Damascus steel isn't rare or only forged in a single region of the world. In fact, it's fairly simple and really only adds a special pattern to the metal and can maintain a sharper edge longer. Come on Loeb... A simple Google search would tell you that.
He writes Jason like every awful Red Hood fan, (which is most of them) leaning into the normal equivocating, vaguely authoritarian justifying rhetoric of, "I do what Batman WON'T and that means it's justified," when we've been through this a million times. I don't care if you're now establishing that Jason's brain is more fried than the Lazarus Pit could heal. If Bruce ever thought that for a second in the years since Jason became the Red Hood and reintegrated with the Batfamily, he would have helped him fix it. He HAS helped him fix it. Maybe read a comic that you didn't write Jeph!
Lee's work here still isn't his best but so far is the best in this arc so that's a positive. That being said, I'm not a fan of this new Riddler design. Why does he look like a SWAT officer? It does nothing to really distinguish him as the Riddler. Just a new appearance to sell a toy that no one will buy because everything is overpriced and cheaply made these days. Thank McFarlane for the low DC quality figures.
Tangent aside, this book feels a lot like those aforementioned figures. Poorly sculpted, cheaply made but thrown to the masses in hopes of a quick nostalgic snatch at your wallet. Nothing of lasting substance. If a Robin dies, it's going to be a symbolic death. Jason will cast off the Red Hood mantle, Damian will transition from his position back to Talia, nothing will happen to Dick. I want to be excited. I want to not dog on a book that means a lot to me as a fan but I want and expect better. Everything is derivative of what came before and original ideas in Big Two superhero comics are few and far between when these characters are pushing 100 years old but don't do this. Don't write a sequel 23 years later.
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This is a weird issue. So many plot points happen, one would think that the story moves forward. But so many plot points are introduced that they all get the shortshrift. Hush won’t let Jason kill Joker. It seems as lame as when Bruce won’t let Jason kill Joker. For Pete’s sake Jason, grow a pair and just do it. Stop waiting for permission.

Also, Hush can throw a scalpel into a gun barrel. Meanwhile Riddler makes his play and blows up Gordon. Jason fights Dick, Joker revives and gets the drop on them. Damien arrives to save Batman riding on Bane. Dick Dastardly joins forces with Snidely Whiplash. I might have imagined the last part. But my point is that they are cramming 10 pounds of crap into a five pound bag. It seems Loeb just has too much plot for the allotted number of issues, and it shows.

We see that Hush can make his own villains. So now he defeat the Joker, set Jason against the Batfamily, develop a master plan and tie the ghost of Alfred onto railroad tracks. That’s a lot for a Mary sue villain no one cares about.

The end result is a story that seems mixed up and lost, not well plotted and mysterious. Also the art seems sloppy for Lee. I am not impressed.

Or I could be wrong. more

I don’t think Jeph Loeb has read a Batman book in the last 20 years.

Batman Hush 2, is just really OK. It doesn't feel like this should be in continuity. Batman saves the life of The Joker, Red Hood get's pissed and that is pretty much the entire issue. Batman saving the life of his mortal enemy, at the cost of his biggest failure and even calling himself out for it. This is just opening old scars in Batman, and I don't know if it is really needed. I'm still in for the ride on this, and hope that it'll do better in future issues.

I'll be doing a full Lunchbreak reviews on this book ASAP! more

I rate this an “oh, brother.” B takes J to Leslie Thompkins’ clinic. Leslie lives there, talk about dedication to mission. No wonder Bruce is so neurotic. His great inspiration never leaves the office.

So Leslie’s clinic has surgical facilities, but is not open 24/7 - strike one. Leslie and Bruce argue but she saves Joker - strike two. Because Bruce doesn’t trust any other medical family in the world to save Joker, including JLA ones, he brings J to the Batcave, which is apparently sterile enough to offer post-op care - strike three. Strike four is Bruce shooting Jason in the head (flesh wound, not fatal, great shot for a guy who hates guns). This is done because Jason wants to kill the Joker. Bruce gets knocked out again and Jason takes Joker away because he is working with Hush. Meanwhile Riddler has crashed Batgirl/Oracle’s hq because he is just that smart. Strike five. Bruce should have a terrible concussion, but oh, well.

So many questions, like how does Bruce get the Joker’s body to the cave after Leslie’s surgery? An ambulance, a Batambulance, strapped to the passenger seat of the Batmobile?

