Batman has spent months dealing with Gotham’s newest police commissioner, known supervillain and cannibal caveman Vandal Savage. But now, with the city under siege by Poison Ivy’s ancient plants, it’s time to bring the fight to Savage. Bruce fights his way through Gotham Central precinct in Batman #13, written by Matt Fraction, drawn by Matteo Scalera, colored by Tomeu Morey and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
A night at a restaurant with her friends turns into a chaotic fight for survival as Batgirl must save people who might be more interested in turning her in for the reward on all Bats than being saved. Batgirl #23 is written by Tate Brombal, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, colored by Mike Spicer and lettered by Tom Napolitano.
Will Nevin: This is old news at this point, but can you believe parts of “Bad Seeds” are already delayed? The delay looks especially bad this week considering that one of our stories seems to flow directly into Gotham General, which, instead of dropping next week, is now coming out at the end of next month. You know, I complain about DC editorial all the time. But occasionally, I’m pretty happy I don’t have to work in that office and figure out how to solve their problems.
Matt Lazorwitz: Can I believe it? Yeah. Lucky for you, as someone who hasn’t followed a ton of these events, you aren’t used to this, but I have seen it happen many times over the years. Am I surprised? A little. I thought a crossover this reasonably sized would have been mostly prepped. I think we’ll have to see what the book looks like coming out. If the artist is different than solicited, we know it was an artist issue. If the book is as advertised, we may never know.
Will: I hope this is the final disruption to the schedule. I don’t think it was any coincidence the handy checklist was dropped from both books this week.
Bad Seeds Week 2: Big fights and big feels
For Week 1 of Bad Seeds, click here!
Matt: Contrary to what we said above about poor planning, I think releasing these two books in the same week was excellent planning, as they are two very different takes on what’s going on in the event. Batman is pure action from beginning to end, while Batgirl is more focused on the people of Gotham and how it’s affecting them, and how they are reacting to the Bat family as things fall apart.
Will: “Bad Seeds” is somehow in both the foreground and the background in each one of these stories, and that’s a nifty ass trick. Batgirl has the problem of dealing with some immediate, ground-level consequences of what’s going on, while the boss looks to take care of a problem he was probably inclined to let fester until he needed the cops on his side. The event is the focus, the thing driving the story, but each one of these books is still able to conduct its own business without seeming unimportant in comparison, which we can’t say about all of the event books we’ve read.
Matt: Batman is helped by being written by one of the architects of the event. Fraction and G. Willow Wilson’s books will probably serve as the spine for the main event. This issue, though, is basically The Raid/Dredd/insert your movie where one person has to fight their way through a building, but Batman fighting his way through Gotham Central to get to Vandal Savage. It’s not normal series artist Jorge Jimenez, but fill-in Matteo Scalera definitely does his best to make the book feel like it’s in the same school, and his art certainly has the same kinetic vibe as Jimenez.
Will: Strong contender for “Most Badass Scene” in whatever version of the Eisners you and I hand out. But even as that stretch was great visually — and lord was it ever — that was not a great Bullock in the opening, right? I mean, I’m only 60% sure it was him, he’s that unrecognizable.
Matt: I thought it was Bullock, then I didn’t, then I wasn’t sure. I think I settled on it being him, but yeah, it was hard to tell.
Now, here’s a question. As Batman is fighting Big Boy, the TUCO agent who is built like Absolute Batman, we see a ton of word balloons saying “Big Boy” surrounding them. I took that as the others chanting his name, but I feel like that could have used a lettering flourish, or at least an exclamation point, to make that clearer. You are a big proponent of lettering being invisible, but the lack of any flourish there actually made me notice it more; with nothing it just seemed like everyone was muttering this guy’s nickname. It feels like a weird and petty thing to call out, but it did throw me.
Will: This might be the meanest thing you’ve ever done to me, making me argue against all those times I’ve complained about random and nonsensical overemphasis in lettering. I think you’re right in that there was something missing here, and I’d be interested to see the script. Were they screaming and shouting, only to get quieter as the fight went on? As I read it, it felt as if they were bots or some other kind of automatons — the chanting seemed that flat and emotionless. Ugh. I hate arguing for lettering flourishes, Matt. But here I am.
