The main story is followed by an eight page short with Damian working with his mother Talia against the League of Lazarus. The art and action are fun but the story thus far is incredibly similar to what we have seen before, with Damian having to choose between the more tempered path of the Batman and the more murderous path of Ras Al Ghul. Hopefully future chapters of Damian's journey are more interesting as the false cliffhanger is just not enough to make this feel like anything more than a retread. Read Full Review

Jimenez is a master at bringing beautiful details together to make scenes with beauty and energy. Melnikov delivers some great panels that emphasize the characters through brilliantly done close ups and shadows. Read Full Review

Batman #106 is the perfect jumping-on point for new readers (but check out Infinite Frontier #0 first). Tynion already had my full attention, but this issue has me eager to see what Tynion has up his sleeve for the months ahead. Read Full Review

While not every kink is rolled out, Tynion IV and Jimenez are putting in the work to be a defining creative team for Batman. Read Full Review

It's no surprise that one of DC's best books before the relaunch remains so now. Read Full Review

Batman #106 is a great read. After a break in the release schedule, Tynion hits the ground running here. Setting up an intriguing prospect for the next few weeks with the introduction of Scarecrow to the mix, one feels as though Batman has extremely dark times ahead of him. With friendships and family relationships at a tipping point, mixed in with a bleak future, times are about to get very trying… very trying indeed. Read Full Review

When all is said and done, Batman #106delivers a pair of intriguing beginnings for its dual narratives. How Saint will worm his Magistrates onto Gothams streets is a story I look forward to seeing unfold. Read Full Review

James Tynion keeps churning out quality comic after quality comic. He's taken over after King's run, made it past issue 100, written an event, and bided his time during Future State, and come out swinging for the fences! Let's hope that this Batman run as well as Tynion's upcoming Joker book means there are great things to come for Bat-fans everywhere! Read Full Review

Batman #106 wasted no time in establishing what the new normal is for Gotham City after the events in Joker War and the Future State direction. James Tynion and Jorge Jimenez nail the tech-noir vibe Gotham City now has. That added to how Batman is currently in a spot were he has to much more creative with how he defends the city that villains like Scarecrow are looking to rise in power to take over. The quality of Batman #106 is further elevated by the excellent start to Damian Wayne's new arc as Robin that Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov establish for his character. Read Full Review

Batman #106 also features a backup story focused on Damian Wayne as he searches for his new place in this world. Writer Joshua Williamson, artist Gleb Melnikov, and letterer Troy Peteri show Batman's son venturing to Markovia to face his mother and battle the mysterious League of Lazarus. This is a great complement to the main story. I'm not entirely sold on Damian's new costume, but that mainly comes down to the mask, as it has these little ear flaps that kind of make his head look like a fish. The cloak and everything else looks great and it's even better in action. Read Full Review

The Dark Knight returns to the present day in an issue that's an exciting story AND an artistic powerhouse. Read Full Review

Be sure to let us know what you thought of the issue by leaving your comments below Read Full Review

Batman #106 picks up right where it left off two months ago, bringing readers into a rich, vibrant world brimming with multiple subplots, new characters, and much more. Gotham feels alive, and that's a credit to the creative team. Read Full Review

Batman has some fun new directions in this soft relaunch, and they all work like gang-busters in this kick-off issue. Read Full Review

With both stories getting started at the same time, Batman #106 works as a jumping-on point for anyone looking to get into the current era of the Dark Knight. The eye-catching visuals certainly help with that. However, the focus on setup means that neither story delivers a truly memorable moment that makes you desperate for the next issue. This isn't a hollow read, but it's not yet a compelling one either. Read Full Review

Our returning issue of Batman is a bit slow as much of the book is used to reestablish the setting of Gotham at the current moment. While it is a bit dull at times, the refresher was nice since we haven't been in this story for a while. There is also some great art to accompany this issue which is always nice. That said, this issue isn't going to set the world on fire. Read Full Review

I really was hoping for the best with Batman #106, but it's quite clear we're just going to get more of the same. Actually, DC and Tynion appear to be doubling down, and they're ignoring general feedback in the process. A year from now, when people start asking how Batman fell from its pedestal, I'm just going to link back to all of my reviews. There'll be no need to add an "I told you so." Read Full Review

Batman returns this week after taking a brief break for "Future State," but if you're expecting Batman #106 to live up to the excitement and sheer quality that was Future State: Dark Detective or even Future State: The Next Batman, this issue will probably disappoint. Read Full Review

Outstanding beginning for the Dark Knight's new journey. Great writing art!

9.3!

Nice to see James Tynion IV trying something new with Batman, and making good use of any additions to the supporting cast. Robin was really a don't blink or you'll miss it story, but a nice extra.

