The Bat family has gathered again, and it’s time to face down Zur in final battle. But both Zur and Batman have some surprises up their sleeves in this arc’s conclusion in Batman #148, written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Jorge Jimenez, colored by Tomeu Morey and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Continuing this week of concluding long-building stories, Batman confronts Man-Bat to try to stop him before he can poison all of Gotham, while Robin tries to save the bats that Man-Bat is using to carry his virus. Batman & Robin #10 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Nikola Cizmesija and Simone Di Meo, and colored by Rex Locus and Giovanna Niro.
In a Victorian Gotham, the Catwoman has been hired to steal an artifact by mysterious forces, and the Batman is pursuing her. But who wants this ring with a green rock in it? And how does this connect to something crashing from the sky 30 years ago? Batman: Gotham by Gaslight — The Kryptonian Age #1 is written by Andy Diggle, drawn by Leonardo Fernandez, colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Simon Bowland.
Will Nevin: We’re coming back after a week off. What are we picking up, and what are we leaving for the coming weeks? I need to know what to read for today.
Matt Lazorwitz: Well, we have to finish up the Failsafe story in Batman from last week; that’s a gimme. And then from this week? Batman & Robin finally wraps up Shush, and DC’s new Elseworlds line is starting with the new Gotham by Gaslight. We’ll have to circle back on Bat/Scoob and Boy Wonder when we have a quiet week.
Will: Give me, like, 20 minutes to read those.
The End of Zur
Will: Does this set the record for all-time shortest comic death?
Matt: This was a situational death, so it has an asterisk, but it’s up there. I’m trying to remember how long Dick was dead in Forever Evil; whether he “died” at the end of issue #6 and then was brought back in #7, or if that was all in #7. It’s been a long time since I read that event, and won’t again until someone pays us to for the podcast.
Will: I am anti-event comics until one of them actually turns out to be good. But the saga of Failsafe ended as it was destined to: with the Bat family winning and Gotham continuing on. At least we got some more character moments here? A young Bruce clone as an evil Robin? (I guess he’ll never be seen again, but what a weird little guy to bring into the world.)
Matt: That is absolutely a plot thread I expect Zdarsky to pick up later, or for that character to pop up in Absolute Power, since that’s where Failsafe is headed. It is too wild an idea for it not to be a story seed for the future.
Bruce talking to the rest of the family, him admitting his culpability, even when the others are ready to let him off the hook, and especially the scenes with Jason, are the highlights of this book. This is the kind of character growth you want to see stick. And from what he said, I got the impression that the regular cycle of Bruce growing the family and then pushing it away was Zur all along, not just this instance, so by exercising that demon, we might finally be rid of that. Well, until the next creative team wants to take their unique spin on that particular chestnut. But still, finding an in-universe reason for that, and trying to solve that problem, is something I am willing to give to Zdarksy.
Will: And Bruce has some real remorse for what he/Zur has done, which was a nice touch as well. Speaking of things that have got to figure into Absolute Power, Commissioner Savage is going to be part of that story, right? I know I’ve complained about that already, but if we’re going to have a stupid idea like that, I at least want to see it play out in some meaningful way.
Matt: The problem with me saying, “Sure,” on that one is we don’t know when Zdarksy’s run is ending. Clone Bruce and Savage might be stuff that Zdarsky is seeding for after Absolute Power as the tentpoles of what he’s doing next in his run. If his Daredevil run is any indication, that run had two major eras: the Daredevil behind bars/Mayor Fisk era and the Daredevil, leader of The Fist era. Maybe Savage and the rich folk backing him are going to be the principal antagonists of the next phase of the run.
Will: You think he’s sticking around after Absolute Power? I can’t be assed to check the solicits, but #150 would seem like a good spot to hop off.
Matt: He’s on until at least #152, which is the issue in the most recent solicitations. This book is going to heavily tie in to Absolute Power for the three months of the event, so I’m not sure what will happen after that.
I liked that Bruce chose to let Jason die, which sounds dumb when phrased that way, but it meant that he was willing to trust his boys to do their part, and not try to take everything on himself. I would really enjoy an arc that was Bruce and his four sons on an adventure together. And there’s the potential for that moving out of this arc.
Will: Batman with more wholesome and fewer explosions. I like it.
Man-Bat Falls
Matt: And look, the Man-Bat/Shush story ends here as well. It’s like we planned to do these in the same week and I didn’t have a family emergency that meant we couldn’t do last week’s column.
