In this review of Batman #4, Batman faces off against a new foe: The Minotaur
Batman #4 main cover by Jorge Jimenez (DC Comics)
BATMAN #4
Written by MATT FRACTION
Art and Main Cover by JORGE JIMÉNEZ
Variant Covers: JIM LEE, JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO, FELIPE MASSAFERA, JORGE JIMÉNEZ, DAVID AJA
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: 12/3/25
This comic book review contains spoilers
Batman #4 opens with a new villain named “The Minotaur” operating from Gotham’s financial district. He handles the money flow through Gotham and is contracting with up to seven different crime families. When an under-the-table deal goes wrong, several people are shot and the police get involved, creating an all-out gang war in the city. The Minotaur suspects one of these families to be a rat and orders that all the families’ bank accounts be frozen.
Meanwhile, over at Wayne Enterprises’ Experimental Science Building, Bruce Wayne stops in to schedule a dinner date with Dr. Annika Zeller. At The Gotham Eye paper HQ, the young boy from last issue tags along with a veteran reporter who is kicked out for being drunk (again). Batman tracks down Lonnie Machin AKA Anarky who tells him that he tried to boost a truck and dump it in the river but everything went wrong. He asks for Batman’s protection from The Minotaur.
Finally, at Bristol Township in the Old Wayne Manor, the Minotaur hosts a meeting between the heads of the seven families. He calls their group “the Torus” and explains that he has influenced the police, media, government etc. to look the other way as he amasses all revenue streams both legitimate and illegitimate. His end goal? Control the wealth of the entire world. He executes a member of each family to show that he means business.
Analysis
This is a complicated issue. Matt Fraction is introducing so many new characters and concepts in such a short page length, not to mention his attempts to explore financial themes which are hard to convey in a visual medium. I’ll be honest that I had to read this twice and I’d be lying if I said I found it particularly enjoyable either time. The scene between Bruce and Dr. Zeller is fun, although it does give me Chase Meridian vibes which I can’t say is a good thing. Zeller’s pink crocs on the treadmill was a nice touch from Jiménez.
The Minotaur has a cool design but that’s about all he has going for him. At this point I see very little that distinguishes him from Roman Sionis, Warren White, or any number of other theatrical Gotham City crime bosses from the past.
Fraction tries to cram in a critique on capitalism but it’s not fully coherent. There’s a brief scene where a veteran reporter reminisces of a time when Gotham had seventeen different papers instead of just one due to “money vampires.” The Minotaur’s positioning as a criminal banker is clearly also meant to tie-in with this commentary but both subplots are convoluted and whatever point Fraction is trying to make beyond “capitalism=bad” struggles to land.
The seven crime families are fairly rote except for The Penguin of course and a female led group who look nearly identical to the Bene Gesserit from Dune. Batman books, whether it be mainline or Absolute, seem to be leaning more and more into fiscal commentary to compensate for the fact that their main character is a wealthy mogul of the kind that is widely reviled in contemporary society. They’ve done this by removing his wealth in both books and making the villains the wealthy ones. We saw this with the Riddler in The Dying City arc, the Joker in Absolute, and again here with The Minotaur. I just don’t see that much new here and the commentary is increasingly lacking nuance of any kind. Everyone is an evil, murderous opportunist and while that may be topical, it doesn’t make for interesting characterization in most cases.
Final Thoughts
Matt Fraction is exploring the same class commentary that Batman books seem to have been preoccupied with for the past several years. The new villain looks cool but doesn’t have much else going for him and the story jumps around too much to be engaging. Jorge Jiménez turns in a solid looking issue but the story is lacking.
