Batman #154 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Carmine Di Giandomenico, Artist; Tomeu Morey, Artist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Chip Zdarsky is leaving this book after this arc, making way for the blockbuster team of Loeb and Lee and likely heading off to creator-owned land. But he’s set himself up quite the puzzle to unravel in the final act, starting with the murder of Mayor Chris Nanako – a major supporting player for the last few years who threaded the line between ally and enemy. But now he’s been gunned down – and everyone is a suspect. Edward Nygma is free and playing his own game as the head of a tech company, Vandal Savage was about to be fired by Nanako and is no stranger to killing, and Nanako’s wife was behaving in odd ways before her husband wound up dead. And then there’s Leonid Kull, the mysterious new businessman who has been making waves in Gotham – and is fast to reveal himself as the new head of the Court of Owls. And these villains have a way of staying one step ahead of the Bats.
This is just the start of what’s going on in Gotham, though – the subplot last issue about Bruce supposedly having a brother isn’t what I expected. It’s not the return of Lincoln March, but rather a supposed heir who was conceived in an extramarital affair by Thomas Wayne. He’s under lock and key by the agents who want him to seize Wayne Enterprises – if it survives that long. The protestors are getting more and more violent, culminating in a stark and brutal segment that is all too reminiscent of a historical event that will be very clear when it happens. Disaster is only averted by the arrival of our brutal new vigilante in Gotham – complicating the question of exactly what he’s up to. And then it all ends with a completely bonkers cliffhanger as Batman and Gordon continue to investigate this mystery. Zdarsky’s run is always fascinating, but I wonder if he’s bitten off a bit more than he can chew with only a few issues to go.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