I ask these questions because it’s like the old “South Park” bit about underwear gnomes who say “one steal underwear, two blank, three profits.” Steps are skipped, and the story reminds me of so many in the past. That’s the problem with Jason, he is a character created in a corner surrounded by wet paint. There is one story you can do with him, and that story has been done to death, pun intended.

And don’t get me started on Bruce’s no kill rule being greater than his no gun rule. Batman Beyond answered that question, and to have him shoot Jason in the helmeted head just to save the Joker? Talk about a bridge too far. Loeb is going back to a plot that is 20 years old, but that train left the station. The result is a story that ignores character progress while repeating plots that have been repeated over and over again in the last two decades.

Not a good story. Art is even pedestrian. Or I could be wrong. more

Wow, this is so boring. Everything here is written as if it were the first time it happened: Batman saving the Joker? It's nothing new, he even gave up adrenaline to save the clown when Nightwing killed him. Batman and Jason conflict? Again? The only thing remotely interesting in this comic is the horrible new design of the Riddler..........and why he's working with Batgirl.

Like most artists past their prime, Jim Lee recycles his older dynamic poses and iconic set pieces to mixed results. I won't say it looks bad but it's definitely derivative of his own earlier work and it stands out. Loeb's writing is much the same. This is definitely post Loeb peak. He's harder, his stories darker in tone, vocabulary and scope. He went through trauma. It makes sense. What doesn't is this story's existence. I'm happy to read more Batman but this story should have been written 20 years ago. This came out of nowhere.

One thing stuck out to me very specifically and I think it is very telling about Loeb's approach to storytelling and his perception of Batman. I don't think he has a lot of reverence for him which isn't a horrible thing. You don't have to worship a character and keep every part of their core tenets uniform forever, that's how characters change. But here, in the first two pages Batman kicks the mask off of a Joker henchmen, activating some form of Joker toxin/acid killing him. After yelling at their corpse asking where the Joker is Batman immediately turns around and kick the mask off of the other goon, again killing him. That's not even plausible deniability of murder or manslaughter on the second guy. Come on man. The first I can let slide. In the moment, he wouldn't know but considering that he's the world's greatest detective and this is once again somewhat of a detective story, he would easily be able to deduce that kicking the mask off of the second guy would result in the same reaction as the first one!

Overall, I do like this. I takes me back to a Batman that I've been missing for a long time but unlike some people, I would rather just read the old stuff than beg for what is new to be old again to eternally be disappointed or to actually get their wish and have two men who have really no business creating a sequel to a book 23 years later. It's well drawn. For Jim Lee, it's a bit disappointing. It's fairly well written. For Jeph Loeb it's disappointing. In total it's derivative and unnecessary.

One final note, I'm calling it now, this isn't about Hush. It's about Jason. They're going to make him a villain again. more

This issue is all place setting but by the end the table is only a third set. It starts with the Joker planning on dumping laughing fish into the reservoir but Bat man shows up, they fight. Nothing we haven’t seen before. But this time the Joker clocks Bats with a crowbar because Bats had his back turned to obvious danger. Bats is tossed into the river and has to be saved by Talia.

Joker is clobbered by a giant henchman and is tied up by Hush. Hush creates slow cuts that will let him bleed out in a couple of hours. We see Babs and Dick talk about finding Bruce and they mention there are like nine Robins and six Batgirls. Bruce deducts where Joker is and J is surrounded by images of J killing Jason, humiliating Gordon and violating Barbara. Meanwhile Hush is taunting Batman and the story is written as if the Devil has returned to Gotham.

A couple of points. Talia is drawn so that we can see her breasts and her ass. A picture worthy of Nightwing. So to show just how dangerous Hush is, we see him easily defeat Bats’ greatest enemy. we see the daughter of his other great enemy, and Bruce learns Hush is back. Hush is presented as the ultimate badass who will test Bruce like he’s never been tested before.

Just one problem with that. We've seen it about 174,806 times in the past few years. Two, this reads like a greatest hits album. The laughing fish, images from Killing Joke and death of Jason. Hush.

And finally, the book mentions all the Bat family but Bruce goes after Joker alone. If this story line has Bruce learning the value of not being a loner - again - I will scream, well not scream, but really roll my eyes.

This issue was written as a gimmick to attract readers and comes off like that. It is not a story that builds on the most previous issues. It is its own separate thing that feels shoehorned into a book.

