In Batman #154, Batman and Jim Gordon team up to solve Mayor Christopher Nakano’s murder, and a new Court of Owls player reveals himself.
Batman #154 main cover by Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey. Image: DC Comics
Title: Batman #154 — “The Dying City” Part Two
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Colors: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey
Variant Covers: Tony Harris, Jeremy Clark, Gabriele Dell’Otto, Nicola Scott, Annette Kwok & James Harren
Release Date: November 6, 2024
This comic book review may contain spoilers.
Batman #154 opens in the aftermath of last Batman #153, which saw the murder of Mayor Christopher Nakano. Harvey Bullock, who recently rejoined the GCPD, is running the crime scene, giving direction to the other officers on the scene. When he steps out to take a smoke break, he’s confronted by Batman and Private Investigator James Gordon, both of whom he’ll do no favors for in order to keep his recently reacquired station at the GCPD.
Batman goes to interrogate Nakano’s assistant, who reveals that Nakano had fights with both Edward Nygma and a “strange man” by the name of Leonid Kull. Though Gordon and Batman are unable to enter the room, they have a tap on the interrogation room, where they see Bullock questioning Mrs. Nakano. Batman watches from afar while Gordon stands in the hall, where he is confronted by Commissioner Vandal Savage (a rather recent development in the Batman title). When Savage jokes about Gordon looking for work, Gordon cuts back with a comment about how Nakano was murdered before being able to fire Savage, which was next on his agenda.
The colors and mood set by Tomeu Morey is relatively on point for a crime noir-style story. The art, however, is a little too clean and cartoony. It could be because Morey is working with Carmine Di Giandomenico this time around, but it’s hard to say. While Gordon has age-lines above his brow, he also has almost a glowing, cherubic cheek in a panel or two that adds a splash of anime style to what would be a hardboiled detective story. Readers’ mileage may vary, depending on the mood they’re looking for. Personally, I’m not fond of a Gordon who looks like he’s under a TikTok filter, but it’s a minor gripe in the story thus far.
At a restaurant across Gotham City, NygmaTech innovator Edward Nygma dines with the newly made Mayor Jacob Morgan and apparent mover-and-shaker Leonid Kull. Batman interrupts their toast, accusing Kull of murdering Nakano. He then pieces together that Kull, the new leadership behind the Court of Owls, is plotting with Nygma for a Gotham City takeover. The wrench in the theory is that Batman can’t prove anything yet, and since this was a private event that he interrupted, Kull orders some cops to tango with The Bat.
Batman roundly beats up some police officers, then vanishes. If it sounds out of place, that’s because it feels out of place. Why would Batman wander into the middle of a dinner, make some wild accusation, beat up some cops, and then just… bail?
Right after, Batman bargains with the coroner, Louis, to get a few minutes along with Nakano’s body.
At Wayne Enterprises the next day, Bruce talks with Rowan about this new “secret Wayne heir” that surfaced last issue. Rowan says that this heir, William Pureford, has strong legal representation, and his mother worked at the same hospital that Thomas Wayne did, which adds legitimacy to the claim. Rowan recommends that Bruce give over half his shares to William, then buy them back secretly, forcing the heir to sign an NDA.
Bruce then visits Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who reveals that Thomas Wayne had an affair with a woman named Tara, but it ended quickly. Though an affair took place, Dr. Thompkins strongly doubts Tara had a baby, as she couldn’t believe that Thomas would abandon a child of his. Before they can continue their conversation, the clinic is attacked.
A bunch of conspiracy theorists break into Dr. Thompkins’ clinic ranting and raving about free housing and support for illegal immigrants and other typical conservative talking points. It’s clear what Writer Chip Zdarsky is doing here, tying this story to very real events in the modern-day. With the right art and writing at the helm, this moment could be poignant and an interesting parallel, but in this moment, with a story that’s just zipping through plot development after plot development, it comes across as hackneyed and lazy.
Commander Star in all of his red, white, and blue glory comes to the rescue, telling Wayne that these people just want to be heard. He then refers to some of the violent thugs as “bad actors” who “infiltrated” a protest, which is clearly a callback to January 6th, 2021, when supporters of Donald Trump violently assaulted our nation’s capital. Before we can take this moment in and meditate on another quip from Zdarsky, we whisk off to another scene.
In Nakano’s office, Batman and Gordon go over the clues, trying to piece together what kind of killer would murder the mayor. Bullock calls in, letting them know that Koyuki Nakano’s phone revealed that she was having an affair. It’s then that Gordon pulls a gun on Batman, saying that he was defending himself. Batman knocks Gordon’s lights out, breaking the old man’s glasses in half.
The issue ends with the two of them sitting across from each other, heads lowered in despair.
Batman #154 variant cover by Tony Harris. Image: DC Comics
What in the WHAT?!
In many ways, Batman #154 feels like a bad trip. It’s as if we, as readers, took some mushrooms handed to us by Poison Ivy and are watching this insane plot play out, complete with zany twists and turns, political “jabs,” and gleefully cartoonish art that feels closer to Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever than it does Matt Reeves’ The Batman. If the tone was consistently this one, it would work. However, while Batman #154 is certainly a mood, it breaks what was a promising setup in the last issue. This arc overextends the many plot threads it wanted to juggle, turning Batman #154 into a roller coaster ride that I’m not sure I want to be on.
Why? Because there are so many swerve plot threads, that it’s hard to fully digest or understand any of them. We get swerve after swerve after swerve with little downtime in between, and without the cooldown periods to fully digest or understand what’s happening, the cracks in the plot show clearly. It makes us, as readers, question what we just read as we juggle development after development. A problem set up in one panel is cleared up in the next, right before we’re thrown into something entirely different. Bruce’s long-lost brother? Oh, Thomas Wayne had an affair, but he didn’t have any children outside of his marriage! Then, we’re onto stand-ins for the Trump crowd before Commander Star pops in just long enough to remind us of his existence, so he can echo a phrase or two reminiscent of a dark day in America. Before we can take that in, we’re off to yet another plot thread.
There is no justification for any of this. NygmaTech. The Court of Owls. Bruce Wayne’s “long lost” sibling. It feels as if Zdarsky is just throwing words at us, hoping something will draw us in and keep us reading.
