Originally published on Patreon
Things have not been going well for Batman over the last few issues. His creation, Failsafe, has been tearing through the Bat Family, trying to complete it's mission of eliminating a Batman it believes has crossed the line into becoming a killer. With Batman having accessed the Zur-En-Arrh psyche, thrown all of his weapons at it, and even called upon his allies, nothing seems to be able to stop the machine.
This issue opens with perhaps Batmans best, and now only, hope of stopping it; the Justice League. However, as we've already been reminded already earlier in this story arc, Batman knows how to take down each member of the League, and Batman created Failsafe.
What follows is a fight that sees the machine almost kill Superman, and then lure Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Black Carnary, and Martian Manhunter into a part of the city where Bruce has laid traps to take down his friends if needs be. It's some great action, and Zdarsky has a great way of writing the fights so that you're never quite sure whether the heroes will manage to come out on top or not. The action is always brutal, and the enemy is overpowering, but it never just feels like a slaughter. It's some of the best comic book fighting I've read in a long while.
Elsewhere, Bruce and Superman are taken aboard the Justice League jet by Robin. However, knowing that Failsafe will be coming after him, and that Clark needs immediate medical attention or will die, Bruce orders Tim to get Superman to the Fortress of Solitude before bailing out into the Ocean. The final pages of the book sees Bruce waking up in Atlantis, where he's been healed. However, two weeks have passed, and Failsafe now rules over Gotham with an army of machines, and is trying to lure Batman out into one final conflict.
This might be one of the best Batman stories I've ever read. The stakes keep on getting bigger. The character stuff is great. The action is top tier. This is the kind of story that could easily go badly if it was in the hands of a lesser writer, but Zdarsky seems to know how to weave all of these elements together to create a truly awesome series.
The art, by Jorge Jimenez, is absolutely gorgeous, and everything looks phenomenal. The characters look great, the action is always dynamic looking and stylish; plus I love his designs for the new Zur-En-Arrh suit and Failsafe. This is a definite example of the art and the story coming together to make a really stand-out comic.
The back-up feature, also written y Zdarsky, goes back in time and starts to explore the origin of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, and how Bruce ended up making him into a back-up psyche inside his head for an emergency situation. It touches upon what we know of the character already, with references to the classic character, but it also introduces some new stuff that both builds towards the Failsafe story, and features an unseen adventure with the Joker.
Things just seem to be being set up so far, but it's interesting stuff, and looks set to further change this weird fan favourite part of the Batman continuity that Grant Morrison originally brought out of obscurity in their time on the title.
The back-up art, by Leonardo Romero, is a wonderful callback to the golden age comics, and has a lovely, retro look to it. It instantly helps to transport the reader backwards in time, and makes it feel like this is something deep in the characters history.
Overall, this has been another excellent entry in a series that has been some of the best Batman comics in years.
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