Batman #115 – James Tynion IV, Becky Cloonan/Michael W. Conrad, Writers; Jorge Jimenez, Bengal, Jorge Corona, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Sarah Stern, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Fear State is roaring towards its conclusion—and with it the end of James Tynion IV’s time at DC. He’s not holding anything back for his final act, with the multiple forces at war in the city all converging on each other. And what’s interesting is that Scarecrow doesn’t even feel like the biggest threat, lurking in the background. Simon Saint has taken the loss of his protege Ricardo hard, nearly collapsing with grief. When he’s informed of how dangerous Queen Ivy is to the city, he loses his mind and decides that the best way to handle this is to take her on directly—and when he’s warned that this could spell the end of the city, he implies that might not be such a bad thing. Meanwhile, Ricardo’s killer Peacekeeper-01 finds himself slipping into the Scarecrow’s web.
The addition of the Unsanity Collective has been a great twist for this title, adding a new wild card that can’t be defined as evil but is nonetheless a major threat to Batman’s mission of law and order. His bond with Miracle Molly, an unlikely ally but a loyal one, has been a bright spot in this dark storyline. The identity of the leader of the Collective is also a clever surprise. This story has been giving just about every member of Tynion’s larger Bat-family the chance to shine, and the end of the issue escalates the threat to a new level. Scarecrow continues to be a terrifying presence in the background, but one who prefers to let others do his dirty work. And that makes this story feel very different from past Bat-events.
The most anticipated part of this issue for me, though, has to be the backup by Cloonan/Conrad and Corona. A preview of the upcoming Batgirls issue, I’ve been waiting for these girls to get their spotlight for years. With Seer taking over the Oracle network, Barbara Gordon is mostly flying blind as she tries to keep her proteges safe. While Barbara makes a good mentor figure, the focus here is on the younger Batgirls, Stephanie and Cassandra. They make a great team, with Cassandra’s fighting skills and Stephanie’s guile making up for each other’s weaknesses. It feels like it’s been a while since these two felt like actual friends (or maybe more?), and that alone makes this backup a great deal of fun to read.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