Not a great start. Or I could be wrong. more

Daniel Sampere must be developing scoliosis because he is carrying this run hard on his back, even more so than Jorge Jiminez on Zdarsky and Tynion IV runs on Batman. I think the reason why this series hasn't grabbed my attention on the same level as Absolute Wonder Woman is that the way the dialogue is written feels very formal and old-fashioned. The blue thought boxes are clearly someone telling a story to Trinity, but it doesn't feel natural and feels very clunky. This series is also a big decompression. The art saves this series, but as a long time Tom King fan, this feels very padded out. Tom King's interpretation and vision on how Wonder woman should act in a very stoic or stiff is very different from mine, and thats why there is a big disconnect. more

Well, Daniel Sampere continues to deliver great art on Wonder Woman. This issue feels a little stronger than most of this run, Diana feels like she’s featured more than most issues. However, that’s not saying much. It’s a classic case of “too little, too late” to improve the overall assessment of Tom King’s run on the character. Too much of the issue relies on buying into Tom King���s weak approach to the entire story and lackluster use of Diana. He also finds it necessary to throw in a “poop joke.” It almost feels like this would’ve been a good place to start the story so that the blanks could’ve been filled in as things progressed. The script has a “by the numbers” feel to it. Even though King’s tenure on the title is supposed to go beyond issue #19’s finale of the Sovereign storyline, one can always hope it won’t go much further and Wonder Woman fans can put all this behind them and move into a legitimately good era for the Amazing Amazon. more

It was really an average run at best. The visuals were good, but every human is flawed, and Chip Zdarsky is too, case in point with this lukerwarm final issue that had me rolling my eyes at several moments.

Well that happened. The story tied up all the threads so quickly, threads that didn’t have time to play out. So the mystery box stuff just got dumped on the floor. The Russians were manipulating the court of owls because Gotham is their corrupt boogey man. John Wick is unimpressed. The ersatz Captain America was KGBeast. That plot doesn’t make sense. Destroy Gotham to scare Russian public? Why not let the city fester. The way dc has written Batman, nothing he does works and Bruce’s actions are directly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. For a guy who wants to prevent a child from suffering what he went through, he sure is failing on an epic scale. Gotham is better off without him. Not the message DC wants to give.

Don’t ask me what the whole Riddler Mad Hatter plot was about. The court of owls is supposed to be this serious threat, but now is just the stooge for Russians? I never bought the court thing but if you did, it’s now a joke.

And the fake brother thing ended in like three pages. Apparently bro just wanted to shake Bruce up and maybe get him to use his money for good. I don’t know, the whole thing made no sense. Also, the lawyers had blood tests and hid them from everyone. That’s not how the law works.

The whole arc was so rushed, plot points didn’t have time to play out. Maybe the points would have landed better. I am always leery of politics in comics. Frankly, most writers can’t pull it off. And don’t tell me comics were always political. Saying fascists were bad in 1940 when they were bombing London and Shanghai is hardly the same as trying to do nuanced political and economic commentary without pissing off half the reading audience just doesn’t work for me. But that’s me, your mileage may vary and fair enough.

But I found this whole arc sound and fury signifying nothing.

Or I could be wrong. more

A lot of stuff happens, but they happen so fast, there’s no tension. The court of owls guy flees Riddler’s hq but so what. What was his role in Nygma’s evil plan? Riddler says he won’t go back to prison, but Gordon punches him out. Apparently Ed’s magic glasses made Jim kill the mayor but sleeping with the wife is all on Gordon. So what? I never got the sense that Gordon cared about that. Which is fair because he killed, so adultry is not a big deal.

Captain Fascist Hypes up the rabble, saying we must destroy Gotham to build it anew. This plot again. Why does anyone live in Gotham?

Elements unspools so fast, nothing has a chance to land. Batman’s plan seems to be go to Riddler building and punch people. The whole setup comes off as half-baked, so the payoff is haphazard. I suspect this is because the writer is moving off the boook before he planned so everything is rushed.

The art was nice. But not a good book.

Or I could be wrong. more

King doing a riff on Columbo with Detective Chimp could be considered clever, I guess. Except I don’t like Detective Chimp. He is a character from a bygone era, and the child-like humor doesn’t mesh with the more serious WW story.

