Batman #138 is written by Chip Dzarsky and published by DC Comics. Artwork and main cover art is by Jorge Jimenez, colours by Tomeu Morey and letters by Clayton Cowles. The story is part two of the current Gotham War arc and follow’s last week’s Battle Lines special.
Batman #138 is available now, in print and in digital platforms where all good comics books are sold.
Synopsis
Batman is on the ropes as the Gotham War heats up following a shocking betrayal! It’s father versus son, teacher versus student in the knockout fourth chapter of this brutal war. But who is really pulling the strings in this explosive event? Thousands of years have led to this moment!
Review
Time for the latest chapter in The Gotham War. We’re back with Chip Zdarsky this week as the action resumes in the pages of Batman #138. The Dark Knight is now acting alone, separated from all his loved ones and verging on becoming the villain of the piece. But as is often the case with this kind of elaborate crossover story, there’s more than meets the eye.
Zdarsky keeps this issue running at a fairly high pace with both the Batman and Catwoman storylines. Shifting between the two feels fairly seamless. That may be, in part, due to the fact they’re really coming together as we enter the third act of the crossover. But I think it’s also a consequence of Zdarsky and Catwoman writer Tina Howard doing such a neat job of plotting out events across the two books.
I do find it both brave and bold (get it?) that DC has chosen to allow Batman to be pushed so close to becoming the villain of his own story. His actions towards Jason are nigh on unforgivable and that’s a moral question which all the other characters are already dealing with. As a lifelong Bat-fan I do believe there’s a twist coming that none of us are seeing. Potentially a coup by Gotham’s A-list villains that will devastate the city whilst its heroes are so distracted. But before we get there we have some serious ground to cover.
Zdarsky goes to great effort to pick up on the impact Batman’s actions are having on his team. We check in with almost all of them across this issue. Cleverly he keeps the main focus on those closest. It’s through Dick, Barbara, Tim and Damian that we’re going to truly get a sense of betrayal and that’s communicated effortlessly through the story. Through Jason we get to see the horror of what an extreme version of Batman will do for his family. But I think this storyline is also strongly hinting at what else may be going on.
It’s hard to place Catwoman in the story at this stage. Oddly it feels like she’s losing control of her army. If there was one thing I would change about The Gotham War it would be to have allowed a little more time to see the Catwoman School in action. The overall impact of her efforts may have been increased if we’d had that extra time. Here it feels like perhaps she is being placed as the deer in the headlights. She’s unaware that her right-hand-woman is actually the [spoiler if you haven’t read the previous issue], her team has been splintered by Batman’s attacks and now she’s worried for both Jason and Bruce. Cheekily I have already read the next chapter in the event so don’t want to spoil anything but right now I’m interested to see what’s next for her after this.
With only three issues remaining it feels a little like The Gotham War is going to have to kick in to overdrive in order to find a satisfying conclusion. I fully expect the villains who we have already seen together to make an attack. The end of Batman #138 makes it clear that Vandal Savage has plans for Gotham also. With Batman and Red Hood broken, the Bat-Family crumbling and two potential attacks coming it certainly seems like all hope is lost…
Verdict
Batman #138 is another solid entry in The Gotham War event. This has been my favourite issue so far. The stakes are high, the emotions are even higher and everyone has something to lose. Where do we go from here!?
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