The latest issue of Batman is something a little special; not only is it the final chapter of the latest story arc, but it's also the 900th issue to bear the title. With that in mind, Chip Zdarsky not only creates a fun conclusion for the story, but manages to make it a celebration of the character too.
The last issue took some big leaps in the story, and things suddenly began to speed up as we got an explanation for who Halliday is, as well as his plan involving manipulating the multiverse. Not only that, but this alternate Gotham came under attack from Halliday's forces, and Bruce ended up losing a hand in a fight with Ghostbreaker (that world's version of Ghostmaker).
This issue picks up in the middle of all of that chaos. The streets of Gotham have become a warzone as the citizens do what they can to survive the red mist, whilst Man-Bat creatures attack them from the skies. Catwoman and Jewel do what they can to save the people, but they need somewhere safe to take them. That's where Alfred comes in. Having been inspired by this other version of his son, and seeing the chaos that's happening outside his building, Alfred leads the citizens of Athena tower in overpowering the security guards, and opens the doors to the people of Gotham.
The first half of this issue feels like the main conclusion to this arc, it deals with the alternate Gotham, it sets the world there on a better course, and shows that even having been there a short while Bruce has managed to inspire people, and to make it a better place. The book even teases a moment where it looks like Alfred might go with Bruce, where he could come cross to Earth-0. This is something that I saw fans speculating on online, as a possible way of not undoing Alfred's death, but also getting Alfred back. I think addressing it as a possibility, but ultimately shutting it down, is the best thing that could have been done. It would feel somewhat disrespectful to our Alfred to replace him with another version of himself, one that doesn't have those memories or connections with Bruce and the others. Especially as this Alfred has a wife he'd be leaving behind too.
Speaking of alternate versions of characters, the second half of the book is the part that I think people are going to be remembering and talking about for a good long while. Following Halliday into the multiverse, Bruce jumps from world to world, following a few steps behind. Every world Halliday visits results in either a Joker being born into that reality where there wasn't one before, or the Joker already there becoming more crazed and powerful than ever. And so we follow Bruce as he visits realities like the 1989 movie, the Red Rain universe, the Arkham games, and Batman 66.
The final confrontation with Halliday is pretty wild, and it very much embraces the ridiculousness of the situation and the wild impossibilities of the multiverse. It also contains a moment that I think fans of Batman are going to laugh out loud with, as it brings back one of the most ridiculous and fun moments of the character's history.
This issue of Batman is, ultimately, a lot of fun to read. If you're someone who's familiar with the various different versions of the character this book will feel like a fun nostalgia trip for you. It brings in some of the most popular versions of the character from the comics, as well as those from other media such as movies, TV, and games. It feels like a celebration of the different ways in which people could have fallen in love with the character, whether it's one of the books that people always recommend, a show you watched as a kid, of a game, it's a fun, enjoyable romp through some of the best bits of Batman's cultural impact.
Whilst the book does put a lot of the issues that Bruce has been dealing with lately to bed there are still some big questions looming over the character that I'm hoping the next few issues will deal with. Will Failsafe return to challenge Bruce again when he returns to his own Earth? Has his psyche been at all damaged by the recent events with the multiverse travel and the release of Zur-En-Arrh (and that last page!?)? And will he keep the robot hand, or is he going to get a real one the same way Alfred did after losing his? Zdarsky has a lot of things he can do with these questions, or he could ignore them completely and go onto the next story. Whatever is coming next, I'm very excited, as this has been a fantastic run so far.
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