Review – Batman #106: New Fear in Gotham

Batman #106 – James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Writers; Jorge Jimenez, Gleb Melnikov, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Colorist

Ray – 9/10

Ray: James Tynion IV is one of the few writers continuing on their book in Infinite Frontier, bucking the “fresh start” trend largely because of how popular and full of new blood his run was. That continues here, with this first issue already introducing two new villains as a broken-down and broke Batman tries to find his way in the new Gotham. First is the Unsanity Collective, a band of eccentric art thieves targeting media moguls, who seem to be waging a highly public but non-lethal campaign designed to awaken Gotham to its natural state of insanity. More sinister is the charismatic tech executive Simon Saint, who is trying to convince Mayor Nanako to authorize the Magistrate program—and seems to be using the Scarecrow as part of his plans.

Batman barely stops moving in this issue, and we get a look at his new stripped-down operation. While Oracle is still backing him up, he now operates out of an analog Batmobile and an upper-middle-class Gotham townhouse—complete with a nosy and cranky neighbor. The addition of Ghost-Maker, a true equal rather than a protege in his fight, adds a fun new dynamic, and there’s a surprising amount of humor in this issue. But every time Scarecrow appears on screen, the story takes a high-intensity record screech as Jorge Jimenez’s terrifying new design for the villain fits the new big bad. It’s no surprise that one of DC’s best books before the relaunch remains so now.

We’ve also getting a backup each issue, and this month we start with Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov doing a Damian Wayne story leading into their solo series. Damian is on the run from Gotham, and his first stop is a reunion with his mother Talia—who we know is now aligned with the heroes post-Death Metal. Their dynamic has always been complicated, and I’m very glad to see DC is putting the poor characterization that led to Damian’s murder behind them. The ending turns violent and has a cliffhanger we know won’t play out, but it’s a solid Damian story that gives me hope that the character will find his way back to being Robin. It’s been a while since he had a run that wrote him like a hero.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.