Batman #135 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Mike Hawthorne/Adriano Di Benedetto, Jorge Jimenez, Mikel Janin, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorists
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Chip Zdarsky has been building one of the most fascinating Batman runs in recent memory, first pitting Batman against a lethal robot assassin he created to kill himself if needed, and then catapulting Batman into a terrifying alternate reality without a Batman and ruled by a sane Joker. But all that’s been just a teaser for what comes in this brilliant conclusion to the arc—doubling as issue #900. When we last left off, Batman lost a hand fighting the Red Mask, and has no time to process this loss as he simply tapes it up and heads off to battle. All of Gotham is in flames, the Red Mask is desperate to regain his true self and his madness to become a proper Joker once again, and several familiar faces are in the line of fire.
The best part of this arc has been the unconventional bond formed between Bruce and members of his supporting cast who are familiar but still radically different. The best of these has been Alfred—here a man who has suffered terrible losses, found happiness, and is maybe a bit of a kind coward scared to lose anyone else. His transformation into a hero this issue is brilliant, and his farewell to this alternate Bruce is incredibly powerful. Selina’s goodbye… not so much, but very in character. Of course, Red Mask is the familiar face who is the most concerning, and there’s an amazing twist this issue about exactly what his experiments are doing—and it sets off one of the most dazzling segments in any comic book I’ve seen in a long time.
We’ve known this story is about the multiverse—but this chapter sends Bruce through an elaborate journey across some of the most famous worlds in all of DC. I won’t spoil exactly who shows up here, because that’s something that should be experienced on its own. I’ll just say that I’m stunned that Zdarsky was able to get agreement to use all of these properties, especially the last. Making it even better, there was no real hype for this—making it a true example of an out-of-nowhere comic book surprise. This will get the most hype, but it’s not what makes this title work so well. The biggest draw here is just how nuanced, how human Zdarsky’s Batman is. I don’t know if I’ve been this excited for a next issue of a Batman book since the heyday of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
