Fear State is James Tynion IV's final big story in the Bat-books, but what's surprising is how little it feels like a traditional comic book event. Sure, there are villains and even a powerhouse who Batman can fight, but this is a comic with a lot more on its mind. It's as much about what fear and anger does to a person than it is about fighting villains. Read Full Review

Jimenez delivers some beautiful art throughout the issue. The action is intense and beautifully detailed. The characters look fantastic and there are visuals brilliant moments throughout. Read Full Review

I wont miss Batgirls, though, because now that Ive gotten a taste of the narrative and visual style in store, I will definitely be following the title when it comes out. Read Full Review

Batman #117 brings everything nicely to a well crafted close. The “Fear State” arc has been engrossing and exciting, dangerous and heartfelt. Gotham City has gone through the wringer yet again, and has come out the other side in a better place. The future is bright, the future is Batman! Read Full Review

With Batman #117, James Tynion IV has ended his run on Batman with a bang. And there's no denying that Tynion has made his mark on Batman and Gotham City. And while I enjoyed his work on the title, I also have high hopes that incoming writer Joshua Williamson will be bringing some great Batman stories as well. Read Full Review

If expectations were running high for Batman #117, you can breathe a sigh of relief: it's a satisfying conclusion. Tynion and Jimenez have crafted a finale that resolves story elements, supplies ample character work, and closes the door on Gotham in a satisfying and hopeful way. Considering how Gotham tends to be incredibly dark and hopeless, it's nice to see Tynion leaves Batman in a place where his love of these characters is obvious from cover to cover while drenched in artistic mastery by Jimenez and Morey. Read Full Review

Fear State went too long and this ending unintentionally showed why it never needed to play out this long with the relatively simple payoffs to the major subplots. But simple is sometimes just fine and Tynion left his final issue of Batman on a good note allowing for the next creative team to have a fresh canvas without a major death in the family to address. Read Full Review

Batman #117 delivers a clunky finish to a convoluted story, but there's a strong sense of heart in the final moments that almost makes up for such a lackluster story. Read Full Review

James Tynion gives fans a blink, and you might miss it ending to Fear State that seems to show there wasn't much of a story here all along.  The Big Bads all get taken down too quickly, and heroes win with forced narratives and exposition.  The issue looked fantastic, but I think fans will remember Fear State for what comes after it, then the nothing of a story within it. Read Full Review

It's no mystery that I've found the bulk of this run, and especially Fear State, to be a mess and while Batman #117 is less messy than previous issues, it's certainly not raising the bar by much. Read Full Review

Say what you want about me, but I've given y'all fair warning that this would ultimately be the outcome of Tynion's run" Nothing. No payoff. No satisfaction. It's his schtick at this point. The writing has been on the wall since the beginning and after multiple arcs of ignoring the actual meat of his narrative, it was clear that all he had to offer was new characters for the speculator market. If that's something you want to read, then I guess this is good for you. As for me and my stance, this is easily the worth Batman run I've read, and I think time will only prove that point. Read Full Review

Kinda rushed in my opinion, but still good. Just with so much build-up and slow pacing in general, this finale feels really weird and anticlimactic. I don't know how, but Tynion never got his pacing right with this run.But most of the other things here i liked. Clearly the art was a big standout as always and personally in the end I can say that i liked Tynion's run .

So I just read this event and honestly..... call me crazy but I liked it? After all, this is an opinion but this event really met my expectations. Great art, great action, and this ending felt a lot more cohesive and better compared to Sinister War. Overall, while I am happy that James Tynion IV is leaving soon, I will say that I think he did a wonderful job. It's definitely my favorite comic book event of 2021, and it doesnt help that the majority of the issues in the crossover event got positive reviews. It's a fun and entertaining event for me, and I'm saying this as a spider-Man fan.

While the ending to this large-scale storyline felt a bit rushed, which is weird considering it had 6 issues of build and then 6 issues of the main story, I still enjoyed this. Of course, you have the fantastic Jimenez on the art duties. Plus, Tynion writes the story and its characters well enough to keep me engaged until the end. Moving to the backup, it was another fun read that solidifies my interesting in checking out the Batgirls run it preludes. I don't have a whole lot to say about this issue, other than that I enjoyed it despite some of the overall story's pacing being off.