Speaking of WW, King bringing in the chimp really messes with the whole Diana mourning the death of Steve arc, and the bonding with baby arc. King’s writing is so distant. Never in the moment. BuT not liking Detective Chimp is a me thing. Your mileage may vary, and fair enough. But it really is a clash of tones that doesn’t work. Also king of U.S. really strikes me as a riff on Court of Owls. In fairness, exposing the secret king is a Move Batman could do with the court, so fair play to King. Overall the plot just unspools and there is no sense of action or stakes. A mechanical run with no life.

Or I could be wrong.

The art was nice. more

This is a hard issue to rate. I like the art, and I like the basic premise of Lois getting powers. Others have written that all the side characters getting powers like Oprah giving them away is not good. I won't argue. I get their point, and they're not wrong.

But Lois getting powers opens up a lot of story potential. Instead of the cliched "woman waits at home for her man" stories, we can get two super powered spouses with equally important missions having to fight to get couple time together. Considering how DC got rid of young Jonathan, and now he's a teen who doesn't need his parents, the potential for DC to blow this situation is great. Don't blow it, DC.

I also like how Lois, through an Amazo suit (can't say I am crazy about her having an Amazo suit handy, such a plotting coincidence, so I don't love everything about this plot) steal Zod's powers. Now Lois has an arch enemy who will go after her, not because she's Superman's wife, but because she stole his powers. Lois is not a pawn in someone else's game and is someone with something to lose who will actively fight for her powers. Smart.

My complaints are around the story structure. Having it start with Lois trying to write about what happened to her, and then having Kara and Lana ask her to come out and play is weak. Having them tell her that she has writer's block because writing about oneself is different than writing about others doesn't work for me.

Lois should be hashing all this out with her husband. Also, Lana also having powers is the bridge too far for me. (See, I said I got the point about EVERYONE getting powers.) I would have preferred to have the story be more linear. That gives the story more a sense of happening right now, which, to me, always makes the story more exciting. (I am also aware of the danger of a critic dissing a story because it didn't unfold the way the critic would have done it. I just prefer linear stories because they, to me, are more in the moment creating real stakes, instead of jumping all over the place and being all confusing. I am looking at you, Tom King.)

Finally, Lois going to Mercy to get answers about what happened to her is just dumb. Dumb on Lois's part. I don't care that the writer has Lois saying Mercy earned her trust, a four-year-old can see that Mercy is playing the long game for Luthor. Come on writer, be smarter with your plotting. (I also don't care for Superman family buying into the Supercorp. built on Lexcorp. thing. We all know it's a trap. They did the same thing on Angel the Series with Wolfram and Hart. Be original folks.)

I also didn't like how we got no sense of how Jonathan or Clark felt about the new status quo. Even if it was just them saying, "wow, I don't know how I feel about this." Would have been nice. It sets up, perhaps, Clark and Jon not feeling special. Maybe there will be problems with Clark being all "I have the experience, listen to me in how you use your powers."

Maybe Jon already is sort of bothered by dad being able to check up on him, now mom can too. Man, parents are such a hassle and being a teen is hard, and I don't need them being able to monitor my every move like I'm a toddler.

Lois getting powers affects a lot of people. We don't see any of that. We don't even get a set up of that. An important element to leave out.

So, there was a lot to like, while at the same time a lot to not like. Not a bad premise, but it could have been set up better.

Or I could be wrong. more

Um, ok. We learn that Jim Gordon killed the mayor while under the influence of mad hatter tech used by the Riddler. Gordon also had an affair with the mayor’s wife, presumably while under the influence of said tech.

Gordon also worked as a private eye, investigating insurance scams and affairs. Not the work I’d do if I had a commissioner’s pension. We also spend a lot of time seeing Bruce beat up just so he can place a bug on his the shoe of his “brother.” I have to believe there was an easier way.

So we see the pieces move into place for the story. It just doesn’t engage me. I don’t care about the people, there is no emotional pull. Your mileage may vary and fair enough.

I guess my biggest beef is that just a couple of issues ago, there was a whole bit about bat family values, but the story has Bruce acting alone - see planting bug. You can’t have it both ways - Bruce as a loner and Bruce as a family man. Remember for the first 30 of 31 years of Batman, there was a Robin, and Robin planting a bug would have been a great use of the character. I’m just saying.

Not a terrible issue, but it was just lifeless to me. All plot, no character.

