WOW!!!! Was not a fan of the first Batman'89 series but Sam Hamm knocks it out of the park this time! His new and original takes on classic Batman villains is nothing less than brilliant. Love the idea that Drs. Jonathan Crane and Harley Quinn are competing psychiatrists that might be working together, I'm surprised that no one came up with that idea before this. Also brilliant is the idea that Crane would be a VA doctor working with PTSD vets, using them as his test subjects for his fear experiments. Again, makes perfect sense. As for the heroes, it's much more interesting this time that Barbara Gordon is the lead. Hated the fact that she was pushed to the sidelines in the first miniseries but here she shines. And her relationship with Alfred is really interesting, it's great that Hamm remembered that Barbara and Alfred have always had a relationship in some form, whether in the movies or on the TV show. Can't wait for her to become Batgirl. The artwork by Joe Quinones is aces as usual and the story ends on an AMAZING cliffhanger! Can't wait for the next issue!

Despite some good moments, this series has been a major letdown and that trend continues in this issue. To put it bluntly, this isn't Tim Burton's version of Batman, it's Sam Hamm's version of Batman. And what is Sam Hamm's vision of Batman? It's social justice, Gotham's version of Black Lives Matter. With an emerging villain and superhero, Harvey Dent and Drake Winston, who are black, this makes a lotta sense but the fact that it's the sole focus of the entire series grows tiresome and saps the story of any fun. This issue begins with yet another protest march by the good citizens of Burnside. It seems like there's been a protest march in every issue of this series. The marchers are upset over the perceived injustice to "Brother Harvey" in the fact that the only suspects in the arson that burned half his face off have been released from jail. The protesters (and Hamm) want to frame it as a racial thing but it doesn't hold water. Harvey is the District Attorney so you can bet the police would do everything in their power to bury these arsonists. The protest is peaceful but the police responsible for crowd control are led by Harvey Bullock who's dead set on busting heads and arresting everyone. And this is where young Drake Winston as Robin steps in. And what does he do? He arms the marchers with spray paint cans and throws firebombs at the police. This is his and Hamm's idea of justice. Drake's actions draw the attention of Bruce who invites the young hero to the mansion for a one-on-one. Complicating the matter is the completely unnecessary backstory that Bruce's great-grandfather stole the car company that Drake's great-grandfather started from him. It's the argument that white success derives from taking advantage of black folks and it feels forced and trite here. Needless to say, Bruce and Drake learn each other's superhero identity and after a little fighting foreplay decide to team-up. Drake tells Bruce that Batman needs to inspire hope in people not just fear. It's a great little moment in a series sorely lacking in great moments. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent escapes from the hospital as his scarred half starts to assert itself. There are some genuinely creepy scenes here, one in particular of Two-Face's reflection in a hospital window. And Harvey's back-and-forth with his other half is well-done. But, once again, Hamm feels the need to mire Harvey's course of action in yet more facets of systemic racism. Make no mistake, the entire focus of this series is that black lives matter. Selina Kyle/Catwoman returns in this issue but her appearance seems tacked-on. Even more unnecessary is the character of Barbara Gordon. By far, she's been the series' greatest disappointment. Even though she's a police sergeant, she's been denied any heroic agency. Her role has been reduced to nothing more than Harvey Dent's girlfriend. Nothing in her actions or personality suggests she could become Batgirl. For a moment, I was thinking that Hamm was angling for her to become Oracle but in this issue, we learn that she sucks at computers as well. As a big Winona Ryder fan, it just makes me so mad. The series' only saving grace has been the amazing and beautiful artwork by Joe Quinones. He's the only reason I'm rating this issue a four instead of like, a two. With only two issues left, the series is going to have to rush to get any excitement into this story but it's probably already too late to fix this series' problems.