And so yet another monotonous overly long story comes to a so-so end as comics today tend to do. I doubt Fear State will be ever looked back at like Year One, The Long Halloween or The Dark Knight Returns. It seems most people, like myself are just glad to see it finally ending, as it should have about 8 months ago, when we had enough of it.
The worst part of this issue is that Batman once more revealed himself to yet another person that cannot fully be trusted. He didn't even need to remove his mask. Molly could have been appealed to without doing that. And Tynion could have redeemed himself some by a sudden cave-in happening and killing her instead, but no. He hopes she'll be seen as the great idea only he thinks she and the rest of his useless characters were. I personally hope never to see her again and let her drop into history as one of many forgotten characters.
It's such a pity Tynion's run started out so impressively, but turned into another writer's attempt to immortalize himself as the person who did something no other writer did before, just like King.
The Poison Ivy plot was totally pointless to me. It should have just been confined to the pages of Catwoman. I never was a fan of her in the first place, but the last 20 years she's gone so downhill I can't even stand when she appears anymore.
And if the backup story is supposed to get me to buy the new Batgirls series, Mission failed. I find it harder to say what was worse. The story or the art.
All-in-all, the best part about this issue is that it's Tynion's last. The Batman books are at the most crucial crossroads since I last dropped them altogether in "Batman R.I.P." I'm going to see what I think of the Upcoming story, but if I'm unimpressed it'll be time to drop Batman again. All I have to say is may our new writer be one who focuses on the story instead of his own legacy. After 117 issues it's about time this series had a writer like that again. more

Fear State has been a pretty up and down event, but I think Tynion and Jimenez mostly stick the landing here. The highlight as usual, is Jimenez's outstanding art. Story-wise, reading the tie-ins definitely benefitted the main book, which has felt rushed in an effort for Tynion to stuff all of his ideas in.

Some of them worked for me. I've liked a lot of the philosophical questions Miracle Molly and her Unsanity Collective posed (even if it felt a little undercooked at times), and her resolution with Batman hit a lot of good, emotional notes. The Scarecrow monologues were fun, the backstory Tynion added was interesting, and Jimenez can sure draw the hell out of him. And anytime we get the Batfamily actually working together in a fun way is always a plus.

But there was other stuff that definitely didn't work as well. Mahoney is basically just a variation on the Arkham Knight and the endless rounds of fighting against him just bogged the story down. The overall pace of the story was also odd, to the point you can feel the rush to get to the next writer.

When looking at Tynion's run as whole, I'd say it's fine. Nothing special, nothing terrible, definitely messed with by editorial, and containing a couple good ideas that will probably stick around for the long run. I'd especially like to see Molly working for Batman as his tech guru in some capacity. I can't imagine mustering up the faux-outrage around this. But hey, people did the same to King's run, and Snyder's, and Morrison's, etc, etc. more

Well, that was an okay conclusion to a story I really didn't care for. These Batman events never feel so grand to me, to justify having so many tie-ins. Like Joker War, Fear State felt much smaller in scope than what DC marketed it to be.

As for conclusion to Tynion's run, this is really disappointing. I feel like he did nothing with Bruce and this run I will remember as... meh. I have no interest reading it ever again. It felt like Tynion had no idea what to do with Batman and just kept writing some stuff until new writer came in.

I remember criticizing King's run a lot. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, sometimes it was excellent, sometimes horrible. But Tynion's run was just mostly meh. I have no interest ever coming back to this again.

Props for Jimenez's art for making this better than it had any right to be. more

Meh. All that buildup to see Poison Ivy save Gotham and Batman doing a moralistic speech to Molly? Saint gets arrested with no resistance after he basically destroyed the city with a army of robots? Looks safe and rushed.