This was a pretty enjoyable first issue for Batman following Infinite Frontier. Batman and Ghost-Maker continue to be fairly enjoyable together, and everything else was interesting as well. Scarecrow is one of my favorite Batman villains, so I'm excited to see him get a big spotlight with the Fear State event. Speaking of said event, I thought this laid some good groundwork for it and I'm intrigued to see how it develops. Plus, it's really great to have just one singular artist on this title again. It also helps when said artist is the incredible Jorge Jimenez. Along with this issue, the backup Robin story was entertaining. I'm probably not going to read the follow-up in Detective Comics, but I am planning on checking out Williamson's Robin run once I finish collecting all the singles. more

-Starts with an interesting tease
-Great art.
-Ghost-Maker is fun. Hope he keeps to be.
-Unsanity Collective isn't exciting.
-Tynion's Scarecrow is exciting
-Harley Quinn page felt out of place and unnecessary

-Robin backup issue is fine

" I said bring it Down. Now."
- BATMAN

Great cover. Absolutely great art. The story was not the best thing ever but it was good and the scarecrow looked great. I liked the hints to the future state books.

The art is the true standout in this issue

Solid, enjoyable issue. Excellent art. The shots of Scarecrow in the background were especially striking, as well is the action.
I like the dynamic of Batman has with both Oracle & Ghostmaker. The Magistrate isn't something I'm looking forward though. I found it the worst part of Future State so I'm not too thrilled to see it here.
Robin backup is also good, though to short for any momentum to properly build up before its final panel rolled around.

The art is wonderful and I'm probably giving it this rating because I missed Batman as Batman in Gotham as it should always be.

+ Like • Comments (2)

•

Mingthemerciless - Mar 3, 2021

Yeah it's great to have Batman back and in Gotham but you're far more forgiving of Tynions writing than I am. I really don't like DC steering us towards the poorly received Future State status quo. I remember when was steering everything towards kingdom come..that fizzled out and we have FS to look forward to?

Mingthemerciless - Mar 3, 2021

Clownshoes and Quinn being trained as allies is a terrible idea as well. And apparently Lucius Fox as Q isn't working out great as Batman has to rough it for the gear he needs. Typical Tynion..poorly plotted and thought out. Can we just get Alfred back already, As usual the art was good.

Sign in to comment

Okay look I love Scarecrow. I love him and I’m not sorry about it. I don’t care that his new look is a whole Look. I love him, I will forgive anything for my spooky little boy.

I really don't dig the Arkham games inspired aesthetics this series has used, so if the story doesn't really kick it into high gear, I find it too hard to enjoy issues of this run.

A relief to see a semi-"normal" Batman story again.

But the continuing commitment to ultra-violence is just what public does not need.

Batman does not need to team with someone whose stated "goal" is to "maim."

I think part of the challenge for DC Comics is that a number of today's writers often genuinely DISLIKE Bruce Wayne, and more than that, they dislike the very idea of Bruce Wayne. In addition, they really don't like the idea of "crime-fighting" anymore. They really only want to write sci-fi stories, and use crime-fighting costumed characters in what they prefer to have as sci-fi plots, or as we keep moving into (as in Future State), "revolutionary" stories.

In the second story, the continuing direction of making Damian into a gory killer is predictable, but counterproductive. Make that a separate comic if you are going there. Imagine (God Forbid) if you were a parent buying a Batman comic book for your child in 2021.

Thank goodness there are still stories from the past which are "child friendly."

more

Jorge Jiménez is one of the best artists ever, this man has such talent. It appeares that we are taking Bruce in a totally different direction and creativity is always a good thing. The backup feature with Robin was also pretty nice. The bad things are the colours, the new villain because she seems lame and I am afraid of DC throwing Future State in our faces.

This was kinda just slow and boring.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm already sick of Ghost Maker. These stupid bets he and Batman make are major yawners for what's supposed to pass as comic relief. It's amazed me how Tynion was off to a good start until halfway through the Joker War. He was doing better than he was in his Detective run. Too bad it's no longer the case. And to make matters worse DC is pulling the old "Add another 10 pages with a pointless backup story so we can raise the price a full dollar" trick.
The main story was bland at best. The character of Simon Saint is a little interesting, but I have a feeling he'll also grow stale before his real purpose is fully revealed. I can't say i care for Scarecrow's newest look, but all comic artists have done over the last 15 years is (CENSORED) him up trying to follow his poor look in the Dark Knight movie Trilogy. And the gas mask....Why? He never needed one before over the last 7 decades.
As for the Damian backup story, it was a fine reason to remind me why I WILL NOT be reading the new Robin book. Ever since the rotten snot-nosed little Antichrist was allowed to take that name he's done NOTHING but disgrace Robin's good name. Even the post Crisis Jason Todd was more likable. I thought Batman and Talia's love child was adopted by normal people. I still don't know if that was ever explained (I lost track between R.I.P. and Rebirth). But it was horrendously uninteresting and I'm sure part 2 won't improve it any. And upcoming issues will be highlighting Tynion's "great invention," Ghost Maker in their backup stories. I doubt I'll even read those as I previously mentioned, He's already worn out his welcome. But as long as Tynion is writing I'm sure we'll be seeing him constantly.
I hate to say it but Tynion's Batman run is rapidly becoming what Bensis' one on Superman was. A total waste of our time and money. more

There wasn't anything to liek or dislike. I'm starting to get bored by this run.