Or I could be wrong. more

I love a great Mystery for Batman to solve. This one here is pretty good, as there are several that Batman needs to figure out. Who killed the Mayor? Who is Commander Star? What does Edward Nygma & the Court of Owls have to do with it? i really enjoy Chip's Batman, and I've been a fan of Jorge Jimenez's are for a long time now. If I have to give some critisim on this one, is I felt it ran long, and found myself going back to read the page prior a few times, but that is it. Batman seldomly dissapoints, but I'm looking forward to the next issue, what more could I want. more

Nice art, continuation of a cynical trend I hate. Mainly taking morally good characters and deconstructing them to make them “human.” By That I mean taking good guys and making them creeps. Thomas Wayne has gone from a good man who became a doctor instead of sitting on his trust fund to a guy who cheats on his wife while ignoring her because he cares too much about his career.

Leslie Thompkins tells Bruce dad did cheat and could have fathered a child. Bruce’s advisor says give up half his fortune and have”bro” sign an NDA. Why? To save his dead dad’s reputation? To avoid a scandal? Bruce has been in so many scandals, what is one more? Plan makes no sense. Wouldn’t be surprised if advisor is in on the plot.

The mayor is dead, and people ask who would kill him? Given his huge number of failures that have resulted in the deaths of thousands is anybody surprised at this?

Also, the public hates Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises? Really?

Are writers so cynical that they can’t conceive of good people. In War Games, they made Leslie a killer. I think it’s been retconned, but such a cynical move. This issue has Bats lashing out in anger. So he’s a bottled keg waiting to explode instead of a man in control. There’s a new head of Court of Owls? That group has gone from a legend no knew existed to a group all know are real. Just take them down with a forensic accountant.

The Riddler is meeting with people, and Bats knows and confronted them. Gives the usual warning about watching them while actually having no evidence and letting their plan unfold and not actually stopping anything. Not a good story.

Or I could be wrong. more

It's fitting that for a run that has been mixed for me ends with a book that is mixed for me. It's better than that garbage fire ending that Spencer made, but... yeah it's not that good either.

But must say, for a final arc that from start was all about loose ends, it did leave nothing but loose ends.

The resolution to Tombstone was very poor for me. It's basically the same ending as Gang War, except he is not as angry to Spider-Man anymore. Janice is gone, Tombstone is still Kingpin and the only change to his operation was losing White Rabbit. So... felt bit like a waste?

May's role here feels random. We haven't seen her in pages of ASM in over a year, so it was just odd. It was nice, and a nice symmetry to WWL, but it feels like a resolution to a story that we never read. May wasn't really a character here, so the sudden focus on her feels odd.

Jackpot as an idea still doesn't work for me. Them being fine with each other would work very well, if their breakup was more natural. But since they wanted to break them without any argument, bad feelings, still caring for each other but also having a reason not to be together, it just doesn't work. This whole setting doesn't work for me.

I'm glad Shay isn't ditched.

And Chasm was a huge headache. It's the same ending basically as Beyond. All the stories between DW and this were just lies? I get, supervillain lying? Unheard of. But like why do all this? I don't think anyone cares for Dark Web 2. And what was the point of that mini-arc between #47-48?

Rek-Rap was nice. Same as Bubs and art in all stories. But overall, it's really hard to say this landed in any capacity for me. It's hard to recommend Wells' run in any way because there aren't really any good changes for Peter in hindsight, only bad ones, stuff that doesn't stick, or just forced changes that are reverted.

I hope Shay stays. more

I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I think this ending was just as bad, if not worse than Nick Spencer's Spider-Man run. This run for me feels like watching the atrocious Joker sequel to me where its a big punchline.

We think there will be a satisfying conclusion to the Tombstone story, it wasn't. Literally nothing happens, Tombstone doesn't get punished. He literally wins while Spider-Man suffers. The only thing that does improve is Aunt May accepting Peter Parker has to ask for Spider-Man for help, which makes him be in danger. At the end, Aunt May and Peter are close again... but again it was not built up.

Chasm is evil again, which makes the Winkler arc uselses, the art is generally ugly, the only thing I like was the Wolverine story. I do not care if Peter Parker and Mary Jane are never getting back together. I think as long as Nick Lowe and the Marvel Editorial are around, it's never going to happen. But there has to be a good and engaging story for this, and it sucks seeing Ultimate Spider-Man and other series get good satisfying character writing but not Main Earth 616 Peter Parker.