Batman - 6.5/10

Batgirls - 7/10

yeah it's over but I don't have much faith in the next issues

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Psycamorean - Nov 16, 2021

Don't forget that Omega issue

Mout - Nov 16, 2021

dammit

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Not as bad as the past issues, but still not that great either, Jorge Jimenez is the only reason I keep buying Tynion's run, besides being the Batman book

When you strip a good amount of dialogue from each lengthy word bubble James writes, I think it’s a bit more readable. Nonetheless, I can’t wait for the suffering to be over.

fine

"...for bringing this Fear State to an end"

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! It's finally over.

Woohoo!

This gets a bad review thanks to the inconsistencies in scenes presented in multiple different issues, as well as for wasting my time as well as the time of those who read any of the series that were drug into this event instead of being able to produce some actual good stories. If not for Jimenez carrying this comic with his art this would be a 3 at best

Thank God Williamson is taking over this title, this story completely ran out of steam

Pretty bad ending to this run. It was just so cliche and boring.

Is "Future State" done? This is the only reason to buy this comic, and hope that it is. This is a largely science fiction, confused, and scattered end to an overdone "Fear State" by Mr. Tynion. Like Mr. King, his work was wildly inconsistent, and both really didn't know how to write The Batman. I would argue this is mainly because they didn't understand the concept behind The Batman. It is deeply disturbing to see mass-murder criminals (Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy) once again glamorized as "heroes" in the same issue as Magistrate is rightly taken down. Perhaps a panel showing the Bat-Family team getting to the Magistrate Skybase would have been helpful before they "appear" at the beginning of this issue. And of course all of the obvious inanities like Simon Saint's $40 billion communication infrastructure. Also deeply troubling to see "Miracle Molly" is ready to use The Scarecrow's "Fear Bomb" to change the memories and minds of all of the people of Gotham City (some hero). Batman (revealing his secret identity to a troubled youth) has to preach to "Miracle Molly" why she should not brain wipe all of the people of Gotham City, as if she has the "right" to do this. That is problem with continuing to confuse "power" over "equality under law" and "justice."

The Batman's creation was founded on the concept of Equality Under Law - that the powerful and the cruel did not deserve to live outside the law. Our shared law is designed not only for our common good, but also to protect us from those who would view as targets, not as equal human beings. James Tynion's run on Batman concludes: "The human capacity for good is incredibly powerful. I believe when you take away the politicians, and the media, and the corporations, and its just people together, they can overcome their fears. They can overcome anything." But Mr. Tynion's Batman concluding remarks ignore the essential nature of Equality Under Law. To horror-writer Mr. Tynion, we are not fond of politicians, media, and skeptical with many corporate leaders in today's America, but what also brings people together is a shared law and shared sense of JUSTICE.

A shared law means Equality Under Law. It means neither you nor I have the "right" to be criminals. This remains a concept that was widely understood in the beginning of the "Justice Era" where The Batman was created. But it is too often lost today in an era which not only expects but applauds a Two-Tier Justice System: one set of laws for those we like, another set of laws for those we don't like. It is not enough to only prosecute Peacekeeper Sean Mahoney. You also have to prosecute mass-murderer of children and police killer Harley Quinn. You also have to prosecute police-murderer and killer Poison Ivy.

Their gender does not make them outside the concept of Equality Under Law, and allow them to become "anti-hero" killers, who are now popularized as "heroes."

Tynion's Batman: "Heroes save other people. You've only ever wanted to save yourself. And that's why you were always going to lose." Mr. Tynion does not realize that heroes think about Justice. The reason they rush to protect the vulnerable from the cruel, the reason they work for human rights, the reason they respect Equality Under Law is about Justice. It is not about "winning," "losing," or "power." It is about respecting a shared set of values of Justice.

This is not a criticism towards Mr. Tynion, but I believe he genuinely does not understand the concepts behind The Batman. It is not his fault. The idea that DC Comics would hire a horror writer to write on a equality under law/justice comic speaks volumes about their inability to understand their primary financial intellectual property in "The Batman," which has been their major seller for many, many years. That is the state at DC Comics.