At least when I was reading King's run, I felt something. Anger and disappointment yes, but it was something.

This is just eh.

+ Like • Comments (1)

• Likes (4)

• myconius
• mike531
• Svarietyy
• Quinn

myconius - Mar 26, 2021

myself, i prefer "eh" over the frustration of what "Ding-A-Ling" King was doing to Batman. 😂😂😂

Sign in to comment

It's good that all that Future State stuff ended. I didn't like it. Tynion since he took Batman every time he feels like he is less Batman, it was not a story that really caught me, there some intrigue but it was not interesting enough.

Damian seems to be back in the game, I did not like his suit, rather he seems to have stolen it from some Aquaman character, it seems that he has gills and the cape looks as if he took it from some jester of some medieval court.

Good ingredients but poorly baked. I hope this improves in the next issue.

What to say? I get what the author is doing, but I reject the premise of the story. We see Batman and Clownkiller track down thieves using hovermachines to steal stuff and Bats tell Clown not to kill or maim, they're just thieves.

We see the latest villain saying Gotham is going to hell and why don't you, new mayor, buy my tech to save the city. It's the beginning of the Magistrate. The founder is a man called Mr. Saint and he grew up in Gotham before the Dark Times, before the (crime) Empire. He pitches that normal cops can't take don't abnormal crooks and that Gotham, once a shining beacon on a hill, is a national joke and no one wants to live there. (He has a point).

We see reporters hanging out at Bruce's brownstone and neighbors also speaking about how things used to be better in the old days.

We also see the new Batcave, where Bruce is training Clown boy. It doesn't look that bad. Again, I am not buying "he has to do more with less" bit because we really don't see the less. Bruce still has a lifestyle that 99 percent would envy.

Finally, we see Damian run home to Mommy. She points that out and says Damian no longer has resources and friends. Then brutes come out and say they're with the League of Lazurus and fight fight fight. A thug has a knife at Talia's throat. Damian hesitates to kill and the last shot in the book is a splash of blood in the air. We are supposed to think that thug slashed Talia's throat and the blood is hers. I bet the blood is the thug's because Talia didn't hesitate to kill.

What I liked - The art. Pretty good dudes, but again, my complaint of today's artists being good at individual panels but not great at showing action remains. Think of it as the difference between being a great still photographer and a great action movie director.

There is a of parallel action going on. Now Bruce and Damian no longer have "resources." Damian and Clown Boy are now being taught by mentors. Damian is being told to kill, Clown Boy is being told not to kill. Mr. Saint remembers the good old days and even mentions Thomas Wayne being a wealthy guy who served the city as a doctor. His solution is to build a fascist state. Bruce is Thomas' son, and his solution is to catch crooks and bring them back alive.

The art thieves used very expensive tech to steal a painting. Bats doesn't have the money to pay for expensive tech. Parallels and paradoxes abound. I also have to say that spending a fortune to steal a painting is not a great business plan. Thieves understand certain cost/benefit ratios.

Aside from Tynion pointing out that no one would want to live in a city with Gotham's body count, I don't agree with the premise he's setting up. But he is right, business and people would flee the city for safer ports. It happens in real life. Look at Newark or Cleveland.

DC can't just keep playing the same notes. The Dark Knight Returns came out 36 years ago. Back then New York was a hellscape, but the city turned around. Why not try that story and just have Batman go after the freaks, with Gotham being a place where people actually want to live.

The whole kid sidekick thing Tynion is doing has been played out before with Jason and Damian. This is just a repeat of what's been done. When you start taking something that is unreal (costumed crime fighters and colorful villains) and try to make it real, it gives people like me - knit-picking know-it-all – permission to knit pick. But when you say this is the world and here are the rules don't question it too much, I'll go along as long as it's fun and entertaining. I will admit that this is quite the needle to thread but when it works it's a lot of fun. But when you make it "real" and comment too much on real issues, it falls apart. At least that's my point of view. Your mileage may vary.

I also don't like it when Bruce just reveals his secret identity to just anyone. I am old school, when superheroes didn't even tell their wives they were superheroes. You can say that's unbelieveable, even in a world with flying aliens who look just like us, but that is a foundation I grew up with and like. If you don't, I get it. But if you're going to get real, then you have to play it out all the way. And they don't, except for the original Spider-Man - Green Goblin thing, and that ended in a woman being fridged. No one wants that these days.

