Batman Issue 3 is spreading the story around the city. Fraction drew us in with two action-packed and thoughtful issues, and is now extending further. Read Full Review

The creative team does it again! Matt Fraction continues Batman's story, making it a thrilling roller coaster that you don't want to get off of. Read Full Review

Fraction crafts a gritty, intense and entertaining story in this issue. Beyond the great mystery and dialogue, Fraction adds great moments of humor and heart as well with Bruce contemplating his relationship with the people around him and the danger he puts them in with his crusade. Read Full Review

Sure, this comic has a lot of the usual ass kicking, but Fraction and Jorge Jimenez also show how Batman's actions influence Gotham from the board room to ordinary citizens making a lived-in tech Goth world. Read Full Review

Batman #3 may not be a groundbreaking epic, but it delivers on character dynamics and boasts some of the most vibrant and engaging artwork on the stands right now. It's a fun, stylish ride that sets up a lot of interesting threads for the next issue. Read Full Review

Batman #3 does a lot to progress several ongoing plotlines in this franchise. Matt Fraction utilizes what his predecessors work to showcase Vandal Savage's strongarm approach to using his GCPD Commissioner powers against the Dark Knight. This has forced Bruce Wayne to respond in ways that will excite fans with how he is evolving his Batman methods in response. That along with other sub-plots that are develop make this a great continuation to Fraction and Jorge Jimenez's early creative run. Read Full Review

Batman #3 takes an opportunity to slow things down while adding depth to the series as its new direction begins to take shape. Read Full Review

Batman 3 does show the difficulties of having a universe-wide crossover and 10+ Batman titles as there's no reference to the events playing out in DC KO, but this was a solid installment. If this is the floor for this title, Batman fans should feel pretty confident this title is in the right hands. Read Full Review

With Batman #3, I still have this underlying feeling that Jimenez and especially Matt Fraction are playing it a little safer than what I would like in this run. This doesn't feel groundbreaking or exciting in the same way that Absolute Batman does, but it's solid Batman storytelling and I can't knock it for that. Read Full Review

The issue is a bit scattershot in terms of subplots and main plots, but most of them are still entertaining, and the character work is very strong. Read Full Review

Batman #3 is another slowburner of an issue. I do hope that the pay off justifies the slow walk to the finishing line, but I have every faith in what is going on here. I look forward to the floodgates opening and all hell eventually breaking loose. Read Full Review

After three issues, I cannot say that Matt Fraction'sBatman relaunch has me excited for the future. While it has many things to love, its a mess of overlapping tones and ideas that have potential on paper, but have thus far lacked the teeth needed to hook readers in. Read Full Review

Batman #3 gives you bang for your buck if kinetic art and meaty Bat-family drama are draws, but its Bat-braininess sometimes leaves the plot gasping for focus. This comic justifies a slot on your pull list - barely - but Bat-fans hoping for fuss-free thrills or tight logic might need to park the Batmobile elsewhere next month. Read Full Review

Fraction does it again.

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daspidaboy - Nov 5, 2025

It's mentioned back in your review in issue 1, but the reason why Matt Fraction's writing and humor works is that it's kind of asking the meta question on whether Batman can truly change since he's DC's heavy hitters, and they really won't allow him to evolve due to the company. But it's not done in a cynical or condescending way

daspidaboy - Nov 5, 2025

there's moments of levity that shows Matt Fraction is at least having fun and not taking some inspiration from Morrison's works. Damian kicking Bruce in the balls. Bernard and Bruce's relationships. I am not a big fan of slow burns, but Matt Fraction does it well, and he just makes Bruce Wayne feel more human. We all know how Bruce Wayne is all serious and brooding who doesn't joke, but writers forget that Bruce Wayne can be funny in his own way. This feels like a 1960s Batman in the modern era

George - Nov 6, 2025

Bruce smiling at the thought of Van Gogh painting a 100 starry nights is the panel that got me. The story is going somewhere I want to go. I’m calling it now… Bruce is quitting, which is different than getting his back broken or being anti lifed by darkseid. Because he chooses it. At least temporarily of course…

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The story is flowing nicely, but it’s the art that made me care. Despite his preference for Manga faces, that make his art look somewhat shallow at first glance, Jimenez is a capable storyteller. There are small moments, gestures, facial expressions, that elevate this issue from a good to a great comic.

I think what makes this first three issues special and fresh is that Matt Fraction is not trying to deconstruct Batman or break him down. Sure, it's a simple story where Batman and Tim Drake are framed for a crime to commit. But his humor and Jorge Jiminez art as well as Toreu Morey's coloring just makes Gotham seem more bright and colorful. Instead of being dark and purple, Gotham City is bright blue and green, and I actually feel Gotham City as alive.

