Alfred Pennyworth watches the Batman’s war with Roman and his Party Animals, while readers get a better feeling for the world of this very different Bruce Wayne. Absolute Batman #2 is written by Scott Snyder, drawn by Nick Dragotta, colored by Frank Martin and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Batman and Robin must escape the inferno in Wayne Tower set by Memento, a new villain with mysterious ties to Bruce’s years of training as Batman. Batman and Robin #15 is written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, drawn by Javi Fernandez and Carmine Di Giandomenico, colored by Marcelo Maiolo and lettered by Steve Wands.
As a circus troupe commits a robbery in the town of Smallville, the various fantastic characters introduced over the course of this series come together in the thrilling mid-series conclusion of Batman: Gotham by Gaslight — The Kryptonian Age #6, written by Andy Diggle, drawn by Leandro Fernandez, colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Simon Bowland.
Will Nevin: Next week, buddy boy, we got a new Question book. My query to you: Are you ready?
Matt Lazorwitz: I am ready and more excited than ever after (shameless plug) Dan and I talked to series writer Alex Segura last week for The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will: Ya reckon we’ll cover it?
Matt: I think that is a high level of possibility, yes indeed.
Absolute Batman Continues
Matt: There is a lot going on in this issue. The first issue had a lot going on, too, but since it was a double-sized book, I don’t think I noticed it as much, but it shows how much Snyder is doing with the worldbuilding and the plot here. I don’t think it felt overstuffed, necessarily, but there is a whole lot going on.
Will: This issue is not so much plot as it is character — even the action seemed to take a backseat this week. The Gordon/Martha stuff is interesting (Stepdad Jim? Stepsister Barbara?) but I could have done without the poker scene. I don’t think we’re going to get much out of the “rogue’s gallery as Bruce’s longtime buddies” bit — it’s just profoundly uninteresting. And a lot of this issue seemed to be Leonardo Pointing At The Screen Dot Gif as we’re dropping references like Red Hood and Mayor Hady.
Matt: I’m curious what it is about that rogue’s gallery that doesn’t do it for you. I’m not incredibly excited by it either, but I think it’s novel and there is some story potential to it. Is there anything you can put your finger on as to what about it leaves you so cold?
Will: Two things, I think: 1) it feels contrived and 2) with alternate takes on Two Face, Penguin, Riddler, Killer Croc and (eventually) Catwoman all sharing the same space, none of them are getting any real time for development, and when none of them individually matter, they certainly don’t matter as a collective. And, yeah, seems like we’re getting more Selina in the next issue, but it just feels like we could be doing something more interesting or at least more focused with these characters.
Matt: I’m willing to give it more time to see what Snyder can get out of it. If it winds up being a series of coincidences that they all become Batman’s rogues, then yes, it is highly contrived. But if their relationship with Bruce becomes central to their journey to villainy — although I’m not sure how that would work — I can see potential.
The scene with Martha and Jim, on the other hand, I agree was one of the better scenes in the issue. I definitely could see the chemistry between them, and I want to know more about how Jim and Martha’s relationship developed, whether it’s romantic or not. Martha being alive, and Jim seeming to be an active part of young Bruce’s life, possibly in the positive male role model position Alfred usually takes, is something I want to see more of.
Will: Gordon becoming an actual (possible) father for Bruce instead of simply a surrogate one is a story that interests me, especially as Gordon is further removed from the streets as mayor. Could be some interesting dynamics if/when Gordon learns the truth behind The Secret.
Matt: And speaking of father figures, what’s going on with Alfred is a mystery I’m intrigued by. What is it about Roman and his Party Animals that has MI6, or whatever shadowy British government organization Alfred really works for, so interested? Why are they all about observe and report and not interceding?
Will: It has to be a big swerve or a secret, right? Alfred is going to split with them for some reason or another and stay in Gotham to his begrudging surprise. Maybe Alfred is actually working for Roman by accident and his mission this whole time has been to gather intelligence on the Batman? Makes a lot of sense given that the Party Animals found Bruce’s HQ only *after* Alfred did.
Matt: Good call! I don’t want to propose too many theories here, but that has my brain turning over all sorts of angles.
Dragotta’s art remains really strong here, but the pages that struck me the most were the young Bruce pages. He draws some great, realistic looking bats, and the bat on Bruce’s chest as he is in the zoo’s bat house, and later as they fly off him when Jim busts in, are both chilling images.
Will: Narratively and artistically, the flashbacks have been the strongest parts of this book. Hope that continues next time as we get our first taste of Catwoman and maybe learn why she’s had a falling out with Bruce and the gang.
Matt: I’m a little worried about being THAT GUY in bringing this up, but I kind of feel like I have to. One of the parts of this pitch that was met with skepticism was that this was a Batman without the resources of his fortune. I figured that was going to be something we saw dealt with. But this guy has a crazy cape that shoots spikes and a Batmobile that is gigantic. While I don’t want to spend a lot of time going over where his funds come from, it seems like we’re not really dealing with something as street level as we thought. Issue #1 established that Bruce is an engineering genius, so the construction makes sense, but the acquisition seems a little bit perplexing.