Overall, for real. I am done with this series. I have gone to accept that this series is not for me, and I am never going to be reading this series again. I only read the last arc just for me to actually critique it fairly to the best of my ability and not be a mindless hater. I felt that this series was bad because Spider-Man loses a lot, inconsistent art, the bad writing/story, and the action leaves to be desired. Even if Joe Kelly will do well in Spider-Man series, I probably wont read it. I hope people have fun and enjoy this series. more

***Cons***
-Goofy Anime-looking art (Batman looks ridiculous)
-Too Subversive (This was built for the first time read. i doubt the twists will hold up upon re-reads)
-Too Deconstructive (There is only so much you can bend and deconstruct characters before they are NO LONGER the same character. I'll avoid going into spoilers, but you'll know who I'm referring to right from the start of the comic)
-Yet another Brutal Batman that kills (At least this killer-Batman is different in that he stabs and hacks his enemies to bloody bits)
-SOOOO EDGY!!! (I am sick and tired of grimdark edgelord comics)

***Pros***
-At least its not by Tom King
-Thankfully not by Chip Zdarsky either
-At least this Batman doesn't weigh a buck and change, and have to wear armor to compensate.
-Thankfully Scott Snyder refrained from making this as overly-wordy as his prior Batman writing.
-At least this Batman hasn't killed anyone with a gun (At least not yet)

-The Art is honestly the best part!! There might have been another positive? I just can't think of it right now.

I'm going to try re-reading this at some point and see if i feel differently about it later. more

I tried to read it and made it to page 6 and just didn’t care to finish, I am going to try to read it again later . Might change my grade later. I just did not care to finish it

No, just no. Chip actually did a decent Bat story last issue, but ruins it by bringing up Bruce’s long lost “brother” from Snyder’s court of Owls thing. It was a bad idea a decade ago. It was a bad idea in 1973 when Bob Haney wrote Bat-crap crazy stories in Brave and Bold. The stories had no impact on main continuity and ought to be considered alternate universe.

Points for finally killing the mayor. Points taken away for the Riddler being free on a technicality. He has committed so many crime he would have to be free on 123,865 technicalities.

And Bruce finally gets his money back only to be sued by “bro.” Thomas Wayne and wife Martha having a kid is front page news. The pregnancy is front page news. There is no way a secret child is possible. If you want people to believe in Lazarus pits and Manbats, you have to keep the real world details real, otherwise you create a world where there is no anchor for the reader to latch onto.

This is bad and I am not wrong. more

The score represents the fact that I was completely lost because I am not following the Absolute Power main story.

But for a tie-in, the writer has something to say about Bruce and Selina. He actually writes her as smart, insightful, and mature. She actually seems like a grownup and a partner who can hold her own physically and in the brains department. Bruce isn’t written as a lox. He is relatively self aware, but has room for growth, growth driven by actually having an equal relationship with Selina. So well done.

But not caring about the story it is tied into means the majority of the book is about something that does nothing for me. Overall, I give the writer points, which tells me he can actually write Bruce as Batman, which makes the previous year or two even more disappointing.

Or I could be wrong. more

Actually, a pretty decent issue, especially for a crossover tie-in. I am not a fan of publisher wide events. They are usually written by committee, so even the characters are inconsistent from issue to issue despite the fact that they are supposed to be the same person in a single plot.

I also find the premise of these events to be eye rolling and the efforts to be shocking and edgy usually result in a story that does no justice to characters. Also, they often kill momentum in books where plots have to be put on hold for the crossover. Your mileage may vary.

The Marvel vampire story this summer is a classic example of this. Making Dr. Doom Sorcerer Supreme just doesn't work, at least not for me.

But this is Batman. The art was solid, and the Bat and Cat interplay actually worked well. The characters didn't act stupid, and the plot of this issue didn't go forward because the writer deemed it so. There weren't too many characters to follow. A common problem in the Bat books.

But this story is part of a larger whole. I have certain problems with the premise of the overall story. Apparently, Amamda Waller is so powerful, she can build secret bases and no one finds out. These bases would require billions of dollars and thousands of workers to construct them. And no one notices. Waller has been portrayed as a villain for so long, you'd think the heroes, the president, and congress would at least keep an eye on her.

Also, she depowered heroes and no one does anything. Again, the president, congress, her political enemies just sit and do nothing? The villains all just act according to her wishes. There aren't any supervillain spikes in crime?

A bridge too far for me. But it you like it, fair enough.

An odd issue. A strong tie-in in a larger story with a premise I can't buy into. Really hard to judge.

Or I could be wrong. more

This issue is fine. Daspidaboy beat me to it when he used that word in his review, so well played, sir.

