Batman #145 is written by Chip Zdarsky and published by DC. Artwork is by Jorge Jimenez, Colours by Tomeu Morey and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Jimenez and Morey.
Batman #145 is available from today, in print and in digital platforms where all good comics books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Following The Joker: Year One’s stunning reveals, Batman must engineer an escape from Zur’s prison…but what dark secret does Zur now hold that’s a game changer for the Dark Knight and the entire DC Universe?!
Review
Normal service resumes in Batman this week as the title shifts back to monthly release following the Joker: Year One storyline. As with his entire run on Batman to-date (and before it if you count The Knight) writer Chip Zdarsky continues to build upon previous stories. Adding layer after layer of new complexities without losing the threads which reach right back to Bruce’s days of training across the globe.
We pick up with Bruce once again imprisoned alongside Joker. Ironically the book opens with Bruce calling Joker a liar. Something I’ve been wondering about for the last few weeks has Joker has spun out his own backstory. Maybe he wasn’t a reliable narrator after all? But one thing which can’t be avoided is Joker’s knowledge of Bruce’s training and of Zur-en-Arrh. There’s no avoiding that’s a problem but for now Bruce has bigger issues to worry about. Tying together all the various threads we return to the issue of Failsafe, the robot Bruce had built to take over in the event he was truly compromised. Last time the two came face-to-face Bruce was sent packing to an alternate universe. This time however, Failsafe is running the streets of Gotham and pretending to be the one true Batman.
You can see the layers building up. Joker’s knowledge reaches back to Zdarsky’s Batman: The Knight limited series. Whilst Failsafe calls back to an earlier arc before Zur-en-Arrh began rearing his ugly head. It’s all coalescing and coming to a head beautifully as Zdarsky executes a deliberate plan to deconstruct Bruce, hopefully to build him back up again later.
This time Failsafe has the entire Bat-Family to deal with. Zdarsky is able to balance out a large cast of characters enabling for a wide ranging reaction to Failsafe’s arrival on the streets of Gotham. It quickly ratchets us the tension to have the whole crew banding together to stand against the imposter. But also cool to see Dzarsky digging in to the subtle (and some not so subtle… Damian) reactions that each of Bruce’s allies has to this latest development in the story. Zdarsky knows it’s as much about character as it is about action and that balance is near-perfect in this issue.
There’s plenty of reaction from in and around Gotham. Failsafe quickly makes waves amongst the villains, politicians and just about anyone else who happens to be looking at a screen across the city. This certainly feels like the biggest arc in Zdarsky’s run to date. There’s an air of season finale about it which makes me wonder just how big of a confrontation lies ahead of us.
With Jorge Jimenez providing the artwork for the main story all I can say it… perfect. There is nothing to critique about Jimenez approach to Batman and its myriad of characters. The same can be said of Tomeu Morey’s beautiful colours. I would follow these two to the end of the Earth and back for this artwork.
The backup story, also the beginning of a new arc by Zdarsky and artist Michele Bandini, looks set to re-contextualise moments from Joker’s past based on information we know have about his training with Daniel Captio. Captio seems to be a key figure in both storylines and it’s going to be interesting to see how this might change some moments from the past. I’m cautiously optimistic about what Zdarsky is planning to do here.
Verdict
Batman #145 is a huge opening instalment in Chip Zdarsky’s latest arc for The Dark Knight. Not just in scale but also in scope and certainly in stakes. Everything is on the line and I have no idea where it’s going to go. Blockbuster storytelling teamed with sumptuous visuals.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
