Batman is back in Gotham, and the city has changed. The Orghams have made it clean, but at a cost of the city. He must gather his allies again and make a final stand. But Catwoman seeks help from a most unexpected source. The lead story of Detective Comics #1,084 is written by Ram V, drawn by Javier Fernandez, colored by Dave McCaig and lettered by Ariana Maher. In the backup, Batgirl Cassandra Cain has a reunion with her mother, Lady Shiva, and gets some tough love about her grief over Batman in a story written by Alex Paknadel, drawn by Robbi Rodriguez, colored by Patricio Delpeche and lettered by Steve Wands.
Young Bruce Wayne is sent off to fight in Vietnam, where he learns to fight from, and with, some familiar faces. But the problems he left behind in Gotham are still waiting for him, and now he has learned what he needs to take care of them. Batman: Dark Age #2 is written by Mark Russell, drawn by Michael Allred, colored by Laura Allred and lettered by Dave Sharpe.
Batman has learned what he needs to and should head back to Gotham. But he has found a great injustice in the Slag Galaxy. Blakksuns Mining must be taken down, and he has decided to do it. But they have resources at their disposal like nothing he has faced before. Batman: Off-World #4 is written by Jason Aaron, penciled by Doug Mahnke, inked by Jaime Mendoza, colored by David Baron and lettered by Troy Peteri.
Matt Lazorwitz: So, the final movement of Ram V’s symphonic run on Detective Comics starts this week. Pitch me your ideal new team for a run on ‘Tec once this wraps up.
Will Nevin: I assume it can’t be the Action Comics ripoff we already pitched to ourselves, right?
Matt: Well, if it is, pick the creators on the first arc of the Action/Legends of the Dark Knight format book.
Will: Funny that you mention Legends, because I want to go back to that “Year One” format — we’re going to have a stretch of early Batman stories in my ‘Tec. And on the first arc, I want some creators who’ve already worked together: Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman.
Matt: I would read that book.
The Coda Begins
Matt: Even if this wasn’t the first part of “Coda,” I think you could tell that we are reaching the end here. There is a sense that everything we have been reading, all the different plot threads, are coming together. The Orghams’ grip on Gotham seems iron-fisted, but Batman is back in town, gathering his allies again. And thematically, change is coming to the fore as what this has all been about. The changes Bruce has gone through, the changes Gotham has gone through, and how changes that look good on the surface aren’t always that good underneath. I don’t want this run to end, but damn I can’t wait to see how it does.
Will: This issue, even as the simple start of this chapter, is so good; the tone so perfect. We all collectively ran out of patience with Tom King and his labored, ponderous writing, but when Batman — freshly back from the dead and home in Gotham — asks to see the sunrise in “his” city? What a fucking moment. This book is soaring, Matt.
Matt: This book finds a way to maintain the balance between thoughtful introspection and the action you expect from a superhero comic. We start with Batman fighting a bunch of Orgham goons, including an Azmer that he now knows how to defeat. And then it becomes Batman watching that sunrise, talking about change without consequence and Jim Gordon’s incredible line, when Batman wonders if stopping the Orghams is right since Gotham appears better, but really is just hiding the sins of a city, “You asked what you stand for, old friend. Maybe sometimes it’s more important to stand opposed.” And then Batman sending a message to the Orghams in a beautifully dramatic fashion.
It’s different tones that work in harmony. There’s no dissonance in these different speeds and scenarios.
Will: It just works. It’s fun. Uplifting. Beautiful. Shit, man, I’m out of superlatives for this thing.
Matt: The best superlative I can give is this: I have said in other reviews here and on social media that I really feel like I could do with a break on Joker stories. But Ram V has done everything else so right, I can’t wait to see what he is going to do with Joker and the Faustian bargain it seems Catwoman is going to make with him.
Joker is being treated exactly right here. He’s the cherry on top. You need a big player to come in and screw up the well ordered plan of some other villain? That’s a good use of the Joker. It’s similar to the Tynion Joker series in that way: You use Joker sparingly, and when he pops up it has maximum impact.
Will: Joker is the one thing that gives me pause here. You say he’s a cherry on top, but when we already have whipped cream, fudge and a few banana chunks, do we really need a cherry? Joker fatigue is a real thing.
Maybe this is a theme that was already present and I’m just dense, but I really liked in this issue how the changes wrought by the Orghams are an allegory for gentrification. With a lesser writer, it would be the sort of thing they’d beat you about the head with. Here, the point is made and fully explored without lingering or getting too preachy.
Matt: We have definitely seen hints of it, here and there, with Cass saving a bunch of unhoused and disenfranchised people, and Montoya saying something about vagrancy being markedly down across the city, but it’s been weaved in very subtly. And you’re right about the subtlety. When you really dig in, the rewriting of reality and making people forget Batman is the ultimate gentrification: You literally are making people forget what makes the city what it is to better suit your vision.