The one good thing from this issue of Batman 117 is probably that DC Comics has hopefully realized that their dystopia "Future State" is a lost cause, and as a result, in Detective Comics it sounds like they are sending unpunished Hit-and-Run killer Jace Fox Batman to New York City. Hopefully, they don't give him a driver's license. (But FYI the Hit-and-Run laws in NYC are clearly more strict than in Gotham City.)

Hopeful (perhaps naive?) that Batman 118 with Joshua Williamson has a direction outside of this "Future State" madness, and that as with the overdone "Fear State" melodrama which deserved 3 issues at best), the "Future State" melodrama will also find its way to the shelf were all other DC bad ideas have gone.

As to Batgirls, ugh. "Rugrats" artist Jorge Corona has a media for his art with Kindergarten to very young children. I wish Jorge Corona luck with that. It does not belong in a Batman comic book. Worse yet "Rugrats" artist Jorge Corona is doing the ongoing "Batgirls" book. I hope they at least got a discount rate for what is really pre-K art. more

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Mingthemerciless - Nov 16, 2021

Bats Batman has always been about justice without an adjective in front of it. I agree Quinn and Eisley have no place as allies of batman. They're both homicidal psychos but DC wants us to put the body count aside.

Quinn - Nov 17, 2021

Well, I did the funny version of this. You did the serious version. Well done sir, well done. You have hit upon a problem with DC. They keep letting killers off the hook. When Jason was brought back, he killed dozens. But once you pull that string, there is no place to go. He is a killer, a murderer. The only place for him is prison or the grave. The thought that he could get a mulligan for all his murders is insulting. So they market Harley and Ivy to little girls. Typical.

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The best thing about this issue is that Harley and Ivy actually kiss after years of DC trying to act like they were just super good friends and not a prominent gay couple. But that's it. The rest of this is rushed, poorly written and fucking boring as shit. I will never read this comic again, and the only reason I'll ever think about Tynion's run in the future is because someone's gonna get ass mad about how this run was actually totally slept on and I'll have to hit back with a resounding "No."

So glad it's over

And so batman dies in agony. Goodbye to the most interesting character in DC.

Tynion hates Batman and everything about Gotham, I have no doubts about it anymore. I think he may actually hate superheroes, overall. Or he just can't take the fact that people are not liking his stupid copies of characters. All the same, this wasn't a Batman story, it was a story delivered for the Harley-Ivy fanbase and a Miracle Molly story. The backup is cringey as well. The only good news here is we have only Fear State Omega and this nightmare will actually be over.

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Bats20832 - Nov 16, 2021

Agree. Gotham also has a history of other actual heroes, Black Canary, Green Lantern Alan Scott, Wildcat, etc., who could be called on beyond the "Bat family." There is no need to give heroic (?) roles to criminals Harley-Ivey and to very questionable Miracle Molly (ready to brainwipe all of Gotham-- for "their own good"). I don't think Mr. Tynion (and much of DC) really "likes" superheroes, because their view of justice is about "POWER," not equality under law, or even "law" itself.

Merlyn - Nov 16, 2021

Exactly! For them it's not about the law, it's not about saving others. It's about claiming power for themselves and for their cause, everyone else be damned. And that's just seeping here. Every villain is actually a misunderstood good guy in Tynion's view and that's disturbing to say the least because guys like him believe the same about our world. It's no wonder they endorse rioters and their violence, if it's for their cause, it's justified and it's ok.

Mingthemerciless - Nov 16, 2021

The awfully monikered miracle Molly is basically an authoritarian that Tynion wants us to accept as benign or at the very least "well intentioned".

Merlyn - Nov 16, 2021

We can only hope that after FS Omega she goes in the "forgotten characters" box for good.

Mingthemerciless - Nov 16, 2021

I cant see too many writers interested in working with these cardboard cut outs of Tynions.

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Seriously that is it? the problem with fear state was that since the end of 'Future state' it has be setting up this event for it to not even feel like an event. The 'fear state' event doesn't live up to the exceptions rather it falls hard down. I guess there is still little bit of fear state in other books like knighting but still it was a batman event were batman was under-utilized and it had not proper starting point and ending point, honestly without the actually words "start" and "End" someone would not be able to figure out when fear state started since march and it just ended when it felt like it was picking up.