Will: This could have easily been an issue or two shorter. Easily. But it’s over, and I’m glad and ready for some goddamned dinosaurs.
Matt: This issue wrapped up the Man-Bat/Shush/Mistress Harsh stuff a little too patly for my taste. We have nine issues running up to this, and it gets resolved in half an issue. And why exactly did the cops arrest Principal Harsh? Has she done anything illegal in this run? Is being a former member of the League of Assassins a criminal offense?
Will: She was a known associate of the evil master criminal Tommy Elliott, Matt! That’s enough to put you away in Gotham. But you’re absolutely right — this got wrapped up entirely too neatly.
Matt: Wait, Shush was the associate of Tommy. Harsh was just the high school principal who was training kids to be better at soccer. Using LoA tactics, but still, they hadn’t done anything illegal, unless I’m misremembering something from earlier in the story.
Will: Better at soccer and crime (probably). But Shush was destined for lockup, too — until she escaped from the hospital. DUM DUM DUMMMMMMM! I cannot loathe Shush as much as the good doctor who is good at all doctoring ever, but I also don’t need to see her again.
Matt: Shush can fade away and I don’t think she will be missed, yes. But this book once again proved what it’s best at in the character moments. Damian insisting they not hurt the bats that Man-Bat has infected because he loves all animals. Bruce making them dinner and them having a meal on the roof (and again, remembering Damian is vegan). The return of Goliath, and the usually stoic Damian hugging his pet. That’s when this book is at its best. And since the next arc is going to be grounded in Damian and Bruce facing down the man who killed Alfred for the first time since they took him down right after, I’m hoping the action is balanced with the emotion there.
Will: That rooftop scene was exactly what we need more of, especially with so much of the line focused on big, bombastic action stories. Let’s get some good camping moments on Dinosaur Island, please.
Gotham by Kryptonite
Will: My brother Matthew, it is quite surprising to see a book starring Batman and featuring Superman deciding to (for the most part) include neither in its first issue. That was quite A Choice.
Matt: It was. But I thought this was a generally enjoyable issue. It does a lot of setting up of new characters and locales, and I like this version of Catwoman. Gorgeous art from Leonardo Fernandez. But if memory serves, your issue with the original and the first sequel was that there wasn’t a ton of Batman in those Batman comics, so it is staying on brand.
Will: Excuse me, sir, my issue with the Gotham by Gaslight universe to date has been a Batman who cannot decide whether he wants to be Batman or not. At least he can’t be on the fence about his war on crime when he’s not given a chance to speak.
Matt: I don’t always have a problem with the silent Batman. I will take it over someone who writes a Batman who quips like Adam West in any universe other than the ‘66 one. This issue was mostly vibe, and establishing the Selina of this world, which I assume will set up a love triangle as we go, since we also see the return of Julie Madison. Her being here does cement that this takes place after Master of the Future, so we know that story is still in canon.
Will: I’ll agree with you there — this was mostly vibes. And the vibes are not that bad! But here’s a question for you: Do you think we get a riff on Red Son here? Superman as raised by Native Americans?
Matt: I hope so. Superman, an outsider from birth, raised by people who have been made outsiders in their own land. That has a nice ring to it.
Will: If I cursed it out of existence, I’m sorry. But I think that would be an interesting story. One that would have to be handled with some sensitivity, surely, but an interesting one for sure.
Matt: Andy Diggle doesn’t jump to my mind as insensitive, but I can’t think of anything he’s written that might have tread on ground with that many mines in it before. He does handle Selina and the sex workers well; no judgment, no attempts for anyone to try to get them to change their ways. I take that as a positive sign.
Buy Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age #1 here.
Bat-miscellany
- To celebrate Pride Month, BatChat is joined by the hosts of The Gotham Outsiders podcast to read stories featuring the queer residents of Gotham: Kate Kane, Tim Drake and Harley Quinn.
- Hey, Signal was in Batman #148! Glad someone remembered Duke was out there.
- I don’t want to be petty or nitpicky here, but I’m a bit befuddled as to why Tim is in a green and black Robin costume, storywise. It’s to make it easier to tell him apart from Clone Bruce on a meta level, but it’s not a great design. I’d kinda like him to take Clone Bruce’s uniform, which was a superior Robin costume to that one.
- Wayne Family Adventures returns from hiatus next Wednesday, after a couple mini-strips over the past couple weeks. Hooray!
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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.
