horror of them and the feeling of unease and claustrophobia of a black-site prison.
Will: It sure was an odd choice, wasnāt it? Visually, it looked great. But tonally, it felt out of place, especially as it leaned more toward slapstick. Canāt complain about the quality, though. Really nice work.
Matt: Absolutely. It only really clicked for me in the first three pages, where Selina is talking to Bast, and the last three pages, when Selina recruits Scandal. There is some good action throughout, but the prison could have been a hospital or any other clinical-looking building. Ivan Shavrin has a really strong sense of character, and I wish the issue had leaned more into character interaction to play off that.
Will: Tell me more about this Viceroy character. What do we know about them and where the arc might be headed?
Matt: She is a new character. She has appeared only in this arc, in the past couple issues as a member of N.E.M.O., which is an Aquaman thing: Picture the Court of Owls with an aquatic theme. I donāt think we covered the issue where she made her first appearance, where Selina saves an underwater documentarian from Viceroyās clutches, but she is your standard megalomaniacal villain who has a mad-on for Selina.
Will: Mysterious water owls. Got it.
Matt: We have two more parts of the story left, and I think weāre headed in the right direction for a big climax. Howard definitely left this issue with a solid cliffhanger, and I want to see how all of this plays out.
Bat-miscellany
- This weekās BatChat podcast focuses on three stories where Jim Gordon confronts the Joker. Longtime readers of the column know how much we loved the James Tynion IV Joker series; go over and listen to see where it lands on The Big Board (Spoiler: Itās really high)
- At the very end of the issue of First Knight, there is a news broadcast about the SS St. Louis. If you are unfamiliar, google it, or look up the 1976 film Voyage of the Damned. And then see why we are obligated to take on refugees.
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Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