Batman in this story was treated like one style Alfred where his character is to be there with the main character and guide him and at the end give a heart warming speech to stop the person with the kill switch. Batman books didn't feel like batman book and honestly it has been going on like this since Tom King's run, he was busy writing it like a cheap Bat/Cat fan fiction and then Tynion wrote a already written story 'joker war' and after that just started introducing new characters for receiving money afterwards. honestly I was upset of Tynion leaving because he is not a bad writer just his choice of story arcs felt wrong for this books, he had arc which would work better in a book like 'batman: urban legends' where characters are in the space of batman but it isn't a batman story.

I am now looking forward to Joshua Williamson's run on batman because he is doing extremely well. more

I rate this one a ? because I really didn't understand what was going on. There was no coherent sense of action. Things just seemed to happen because they had to happen.

Bruce once again did a How It Should Have Ended and unveiled his secret identity to an unstable, dangerous person. Someone naming themselves after a club drug is hardly the poster child for stability.

Instead of outsmarting his enemies, Batman just kept hitting harder. St. Simon the Pieman yelled at his lackeys to no effect and Soldier Two Face just fought. Batman never actually did anything. People kept having to bring him to the action.

The one-eyed mayor just made phone calls to Simple Simon. He apparently didn't understand that he could actually send armed law enforcement officers to central HQ. The story played the sidekicks showing up at the HQ as a huge victory when it was really the first thing that should have been done. Stopping the plot of Scarecrow and Simon Says would have been really easy. Just pull the plug at EVIL CORPORATE HQ. Simon Says kept saying that he spent $40 billion in infrastructure improvements. That is a huge sum of money even in these times of inflation. It takes years to spend it and years to actually build the infrastructure. Where did he get the cash? No one, and I mean no one has $40 billion just lying around.

There was the whole two Poison Ivies plot, which (to be fair to me, I never got) that didn't make sense. It had nothing to do with the main story.

This whole story was a flop from beginning to end. Things happened because they had to happen. Story points didn't line up. Characters just did things and we never understood their motives. The whole political structure of Gotham makes no sense and that's saying something about a book based on a man dressed like a bat to fight crime.

Don't get me started on the cover of the book.

The art had its strengths but those strengths were often overshadowed by a color scheme that distracted more than it complemented the art.

Bruce revealing his identity yet again. Argh!!! Stop it. About the only thing I really like is that this is Tynion's last issue. But I don't have confidence that they next writer will do any better. Bruce leaving Gotham yet again.

I also didn't care for the art in the Batgirls backup story. They also haven't really established the Batgirls environment, so I have little confidence in a book that I should be looking forward to. I am a huge Stephanie Brown fan. Her Batgirl run was fantastic. Me saying I don't have confidence in her upcoming book is saying something.

Or I could be wrong. more

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Bats20832 - Nov 16, 2021

I wonder how much of the chaos is being linked to financials on "Future State" books, which now have Jace Fox moving to NYC, perhaps to have a way to salvage that character investment? The concept of Equality Under Law simply lost in so many books. As to Batgirls, I can't believe Jorge Corona will continue. Art skills for young children stories, not a Batman story in this century.

Mingthemerciless - Nov 16, 2021

Lol..Quinn you're on a roll. Just the omega issue left in Tynions awful run and we may start getting some decent batman stories in the main book again.

Quinn - Nov 16, 2021

Appreciate the praise. But honestly, the writing was so off that I didn’t even bother with jokes aside from the names. I later found that the sidekicks had their own adventure in Nightwing. Wasn’t actually good, but it did explain some things. Still not a good story.

Mingthemerciless - Nov 16, 2021

The story was a bust from the start. Nothing was going to save it.

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Terrible ending to a terrible story line, but I glad it's over.

Even worse was the backup with the Bat girls. That may be the worst art I've ever seen in a comic and would definitely keep me from ever buying the book when it comes out.