Batman #136 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Belen Ortega, Jorge Corona, Artists; Tomeu Morey, Ivan Plascencia, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The Zdarsky run has been one of the craziest Batman has ever had, with the ten issues leading up to this one being a bizarre series of events involving Batman being hunted by a killer robot he created, and then being sent into a world in the Multiverse where Bruce Wayne died long ago and one of the most dangerous versions of the Joker ever was infecting other worlds. Thanks to the efforts of Tim Drake and some unlikely allies, Bruce is back on Earth—minus one hand and with a whole lot more trauma. He’s keeping secrets from his friends and family, having extended conversations with his insane alter ego from Zur-En-Arrh, and slowly losing his grip on sanity as he tries to piece things back together.
This is an issue that tries to do a lot, including set up future events in Gotham War. Bruce and Selina finally meet after the recent events for both of them, and some unpleasant truths come out that set the two of them on opposite paths. This is some of the less compelling stuff Zdarsky has written, and I’m expecting the crossover to lack some of his signature madness. That being said, everything that surrounds it is still VERY good. It’s always been talked about that Bruce isn’t exactly mentally well—to the point that it’s a bit of a running gag—but I’ve never seen his slow descent into madness depicted as well as the closing scene, as he sits around the table with his family and watches things burn down.
The backup fits nicely with this theme, as we flash back to the creation of Failsafe, as Bruce first splits his mind and lets Zur-En-Arrh out to play. While some people treat this alter-ego as more of a wacky mad scientist type, Zdarsky has a fascinating take on the character as essentially Batman’s Hyde—one who has let go of his humanity and is willing to push the Batman alter-ego beyond what any human mind could take. It’s all nicely creepy, and provides some interesting backstory to the early issues of this run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