Will: Isn’t this what every “Batman without a fortune” story comes to? We want Bruce to have his neat little toys, but we don’t want to ask too many questions about how he got them. I suspect we’re not going to get a whole lot of answers here, but it would be fun to see him at least tinker a little. As far as that big-ass truck, I’m just going to assume it belonged to the city and … it went missing? Lowly city engineer Bruce Wayne had nothing to do with it, obviously.
Matt: Not in the least.
The Art of Thomas Wayne
Matt: The mysteries and history of Bruce’s travels to become Batman coming back to haunt him in Gotham now isn’t a new idea, but it’s one I have always enjoyed, and so now that we know Memento ties in with that, and not necessarily or at least not entirely the history of Gotham, I’m a bit more engaged with this new villain.
Will: Jack the Ripper with a dash of Mad Hatter and the supernatural is not the worst combination for a Batman villain. And if I had a nickel for every time Batman said, “This is definitely a copycat,” I’d have at least one nickel.
Matt: Oh, man, I think you’d have a lot more nickels than that. I was happy to see Johnson really doing some good character work with Damian. The scene where he wasn’t able to protect the little girl he was rude to in the previous issue was solid, and his doubts about not having a mission of his own, other than what his family has given him, is something I never thought of, but makes a lot of sense.
Will: Oh, that killed me. Going back to the last volume, we’ve had such good character work with Damian. Hell, I might even start to like him one day if this keeps up.
Matt: The moment where Bruce gives Damian Thomas Wayne’s journal, and we see that Damian’s artistic talent comes from his grandfather? That one got me. I said it when we talked about last week’s issue of Batman, but I always enjoy when Thomas and Martha are given more character and more background than just the saints of Gotham. That little detail, that Thomas Wayne liked to sketch, adds an element to that usually one-dimensional character.
Will: He liked to sketch *and* he wasn’t showy about it. That’s an interesting wrinkle.
Matt: I was pleased that the flashback to young Bruce in London was drawn by Carmine di Giandomenico, who drew The Knight. Being the guy who draws stories of Bruce Wayne learning to be Batman is nice work if you can get it, and it adds a narrative throughline connecting this to that.
Will: Random thought, but since you mentioned it, I wonder what we’ll be saying about The Knight in 10 years and whether it might be more essential in our future conversations if Zdarsky’s Batman run had been stronger.
Matt: It also will depend on whether Ghost-Maker remains a going concern or if he fades away like so many characters added to the mythos.
Buy Batman and Robin #15 here.
Steampunk Justice League Unlimited
Matt: And thus ends chapter one of this new Gaslight miniseries. I didn’t realize we were actually taking a break and renaming it with the second half, but it makes sense. This last issue definitely set the stage for the next half, and it leaves us in a pretty exciting place.
Will: Agreed! And with the new name, you definitely get the sense that editorial is sensing a life beyond the next six issues. Gotta say, I did not expect getting a full and interesting universe from “Gotham by Gaslight,” which was always better aesthetically than narratively. We can pretend the first two chapters are not canon, right?
Matt: The first two chapters have little bearing on this story. You could come into this with no knowledge of them and be able to appreciate this story entirely on its own. This has been doing a really good job of building the world and introducing a lot of characters and it never feeling like too much. This issue adds the Suicide Squad, which I probably should have seen coming with Deadshot popping up last issue. And we get a Harley with no connection to Joker, something I know you usually have a preference for.
Will: This is a Harley who probably killed Joker! You love to see it. And this character concept was a good way to get her in the traditional colors without the harlequin costume — really smart move there. It’s interesting that there’s been so little Batman in this series that I think you could have at least two follow-ups to this book — the clear Justice League stuff they’re building and something actually focusing on Batman in Gotham.
Matt: I’d read both!
So, let’s see. This leaves us with the core Justice League all in Smallville. Bruce and Alan Scott are having a … disagreement, let’s say. Diana and Martian Manhunter just teleported in. Jay Garrick and Victor Stone are at the less-than-tender mercies of Lex Luthor. And Superman just came out of a flaming building. Diana and the Martian (I’m assuming it’s J’onn, but that’s a place where I can see it turning out to be some more malevolent Martian character, so I’m not going to call him by name yet) are about to throw down with the Kryptonian they assume is evil. We have hints of the myth of the Martians vs. the Kryptonians from earlier flashbacks, but I’m guessing there is some kind of historical game of telephone there where that is inaccurate, or simply that Clark, raised by humans, is not what either of them expects.
Will: I have to say, Matt, if I had a choice, I simply would not set Sheriff Superman on fire and burn down his jail. But perhaps that’s just me. In any case, I think he’s going to be ready to smash any and all of the strangers currently in Smallville and might not be inclined to ask too many questions.
Buy Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age #6 here.
Bat-miscellany
- The BatChat podcast is back revisiting three runs that we’re reading in order: “No Man’s Land,” Grant Morrison’s run and Injustice: Gods Among Us.
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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.
