Batman #149 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Michele Bandini, Steve Lieber, Artists; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run has been dominated from minute one by one of the largest-scale plots any Batman writer has worked with—the bizarre interplay between Failsafe and Zur, two twisted facets of Batman’s mind and mission. So it’s interesting to see an epilogue with absolutely no villain to face, a story that’s completely based around Batman’s battle with himself—and you know what, it’s the best issue of the entire run. Bruce is back in control, but he has one last loose end to tie up—the clone of Bruce that Zur created to be Failsafe’s Robin. Now he’s on the run fighting crime—and he seems to be aging much faster than he should be aging, as the true nature of Zur’s evil is revealed.
This calls back to one of the most painful Batman stories ever told, as Batman stayed with the young Royal Flush Gang member Ace as she died. Here, it’s given an extra layer as Bruce isn’t just helping someone as they move towards mortality—he’s seeing a vision of himself as he goes from a boy, to a man, to someone older than Bruce might ever live to be the way he lives. There are some brilliant moments here, as well as some very interesting ways to put certain crazy things Zdarsky did back in the bottle—including Bruce’s hand and his lack of money, both of which are at least set up here. And then there’s the question of Commissioner Savage, a ridiculous plot that promises to pay dividends in the future.
But this issue sings the best in the last act, as Bruce begins to put his newfound wealth to good use—re-establishing himself in Gotham proper, and setting up a new dynamic for the entire Bat-family—which might start to feel more like a family again. This almost feels like DC putting the brilliant Wayne Family Adventures dynamic into effect here. There are so many great moments with Bruce and Damian, Tim, Dick, and Selina through the issue. Despite it supposedly being a “breather issue” where there is no big central threat, it actually feels like this issue might be the most meaningful in the series in a long time. Next up are some Absolute Power tie-ins, but I’m hoping Zdarsky has a lot more planned for this title.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
