DC Comics reviews 6/18/24 – Nightwing #115, Titans #12

Batman #149

In the fallout from the battle with Failsafe/Zur-En-Arrh, Bruce Wayne is putting the pieces of his life back together. There’s just one hangup — the Bruce Wayne clone Zur-En-Arrh created.

Batman quickly breaks Zur-En-Arrh’s programming as the clone Bruce realizes what’s been done to him. He was created simply to be a quick distraction to be loyal to Failsafe complete with an accelerated aging component. Writer Chip Zdarsky largely uses this issue to put some pieces of Batman back together — from the lost hand, mansion, fortune and family. Enough aspects did change that it’s not a complete reversion to the norm and Zdarsky sets up an intriguing new status quo while leaning on some old comforts.

The artwork was somewhat frustrating. Michele Bandini and Steve Lieber share art duties. Their styles don’t necessarily mesh well so the switch is more noticeable than other complementary artists collaborating on an issue. As always, it would be preferable for just one artist to draw an entire issue instead of the tag team approach which impacts visual continuity. Nick Filardi’s colors and Clayton Cowles’ lettering do provide some familiarity with their quality approach to the title.

Zdarsky did a lot to break Batman and now puts him back in a good place just as Absolute Power comes around to shatter him all over again. Of Zdarsky’s run so far this has the most potential to be a strong launchpad for the next non-event crossover arc.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10