And let’s hear it for Alex Paknadel coming in for the backups. I love some messy, mother/daughter Cassandra Cain and Lady Shiva drama, but more than that, I love how this gets Cass. She misses Batman. Her first language, her instinct, is purely physical. So how does her grief manifest? She fights and moves like Batman! It’s such a brilliant use of that character’s backstory.
Will: I’ll put Paknadel on our new Legends of the Dark Knight Detective book, too. That man can write his ass off.
Buy Detective Comics #1,084 here.
The Smell of Batarangs in the Morning
Matt: OK, let’s start off with some positives here: Mike and Laura Allred are about as talented as you can get. This book looks great.
Will: Yes. Absolutely gorgeous. And it’s got some good Alfred stuff in it!
Matt: And a great scene of Jim Gordon: The Last Honest Cop.
Will: I think that’s about all of the positives here.
Matt: I am not precisely sure what Mark Russell is saying with this story. Russell’s work always has A POINT, and usually everything is in service of that POINT, sometimes to the detriment of plot and character for theme. But aside from the basic, “Oh, the rich are sending off inconvenient sons to be offed in the war,” we just get most of an issue of Batman training with Ra’s al Ghul, and I don’t know why he’s doing this. Is this not the immortal eco-warrior Ra’s we’re used to? Is this just using the familiar character to add some resonance?
Will: Oh, and not only is Ra’s training jungle commandos for the U.S. military, but Oliver Queen is right there next to Bruce as some special assigned group of would-be failsons. I cannot, not even for a tiny, tiny bit, get into this plot of trying to assassinate Bruce so he can’t take over Wayne Enterprises. After the second or third failed attempt, it gets fucking tiresome.
Matt: And don’t forget, the third member of their crew is Maxwell Lord. Because everyone loves a cameo.
And we get a scene in the Wayne boardroom where the board is concerned about their bonuses as Chairman Pariah is waxing on rhapsodically about the heat death of the universe, and they don’t really pay attention, and then cheer wildly when he says of course they’re getting their bonuses. Here is a tone that is discordant. Is this Billionaire Island, with its comedic shots at the wealthy? Or is this a more serious period piece? Because you have to pick a lane on this. Those random moments of over-the-top humor throw a reader out of a book that is 95% serious.
Will: And let’s get to the goddamned point already. So far, this is about as interesting as a slower-paced version of Forrest Gump with a lot less charm. And I fucking hate Boomer pablum.
Matt: How does a book make me both want to read Superman: Space Age so I stop feeling like I’m missing part of this story, but also make me not want to, because I don’t care about this one? It’s a very strange mix.
Will: And, again, if Superman is the fucking point, let’s get his ass in here. How many more issues of this do we have?
Matt: *checks notes* Four.
Will: Dear god.
Bat vs. Hawk
Matt: This issue was by no means bad. It was still pretty good. But the last issue came out Jan. 30, and this one came out April 17. Two-plus-month gaps can really slow the pace of a series, especially one that is so reliant on action. If this was a slow burn, psychological thriller or a slice-of-life comic? Sure, nearly quarterly is OK. But this book is about momentum, and I feel like a little of that was lost here.
Will: This book is all about weird, wacky alien action, and Batman — still driven as ever — overcoming incredible odds. So when we have some off time (and when the politics of the galaxy are a little hard to recall), there is a bit of a dip.
Matt: This is a simple story. There isn’t the complexity that Ram V is working with in ‘Tec, or that Mark Russell is trying for in Dark Age. This is Batman vs. a bunch of slavers. There is no gray in this story. These are bad aliens, and Batman is fighting them. But having that gap appear right after our main threat of the first half of the series is defeated and as we’re being introduced to a new big bad here, it feels like we have to rebuild the tension from the ground up, and the simplicity of the plot should lend itself to the momentum we feel dipping here.
Will: I know, I *know* this will be a great read in trade, but it’s going to be some sledding to get there. I still enjoy the hell out of this book. The comedy is great (but not overdone), and the designs and art continue to be strong as fuck.
Matt: The design of The Thanagarian is awesome. And I mean that in the literal sense of inspiring awe. The moment where Batman first fights him and realizes he hasn’t learned about Thanagarians, as they are not a native species to the Slag Galaxy, is a really good moment. Even after months here, Batman is still out of his depth with a lot to learn. Can’t make it too easy on him right now.
Will: And it hasn’t been easy at all! The man has had to tame a space wolf, Matt. That’s complicated business.
Buy Batman: Off-World #4 here.
Bat-miscellany
- This week on the BatChat podcast we celebrate 300 episodes of The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with an appearance from Dan Grote and stories by three creators who have been interviewed on our sister show.
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. 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 podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