This sort of story has been done several times before. You know, unknown person describes what just happened and how things were going and we see several incidents showing us a point of view from a previously unknown character with the hero coming in at the last minute doing something kind that ties the whole story together, and we see a character moment for the hero.

The classic example of this is from the Batman cartoon episode “Old Wounds” where Nightwing explains to new Robin how he and Bruce split. That episode even ends with a Joker henchman Bruce terrorized in front of his son getting a job at Wayne Enterprises and being able to leave the hench life.

I was never a fan of Denys Cowan’s art, but that is me. If you like his stuff I won’t argue.

I also spent too much time thinking about henchman economics. Real criminal gangs are actually hard to join and getting a job with one isn’t like going to a job center. The fact that police and Batman can’t find Two-Face but unemployed loser dad can isn’t a good look for the forces of law.

Also, Dent is an escaped killer. Police don’t have to build a case. What I am saying is that if a small time hench needs to get out of jam dropping a dime on Two-Face or whomever is looking for henches is a good get out of jail card is all I am saying.

So points deducted for plot points that have been seen before. Points added for showing Bruce not as a violent psycho, but as someone who wants to help people and not just smash people in the face because he likes the sounds his fist makes when it crushes bone and cartilage.

So an issue that was . . .fine. I suspect it is a time killer during DC’s big summer event. We won’t get a sense of what the new status quo will be like until that’s over.

Or I could be wrong.
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So, just like that Bruce is a billionaire again, Selina is back in good graces, and Bruce 2.0 is aged out. And there are no consequences for Bruce whatsoever for all the havoc he's unleashed on Gotham these past months. Only in the funnies.

Superstan52 said many of the same things I thought so good for him and bad for me since I want to be original. I will say they’ve set up two future stories. Clone that gave Bruce his hand and was buried in backyard of Wayne Manor 2.0 will be dug up and we will have another Dark reflection of Bruce villain who was dumped into a Lazarus pit for evil reasons.

Damian is also right about evil batbot that can take down Justice League being in the hands of the Army is a bad idea. We will see another Bruce creates villain story out of that.

Points for Bruce having backup billions. He IS the guy with backup plans with backup plans. It shouldn’t have taken years to discover that.

So after several years Bruce has billions, just not his original billions. He has a mansion and batcave, just not the original. What was the point? He and Selina are back to being friends, and probably lovers. Family is family. Makes the last few years feel like another Bruce us down, learns lesson with a body count, but emerges stronger. Lather, rinse, repeat. This is not good.

Or I could be wrong.

The art was nice, and the Robin suits looked better, but we really have no sense of the roles bat family members will play. They are plot points, not characters. more

Well the arc is over. Batman overcomes obstacle and reunites with family again. I would give points for originality except what is this, the 123,887,546 time it’s been done. We have yet another mastermind who, secretly, behind the scenes has manipulated all the players, but this one created both the Joker AND Batman, and DC has again given Bruce an excuse for not being responsible for doing horrible things.

The Lazarus Pit again is a get out of jail card that reduces death to being barely an inconvenience. And the family is again reduced to being cardboard cutouts who fulfill roles and don’t reveal character in action. There is a lot of Jason forgiving Bruce for his death, and I guess Bruce forgiving Jason for all the murders Jason committed. Bruce can’t kill but Jason gets a body count. Whatever.

And the art was jumbled. Tim’s new costume is a riot of shapes and colors that do not mesh in a pleasant manner. Overall a VERY predictable story that spent YEARS TELLING THE SAME OLD STORY, BUT THIS TIME IT MAKES Bruce look incredibly lame because he again was a pawn of someone else taking away his agency, and gave us yet again another Joker origin that completely removes the mystery of the character.

Terrible. Or I could be wrong. more

This issue was so meh. Bruce is being saved by the power of love. Flash and Tim tell him he’s not alone, amazing considering the first five decades of Batman had him working with Robin, Superman, Justice League. Now we are told Bruce’s mind has been seeded so he doesn’t have to take responsibility for writers going edgelord. Also Damian realizes robot is not dad. Evil shrink, the 87th we’ve seen in Batman is really ripped and notes robot is making mistakes. Robot also captures Damian and unveils his own robot Bat family. Now everyone will have their own doppelgänger to fight. This story is going around the block to get next door. I am all for Batman being sane, I put you don’t have to have a convoluted years long story to get there, just write him sane. All in all dull. Or I could be wrong. more