Originally published on Patreon
I Am Batman was a series that I struggled to get into the begin with. Jumping back into DC around Future State and Infinite Frontier after losing a lot of love for the comics following New 52, a lot of the groundwork for Jace and his family was already in place, and I was left kind of jumping in in the middle. Along with that, the first story arc in the series tied into the 'Fear State' story and the stuff with the Magistrate (which I didn't really like).
However, once Jace moved to New York the series really came into its own, and has quickly become one of my favourite Batman books. It doesn't just feel like another vigilante in a city full of masks and villains, and the book feels strangely fresh and new considering its Batman. After dealing with his first real masked villain, Jace is now dealing with family issues as a terrorist group are trying to blackmail his father by threatening to reveal his big secret to the world. A secret that the family has now told Jace.
The woman he thinks is his mother never gave birth to him. Turns out his father had an affair and got a woman pregnant, and that after he was born Jace was raised with the Fox family as if nothing was different between him and his siblings. This news, along with the news that his birth mother are being held hostage, and leaves Jace reeling.
Unable to handle things, and not in the right head space to go out into the field and be Batman, Tiff steps up to help. Having already gone out onto the streets as a red and green glad vigilante (will she eventually take on the name Robin? I'd kind of love to see it) she takes the lead on saving the hostage. Luckily, her brother arrives to help, and she and Batman get to try and save the day. But with the odds against them they end up being captured, and everything looks hopeless; until Nobody arrives.
So, this issue is a pretty interesting look at the Fox family. Having been away from comics for a while I was pretty surprised that Lucius Fox had been fleshed out as much as he had when I came back, and that he had such an extensive and well crafted family life. And this issue really takes a look at that. This is still a Batman story, but in a way that we don't often get, with Batman's civilian family being a big part of things.
This is one of the things that I really like about Jace's Batman over Bruce's. Everyone important in Bruce's life have either been killed off, or they're found family that know he's Batman, and are usually a part of his crime fighting efforts. Jace has a very different dynamic. He has a large family, some know he's Batman, some don't, and he's juggling his civilian issues with those that happen to Batman. It is revealed in this issue that two more people know his crime fighting identity, Tiff and Hadiyah, so the list of those in his life without that knowledge is getting smaller (and it might just be those that haven;t said they know at this point).
Speaking of Hadiyah, I really like her vigilante look. There were scenes a few issues ago with her and Rene Montoya, where it looked like Montoya was trying to recruit her in some kind of way. So when she turns up here in a Question mask it makes perfect sense. I also really like her look, with the long brown coat and hijab giving her a distinct look that feels like a continuation of the Question's legacy, yet is instantly recognisable as her own person.
I was really sad to learn that this is the penultimate issue of this series, as it's been one that I've really come to love. But we do have Jace and Damian sharing one of the images together on the new promo art for the Dawn of DC, so hopefully this means we'll be getting more of the character after this. It really does feel like the series has only just begun in a lot of ways. He's found his feet in New York with his new system of working with the cops, He's going through something of an identity crisis right now, his sister looks set to be his side-kick, there's a new member of the Question line. It's all great stuff; and it's all coming to an end. Hopefully that end will be a good one though, and the journey to get there has been a great one.
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