Or I could be wrong. more

+ Like • Comments (7)

• Likes (6)

• myconius
• Afre
• Mingthemerciless
• Ken b
• Onomatopoeia
• SenpaifenixJäger

Show all comments

Mingthemerciless - Mar 3, 2021

I have a question for Tynion. With Alfred (albeit temporarily) and Tynion positioning Lucius Fox as Batmans Q, why is Batman having to rough it for high tech gear? And setting the table for the magistrate un gotham to eventually lead to future state isn't a great idea given how poorly received it was.

Mingthemerciless - Mar 3, 2021

This is typical Tynion lightweight story telling. He sets up Fox to be the new Alfres and caretaker of his fortune and Fox cant even maintain the gear he needs?

Mingthemerciless - Mar 3, 2021

And giving Clownshoes and Quinn access to the batcave has to be one of the dumbest ideas in comic book history.

Bats20832 - Mar 5, 2021

Quinn - Ghost-Maker is not the Clown Hunter character. They are two different characters. In an earlier issue, Ghost-Maker was going to kill Clown Hunter. Ghost-Maker is written as some vigilant rival of Bruce Wayne, who trained with him as a young man, in this storyline.

Mingthemerciless - Mar 5, 2021

No I know ghost maker and Clownshoes are two different characters but Tynions creations are bland and interchangeable. I could have added Punchdrunk and it would work the same. Can we just get Alfred back and Tynion off the book?

Quinn - Mar 6, 2021

Mingthemerciless, glad someone gets my humor. And bingo. Tynion’s characters are bland, interchangeable forgettable. I too await Alfred’s return. But the way Tyrion writes the book, I keep thinking Alfred is just in the kitchen, and he is not really dead. And who are they kidding. We all know he is coming back. Why bother “killing” him at all. Or I could be wrong.

Bats20832 - Mar 7, 2021

I was just re-reading The Outsider story again the other night in Detective Comics #356 (October 1966). Alfred always comes back. I don't know how they will do it. But if they buried Alfred and had him come back as The Outsider, we know anything is possible. Heh and that was in "canon." Well, with "everything" being "canon" now, who knows what will happen?

Sign in to comment

Ahh now I get it. Cat was pushed to the side ( Still PO'd about that ) so Bat and Ghost can have a bro-mance. Bat-Go

The future state concept didn't really interest me so I can't say this issue was any better with it going back to how it began. At least that is the vibe that is being put out there about where this is all heading to. I got enough of this type of story over the years with Marvel and it's humans vs mutants crap. I'm really not interested in DC version of it.

Damian running home to his mother was a let down. I was hoping for a stronger Damien in the background doing what he does and figuring out who he wants to be without everyone else. Instead he just runs home to mommy. I can understand her disappointment in him. And I'm not a fan of Talia or her father.

I did like and find it funny that Harley is chasing after Bat-Go trying to be good and help them take down bad guys. Love the way she was drawn. The art was pretty well done in this book.
more

+ Like • Comments (5)

• Likes (9)

• myconius
• Vellichor
• Sup3rsa1yan1990
• RKS
• SenpaifenixJäger
• Mingthemerciless
• Ken b
• vivek
• Quinn

Show all comments

SenpaifenixJäger - Mar 3, 2021

I think if they know how to handle a Damian heading towards being the head of the Devil and taking control of the league or starting the path to that destination it would be interesting. But it's DC and its cheap new talents.

SenpaifenixJäger - Mar 3, 2021

And future State, it had some good parts and I drop everything, you don't really miss a thing.

Mingthemerciless - Mar 4, 2021

Future didnt really interest a lot of DC readers and it's probably fair to say it was too late for DC to change this issue away from the FS storyline its hinting at. But from what I'm hearing Tynion has been given the Batverse to oversee and hes clearly not up to the task. Batman is my favorite character and I waited for Snyders final run then Kings abysmal run to end so that I could start enjoying the book again. DC gave it to Snyders protege who has not even a fraction of the talent to fix it

Robin - May 16, 2021

I agree with the Part that Damian running back to her mother was a little weak but Joshua still seems to write him amazingly in the “Robin” run. Still I disagree with that the Catwoman was pushed aside, she has her own book and the last writer - tom king run had so much Bat/Cat to the point that sometimes it was unbearable, and there is still a Batman/Catwoman book by Tom King so I am happy that Catwoman is not anywhere near batman for a while, so he can be more batman and properly interact with

SenpaifenixJäger - May 18, 2021

King and his abuse of songs and flashbacks that he does not know how to use them correctly. If the man being able to do something interesting only gives headaches and leaves things unfinished.

Sign in to comment

Main story is garbage. Secondary story should have been the main Tynion needs to go. Save your money kids.