Again, usually Batman is a dark brooding serious hero, but him disappearing behind Harvey and Commissioner Gordon's back, him getting kicked in the balls by Damiain Wayne doesn't make me roll my eyes. Matt Fraction's writing is executed well here, and it's nice to feel Matt Fraction's earnest and hopeful Batman. While it's nice seeing Batman be at his lowest point and rise, I want to preface that we had that Tom King, James Tynion IV, and Chip Zdarsky. Almost 3 runs back to back (Joshua Williamson's Batman was still solid, but it was a placeholder) had the same concept, so it just feels way better seeing a different story (unless Matt Fraction drops the ball in the future).

Also, I love how Jorge Jiminez has slowly been evolving as the definitive Batman artist of 2020s. His work on Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky and James Tynion IV feel and look so different from each other, you can tell which artist is who. more

Detailed character work once again from Fraction is helping set the stage for the inevitable confrontations to come, with Savage, with Strange, with Bernard, and more. I like that he’s delving into less commonly used villains and preserving past continuity to a large degree. The art remains gorgeous, the best work Jimenez has done! This may not be the flashy, plot-driven Uber-Bat portrayal we were used to under King, Tynion and Zdarsky, but it’s far more compelling and interesting to this reader. A massive breath of fresh air.

A lot of moving parts that I think keep this really interesting.

I think this is a good issue to reach some conclusions about this new series. unfortunately, I do feel that something is missing. this issue is quite fragmented, being made up of a lot of different episodes that don't really seem connected. there's nothing really driving the narrative and things just seem to happen. the Riddler suddenly appears with no explanation as to what he's doing or why he's there. On the Riddler, I find his constant extremely weak riddles quite grating. they seem like the worst Dad jokes in the World rather than anything meaningful and profound. I find the Vandal Savage thread intriguing. However, there has to be more to him than simply wanting to go after Batman. it's not entirely unreasonable that a police commissioner would have a vigilante in his sights, even if his methods are corrupt. Savage needs to have some bigger plan in place for him to feel truly villainous. the artwork continues to impress, but Fraction needs to get things going pretty quickly, I feel more

If you’re having trouble sleeping, then give this comic a try.

Nice art. Story? ……….. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz 😴😴😴

This may be better than Chip's run, but not by much. Savage drops a batarang at the crime scene. Apparently both he and Fraction are too stupid to realize that the medical examiner will debunk this in 2 seconds. Then we have to deal with Barnard. I was hoping Bruce would put his face through the wall. They were in a hospital anyway. He'll be fine. Instead, we get a cringe scene of a teenager chastising an adult. Just awful. If this doesn't get better, it'll be a ton of bricks. Dropped.

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Great art. But I just don’t like the story. The cop shootout last issue gets a flashback where we see a youth recording it on a smart phone. During the issue, we see him him go to a guy at a diner who is a newspaper reporter. It seems the kid also recorded Vandal planting a batarang to frame Batman.

We see Bruce try to visit Tim in the hospital, but he is intercepted by Bernard, who points out every time Tim gets together with Bruce he gets hurt. We also see Bruce turn down great profits by not building weapons. Bats also captures Riddler,who can only communicate with riddles. And we learn that Arkham is experimenting on patients - again.

I guess my problems are two-fold. One - it reads like a greatest hits story. We Have seen a lot of these elements before. The arms thing was done in Batman Begins. The Arkham thing has been done in Telltale games. You see where I am going.

Two - the “realistic” elements aren’t very real. In this day and age more than one person would have recorded the shootout. Everyone has smart phones. And a police shooting site would be surrounded by 25 tv news crews. There would have been a huge crowd in front of the police tape. Finally, the police photographers would have taken a lot of photos long before Savage ever showed up. Also, the reporter in the diner was reading a physical newspaper. No one does that these days. Also, the kid would have posted the video on YouTube or TikTok or wherever.

By trying to be “real” the story becomes more fake. I get the feeling that Fraction has one foot in 2025 and one foot in 1999. It’s really hard to stay up with the latest trends and old timers can easily be left behind.

Finally, Bernard. The kid actually has a point. The problem is “handsome young man who is gay ends up with a lot of bruises every time he goes away on a weekend with billionaire Bruce Wayne” really raises Jeffery Epstein vibes. It really brings up all those bad Batman/Robin are more than friends cartoons. By bringing this up, Fraction creates a situation that can’t be handwaved away. We know what is going on, but it makes Bruce look like a real creep, and that isn’t a good look. Again you can’t have it both ways - brining real world issues but have comic book results.

Also, since when did Batman need a high tech stealth suit to beat up the Riddler? I guess I am just not digging Fraction’s Batman. It doesn’t bother me the way previous writers’ work has. But it just doesn’t do anything for me. It just doesn’t strike me as good.

Or I could be wrong. more

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mego-joe - Nov 6, 2025 (edited)

It didn’t do it for me either. I almost put it down 3 pages in. I can’t stand the Vandal Savage status quo and Riddler was annoying. It almost felt like a non-issue. I'm with you.

myconius - Nov 11, 2025

This book tries SO hard to be cutting edge. But it ends up being boring.

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I had this vibe, but i was not sure. Now i am. This is definitely inspired by norm breyfogle and alan grant.