Matt: That’s exactly how I felt, and if it’s what was intended it worked.
I think my two favorite moments in the book weren’t the actual fight, as good as it is. The first was when Batman busts into Central and you see the cops are happy to see him and direct him to where Savage is. That’s just fun.
The other is after Batman has taken out Big Boy, and he shouts, “WHO’S NEXT?” and the TUCOs just step back and we see him walk up the stairs past them to get to Savage. A guy fighting is badass. A guy doing that is epic.
Will: And then he follows that up with an address to the goons: “Something bad is happening in Gotham tonight. If any of you have anyone you care about, find them before it’s too late. And tell them you’re sorry.” I want my Batman to be an incredibly tough, resilient, fuckin’ rock of moral fortitude. And you show that with moments like that instead of him falling from outer space. One of those things is cool. And the other is Batman cool. Fraction seems like he really gets that.
Matt: Meanwhile, Batgirl starts out gently with us returning to the restaurant owned by her surrogate mother Ba Bao from the second issue of the series. We weren’t 100% sure if Ba Bao had survived the attack by The Unburied, so I’m glad to see she’s still around, and this time she has her half brother, Tenji, and her friend Jaya in tow. It’s nice until, y’know, giant plants smash up Ba Bao’s restaurant again.
Will: Do you think you can get commercial insurance in Gotham? Or even residential? Premiums must be terrible.
Matt: I think basic premiums are cheap, but the Act of God clauses mean no one ever actually gets paid. The premiums for the policies to cover supervillain damage? Yeah those are what get you.
Will: What a racket. Terrible for small business. I think this is my platform for the next mayoral election in Gotham: Vote for me, and I’ll make sure you can afford insurance! And they’ll pay out! I mean, maybe we have to seize the insurance companies and their assets to make it work, but we’ll figure out something.
Anyway, back to the actual point. Yes, it was nice to see Ba Bao again and another side of the city in which people are struggling with the basic necessities. I liked the story, but some of the dialogue — mostly that belonging to the husband — seemed a little off. Like, a lot of what he had to say would have been more naturally expressed as a thought. But we’re not in the business of doing thought bubbles in 2026.
Matt: Yeah, I do miss thought bubbles.
The stuff at the beginning with Tenji and how it all plays out fascinates me. Tenji was raised in seclusion, led to believe his parents were great heroes and not, y’know, assassins. And so now that he’s out in the world, his views aren’t always what you’d expect. So seeing him not understanding what real world heroism is versus the stories he’s read and heard from his parents, and Cass’ more grounded view of what it means to be a hero, adds a layer to this book.
Will: And she really demonstrates that in what she does, although she clearly needs more confidence in herself. She’s frustrated at the lack of direction from Batman, but then she simply acts as a hero does — despite being literally stabbed in the back.
Matt: Cass has been going through a lot lately, and her return to Gotham hasn’t gone as well as she hoped it would. So now being thrown into the deep end without Bruce there to support her is playing on many of her insecurities. Not to mention, we’re two issues away from the return of David Cain, so it makes sense now is the time for them to start working on her issues with paternal figures, ’cause it’s only gonna get worse when Daddy Dearest is back. But as we’ve seen from her first appearance, Cassandra’s instinct is always to do what’s right, no matter what, and that’s clear here. Running through the plant-overrun streets of Gotham with a bleeding wound is for people who are brave, foolish or maybe a bit of both.
Will: Sounds like a hero to me, Matt.
Bat-miscellany
- Fellow CXF staffer Tony Thornley joins the BatChat podcast to read some intercompany crossovers. We discuss the Marvel half of the Deadpool/Batman crossover, the recent Batman/Spawn and Batman and TMNT vs. the Foot Clan under the control of Bane.
- A quick note from this column’s editor, the ever jolly Dan Grote. After reading this week’s Batman/Superman/Weird Al: World’s Weirdest, Dan messaged me and called it “a balm for the soul.” You heard the man! Pick it up!
