Back in Gotham, Damian talks to the school counselor about who he is, and has to answer somewhat vaguely since he’s thinking about his and Batman’s confrontation with Bane and the Cult of Kobra on Dinosaur Island. Batman & Robin #13 is written by Joshua Williamson, drawn and colored by Juan Ferreyra and lettered by Steve Wands.
Alan Scott receives a ring. Batman meets some smugglers. Wonder Woman and Adam Strange arrive at something close to civilization. And Lois Lane goes to war with Lex Luthor. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight — The Kryptonian Age #4 is written by Andy Diggle, drawn by Leandro Fernandez, colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Simon Bowland.
Harley Quinn and Scarecrow costume up as more chaos ensues at Arkham, and we finally get some Batman in Batman ’89: Echoes #4, written by Sam Hamm, drawn by Joe Quinones, colored by Leonardo Ito and lettered by Carlos M. Mangual.
Matt Lazorwitz: It’s been a while since we had so many books coming out that we had to pick and choose in a week what we were going to cover. It feels like DC is ramping things up for a big autumn, between all these miniseries and the All In initiative.
Will Nevin: The early results on the reborn Elseworlds seem to be positive. And maybe a little more risk-taking than we thought they’d be. (Still waiting on something sufficiently weird, though. Much love, Holy Terror!)
Damian Says Goodbye
Matt: I am of two minds about this comic. I really like the stuff it is doing with Damian and what it’s saying about the relationship he and Bruce have at this point. And I think if we had focused on that, this could have been a perfect capper to this run. It could have even had the Bane stuff in there, and it might have worked, although that feels very underbaked. But adding in the Cult of Kobra just gave us a gratuitous fight scene that took away from the stuff I wanted to see more of.
Will: The framing device was the good, Wayne Family Adventures-esque stuff we’ve wanted more of for this entire run, so at least we had that. We certainly landed in the right place, but I agree with you, some of the fight scenes came off as filler.
Matt: The ending absolutely had me choke up a bit. The scenes with Damian and the school counselor did a great job of showing how he has matured from the intolerable brat of “Batman & Son.” I mean mature for a 13-year-old, anyway. Looking at his life, and focusing not on the conflict but on the love from and for the people in it is very sweet, but doesn’t get saccharine.
Will: Were you at all expecting a reveal when it came to who the counselor was? I wouldn’t say I was disappointed to not get something like that … but then also Damian mentioned how they were an ally? I feel like I’m reading too much into that.
Matt: I read that as a narrative trick. Getting Damian looking at the reader, just letting us take in everything he is saying. I don’t think there’s any more to it than that. And maybe also showing that Damian is learning to trust a little more. Early Damian didn’t view anyone as an ally, so this is a step in the right direction, character-growth wise.
Will: How do you feel about Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Javier Fernandez coming on next month? I’m legally obligated to say that Johnson’s Warlords of Appalachia remains my favorite book of all damn time.
Matt: I really enjoyed PKJ’s run on Action Comics, which was basically a Superman team and Superman family book, so I think he has the chops to really carry this book and build on the relationship between Bruce and Damian. He’s done plenty of father/son relationship drama in his work, without reaching the epic sad-dad legacy of a Jeff Lemire, so I think he’s a good pick. And I enjoyed Fernandez’s work on Nightwing back in the Rebirth era, so I think he’s a good choice, too.
Will: I agree. This book seems like it’s going to be in good hands. Hands with some artistic consistency.
Buy Batman and Robin #13 here.
The Best Lois Lane?
Matt: Hey, we’re all caught up on Kryptonian Age just in time for a new issue. And we’ll talk about some specifics here, but I think a lot of what we said last week about the previous two issues carries over into this issue.
Will: We’ll get to our final story of the week here in a second, but to me, it’s messy, unfocused and generally a chore to read. This? This is expansive. Fascinating. Just like in the next story, I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but here, I’m happy to be along for the ride. And also, this might be my favorite Lois Lane ever.
Matt: I’m glad you drew that comparison, because I was thinking the same thing. And I love this brassy Lois, too. Standing up to union busters and robber barons is EXACTLY what a Lois Lane should do, and she is great here. Expansive is a great word for this story; we’re definitely universe building. And while each issue feels like it’s introducing new characters, they all feel like they have a purpose, and they’re all linked. This issue gives us the Daily Planet staff trying to figure out what Lex Luthor is up to, and Luthor doing his best to manipulate Cyborg to join him at the end. It works together. It’s not as good as it, but this has the same basic vibe as Ram V’s Detective Comics, where the series is introducing a bunch of stuff, and we know to buckle up because it’s all going to come together.
