Batman #135/#900 (2023) Comic Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well! Happy Friday! I'm back with another comic book review as I went out with Brad on Wednesday, right after I posted my review of The Flash #123, and picked up some new comics. Today, I'll be reviewing Batman #135 (Legacy #900). There won't be many spoilers, just a couple of them, so don't worry if you buy this series and haven't read this issue yet. Let's get into it.

I stopped reading alot of the Batman related titles published by DC Comics when the New 52 began way back in 2011. I still checked in with the various Bat titles over the years, but I no longer buy them new, nor do I buy them consistently like I was doing between 2009 and 2011, right at the tail end of the pre-Flashpoint/New 52 run where Batman and Batman related titles were the only comics that I bought and read. So I haven't read much of Tom King's run on Batman or much of Chip Zdarsky's run. But last week Cool Comics in My Collection, which is a comic book centric blog run by my friend, Ed Gosney II, did a little blurb on the issue, and it piqued my interest given that this was the 900th issue overall of the main Batman title, and that multiple versions of Batman appear in this issue. I'll get to that part in a little bit.

So the story is good, but it being the final part of a multi-issue story arc, called "The Bat-Man of Gotham", it was a little confusing at first, being that I haven't been keeping up with the story that's been happening since the last issue I read, which was the first issue of Zdarsky's run (#125). But, unlike many other Batman comics, this issue was very easy to get into after the first couple of pages. At least, it was for me, I don't know how the rest of you who read this issue and hadn't been keeping up with this story arc, found it. Chip Zdarsky is a writer that I'm only mildly familiar with as he wrote Jughead for Archie Comics when the New Riverdale reboot first started back in 2015, and I read the first issue of his Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man series from 2017, which is an issue that I'll be reviewing on the blog sometime in the near future. But, besides those two issues, I'm not super familiar with his work. 

The basic premise of the story is that Batman has to chase a villain named Red Mask, who wants to capture Batman and become like the Joker. Which is an...odd goal, but at least it's better than the usual bad guy plots that Batman comics tend to have. And, at least with this issue, there's no deconstruction of Batman, the Joker, or Gotham City like there has been since Grant Morrison's run, which I was getting tired of.

The best part of the issue for me, aside from the artwork of Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jimenez and Mikel Janin, is just how many versions of Batman appear in this issue. There's the Arkham video game series version, the Vampire Batman from the '90s Elseworlds trilogy, the Gotham by Gaslight Victorian era Batman, the Michael Keaton version, the DC Animated Universe/Kevin Conroy (RIP) version, the Batman Beyond version from the future version of the DCAU, the Dark Knight Returns version, the 1950s comic book/Dick Sprang version, and the Batman '66 version from the Adam West TV show. 

My favourite part of this issue, and this is where the spoilers come into play, is where the current comic book version of Batman, Batman Prime if you will, meets the Adam West Batman, Batman '66 shall we say, and Batman '66 gives Batman Prime his utility belt, which contains a can of Shark Repellent Batspray, which Batman Prime uses against a Shark version of the Joker on another Earth near the end of the issue and he thinks, "Heh, I finally met a Batman more prepared than I am." If you know me at all you know that Batman (1966-1968) is one of my favourite TV shows of all time and Batman: The Movie (1966), where the Shark Repellent Batspray first appears, is one of my favourite movies of all time, so to see Batman '66 give Batman Prime his utility belt and it has a can of Shark Repellent Batspray, which he ACTUALLY uses against a Shark version of the Joker, is pretty freaking awesome in my books. Obviously it's ridiculous and stupid, but it's now one of my favourite things ever. So kudos to the creative team for actually using such a deep dive element from the 1966 TV series in a modern day Batman comic.

Overall, this is a pretty great issue. It works much much better if you've not only kept up with Zdarsky's run up to this point, but have a decent knowledge of Batman history as well, but it's easy enough to get into if you haven't been keeping up with Zdarsky's run. I just wouldn't recommend it as your first Batman comic ever, or your entry into it if you're new to the comic book medium. Oh and it also has the bonus of being part of DC's current revitalization initiative, Dawn of DC, too.

And that my friends is going to be it for me for today and for this week. I'll be back soon with my review of season 3 of Star Wars Rebels, and more comic book reviews as well. So in the meantime, please head on over to Cool Comics In My Collection if you aren't already reading it weekly. I'm sure Ed would love to have new readers, especially since his 400th episode is coming out next week. The link will be at the end of this post. So until next time have a great rest of your day and a great weekend and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

https://edgosney.com/http:/edgosney.com/category/cool-comics/cool-comics/