Batman #155 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Jorge Fornes, Artist; Tomeu Morey, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: As Chip Zdarsky wraps up his epic Bat-run, Bruce is facing what might be his biggest test yet – the discovery that one of his best friends may have betrayed him. Could Jim Gordon be a murderer? The former Commissioner turned PI behaved bizarrely at the end of last issue, pulling a gun on Batman when he got too close to evidence tying Jim to the murder of Mayor Nanako. And this issue, we get an extended flashback revealing why – Gordon was having an affair with the Mayor’s wife. It started when she hired Jim to investigate her husband for infidelity. It didn’t turn up anything, but it became clear that she was deeply unhappy – and slowly, their professional relationship turned into something else. It all led to a brutal confrontation between Gordon and Nanako, one that escalated to violence – but did it escalate to murder? The evidence is piling up against one of Gotham’s few honorable men.
The investigation takes up most of the issue, but there are some interesting subplots here including the mysterious lost heir of the Wayne family and the mystery new vigilante who is bringing a combo of militarized brutality and far-right politics to the streets of Gotham. Both of these plots have a lot of promise, but I’m not sure how much Zdarsky will get to explore them given that he only has a few more issues on the title. However, the core mystery is extremely strong, and it’s disturbing to see Gordon fall this far. The reveal of the culprit isn’t entirely unexpected, but it threatens to reset one of the most interesting parts of this arc much sooner than expected. Zdarsky’s pulled off a masterpiece of a run already, but he’s leaving just as he’s set up so many more plot points. That could end in a disappointment – but he’s surprised us so many times that I expect he’s got one more up his sleeve.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