Will: Matt, Matt, Matt — that wasn’t Cyborg! That was Victor Stone, a patent clerk and potential Lex Corp. employee! (Holy fuck, Steampunk Cyborg is going to be the absolute shit, and I hope the lab blows up on the first page of the next issue.) Look, if you come into this series looking for Batman, you’ll be disappointed. But if you want to see the origins of a turn-of-the-century Justice League? This here is your book.
Matt: And now that I realize what this is, it’s a fun ride. And we still get at least a little Batman each issue. I really liked the scene with the crooked Gotham cops putting the screws to the smugglers, and then Batman showing up to get information out of them about the League of Shadows. It’s just a perfectly put together Batman scene.
Will: That’s one of the advantages to covering so many things — you’re not going to linger or get bogged down on any one particular moment. Batman came in, knocked heads and we’re out before some exhausting info dump. Deft writing right there. And how about that Alan Scott? From charlatan to spectral flamethrower in no time!
Matt: His confession about being a charlatan was good stuff. Very true to the way the spiritualist movement worked back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Will: I was a little surprised we didn’t get a follow-up from the last issue with Martian Manhunter. But, you know, if this is going to be a 12-issue series, it is certainly playing out like one.
Buy Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #4
Yet Another Special Guest Star
Will: Matt, this thing is nearly goddamned incomprehensible. But, hey, at least we got more legally questionable celebrity cameos!
Matt: If this was coming out monthly, it might be better. But it’s been two months. And usually I can deal with bimonthly schedules, too. The problem is, we’ve gotten four issues in 10 months. And with how busy this is, how many characters we’re dealing with (and no sign of that stopping anytime soon as we get more characters this issue), it just leaves you completely scratching your head.
Will: I mean, without rereading this whole thing, I don’t know if I could even begin to summarize the plot. The first arc (or chapter or whatever we’re calling it) was so tight and compelling compared to this. And are we really reducing Riddler to a Martin Short sidekick?
Matt: It really seems like we are. And, man, I love Martin Short. The first comedy special I ever saw was Martin Short headlining a sketch/variety show on some cable channel we got a free preview of when I was younger, and I have loved him ever since.
Will: SCTV, maybe?
Matt: Oh, it featured a bunch of his SCTV cohorts, but was headlined by Short. The bit I remember best? Ed Grimley is pursued by a werewolf played by Dave Thomas.
Will: I interviewed Dave Thomas once. It was disappointing.
Matt: But this seems like a waste of Riddler as a character. And we get bits of Scarecrow, bits of Harley, but not enough to forward any of their plots much further.
I feel like a big problem is we don’t see why this has to be such an elaborate plot. I know Bruce couldn’t be Batman because of the events from the end of the first series, but he wants info on whatever Crane did to Hugo Strange. I think. Aren’t there easier ways than going undercover in Arkham? Throw some of the Bruce Wayne cash around and fund a new wing! If you wanted to introduce a whole bunch of new characters, there are other ways that are less contrived. I’m just frustrated by this being a case of too much and too little at the same time.
Will: And the cameo thing is just exhausting at this point. Madonna, Short, Jeff Goldblum, sure. Character actor Vincent Schiavelli was fun. But you really want to slide Arnold fuckin’ Schwarzenegger in there like it’s cute or clever or funny? Come the hell on. It’s getting lazy now.
Matt: Arnold does make more sense as Blockbuster than he does as Mr. Freeze, though.
Can you believe it’s four issues into this series and only now are we finally getting Bruce Wayne in costume?
Will: Just another reason why this book is 100% exhausting.
Matt: I know the first volume was plagued by delays as well, and when we read it for the podcast it worked better in trade. But I felt like that was something you could tell. I don’t know if this is going to read better in trade, because the pacing here is just ponderous. I have commented before that Hamm’s comics read like they’re structured as screenplays forgetting he’s working in a different medium. I don’t even know if this is that. Assuming every issue is 20 pages of screentime to get a two-hour movie, this is a movie where we don’t get any real Batman for 80 minutes. That’s too much time without Batman.
Buy Batman ’89: Echoes #4 here.
Bat-miscellany
- BatChat goes to the dogs, as we take a Patreon request from CXF Editor-in-Chief (and editor of this very column) Dan Grote, with three stories featuring Ace the Bathound and other Bat Pets.
- We mentioned the shipping delays on Echoes, but it’s far from the most delayed. Issue #3 of Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham, a book we chose not to cover and I am glad for that now, is seven months late, and the first issue of the Mark Waid/Bryan Hitch Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor came out in July 2023 with the second issue not in sight.
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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.
