Batman #126 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Jorge Jimenez, Belen Ortega, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Luis Guerrero, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Chip Zdarsky kicked off his Batman run with a bang with the death of the Penguin—who had turned into a deranged hunter of his fellow rich. Batman’s been framed for the murder, Tim Drake nearly died in the crossfire, and the opening segment shows just how bad Batman’s mental health is at the moment. It’s about to get worse, as it’s clear he’s rethinking his decision to bring his young soldiers into the fray. He even tries to push Tim away, blaming him for his shooting, but it’s not effective. Whatever the purpose, it couldn’t have come at a worse time—as Batman comes under assault by a mysterious robotic enemy named Failsafe who quickly tears through his defenses and beats him senseless.
Failsafe reminds me a lot of Doomsday in his initial appearance, in that he’s a different type of villain than the hero is used to facing and one that he doesn’t have any answers for. There’s a real sense of fear to the whole segment as Batman quickly realizes that he’s outmatched—and worse, that his proteges are on their way. One wrong move could kill one of them, and several barely escape with their lives. Zdarsky is a master of character work as always, and it’s hard to pull off a character who expresses nothing but feels so much. Then comes the cliffhanger as we get our first hint of where Failsafe actually came from—and it’s a brilliant callback to one of the strangest Bat-stories of all time.
The backup is equally strong, as Selina continues to track down the children of Cobblepot—only to find them dead one by one. She tries to save the life of the malevolent Ethan Cobblepot, but an attack leaves him in a coma and Penguin seemingly with no heirs. That is, until the door to the Executor’s office opens and a young woman who has all of Penguin’s mannerisms walks in, accompanied by her massive but soft-spoken brother. They quickly take their share—but not all they expected—and Selina gets a massive clue to the source of the murders. It’s hard to find a story that balances Selina’s natural heroic instincts with her ties to the criminal underworld, but this is working perfectly so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
