Overview: In Batman #141, Batman battles a Failsafe-empowered Zur-En-Arrh in this conclusion to the “Mind Bomb” arc.
Title: Batman #141
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jimenez & Dustin Nguyen (Backup story)
Colorist: Tomeu Morey & John Kalisz (Backup story)
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Jorge Jimenez
Variant Covers: David Finch, Felipe Massafera, Alan Quah & Dustin Nguyen
Release Date: January 2, 2024
Please Note: This comic book review may contain spoilers
Batman #141 starts off in the past. Batman, under the control of Zur-En-Arrh, is programming and modifying Failsafe (the villain from Batman #125). Failsafe detects a security issue, wherein a new program can be uploaded, but as Zur reveals, it’s not an error. Should Failsafe not be needed for its primary purpose, it could serve “other” means.
In the present, readers find Batman where we last left him at the end of Batman #140. Bruce stands before Failsafe, now commanded by Zur-En-Arrh. Bruce quickly deduces that when he stopped Failsafe (in Batman #130), the loophole he used was by design. It was all Zur-En-Arrh’s doing. The new “Fail-Zur” (can we call him that?) standing before Batman offers the Caped Crusader a choice: live out the rest of his days in a hole, broken and beaten, or retire and live his final days in splendor. It’s an odd offer, considering that the past couple of issues have been about Zur-En-Arrh seizing control and trying to beat the Bruce Wayne out of Batman.
Naturally, Batman refuses the offer, using his metal hand to take out one of Failsafe’s sensors, so he can escape. Bruce finds himself leaping out of the window of a cabin in the middle of the woods. There’s snow on the ground. He steals a car and speeds off.
Meanwhile, Nightwing (Dick Grayson) enters the Clocktower, where he finds The Gray Shadow (Lucie Chesson) and Barbara Gordon waiting. Lucie quickly summarizes the last two issues of the “Mind Bomb” arc to Nightwing, then leaves Barbara and Dick to save Bruce.
The story then jumps to the meat of this issue. Batman is speeding down the road, trying to outthink a Zur-En-Arrh-powered Failsafe in pursuit. It’s a neat little chase, one that sees Batman using his cunning and analytical mind to both predict and slow Failsafe down. The art by Jorge Jimenez is beautiful, as always. Jorge really knows how to make action sequences feel cinematic, and though he’s often remembered for cool, over-the-top fights, he’s an artist keenly aware of leaving space for images to breathe. Readers really feel the car chase in just a few short panels, and with Tomeu Morey’s colors, it’s a vivid, wintry setpiece that’s hard to emulate.
Once Batman’s trapped Failsafe in the car, he bails and then heads back to the cabin. Bruce has given himself precious minutes to sift through Zur-En-Arrh’s workshop and piece together weapons for the final battle.
Over the next few pages, Bruce and “Fail-Zur” duke it out. It’s goofy, beautiful, and fun — complete with laser sword gauntlets that are begging to be made into a McFarlane toy. Through the banter between Batman and Zur-En-Arrh, it feels as if writer Chip Zdarsky is going for an over-reliance on machines versus human innovation. At least, in a world with AI-powered everything, that seems to be the gist as Batman surmises that Zur-En-Arrh is sloppy because he’s all machine whereas Batman is flesh. This empowering speech, however, is moot. Why? Because Batman loses his battle against Zur-En-Arrh.
Bruce blacks out, then reawakens in a prison cell next to the Joker. After the two exchange greetings, Bruce points out that Joker knows everything about him, including his Zur-En-Arrh personality. He then asks how, which Joker promises to reveal.
In an epilogue, Zur-En-Arrh, seemingly in Batman’s body (or perhaps a different body), puts the Failsafe armor to rest, climbs into a bed, tightens his mask, then clicks a button. I suppose we’ll find out what this is about in a few issues, but will it be worth the wait?
The Mind Bomb arc was only three issues, but it felt like much more and yet nothing crammed into a small amount of pages. Allow me to explain. In the beginning, we got references galore, as Batman originally set out to stop Joker, who had captured Lucie Chesson and was sporting his whitest The Dark Knight Returns outfit. This all hinges on the coattails of a teaser previously where Batman was seen working with the Riddler (Edward Nygma). Whether this is Bruce Wayne Batman or Zur-En-Arrh Batman working with Riddler is unclear, though perhaps it doesn’t matter?
After the confrontation with Joker, Batman has a mental breakdown and is pushed to his limits by Zur-En-Arrh, who unleashes a horde of Zur-En-Arrh’s collected from across the multiverse. If that sentence doesn’t make sense, read it again, and then just roll with it. Bruce, in his own mind, beats the bejesus out of these multiversal Zur’s, then finds himself waking up in the cabin where he comes face-to-face with “Fail-Zur.”
Batman #141 variant cover by David Finch
Question: What happened to all of those other Zur-En-Arrhs?
Answer: We don’t learn this in the main story. The final issue of the Mind Bomb arc sees Batman losing a battle with “Fail-Zur,” only to wake up in a prison of some sort (could it be a prison of the mind?) with Joker. The backup (sort of) fills in this gap.
Obviously, there are still gaps missing in the information we have available, and that’s probably meant as a tease that will be filled in later when this whole Zur-En-Arrh nonsense gets resolved. However, this story simultaneously feels too convoluted and also sparse. It’s convoluted in the sense that all of these moving pieces converged in a three-issue arc. It’s sparse in that there doesn’t seem to be much substance to the story. It’s all plot points and no real point. Why should we care that any of this is happening? Is there a lesson, a moral, a theme, or an idea we’re supposed to take away, or are we here to just watch Batman and Zur-En-Arrh play Tom and Jerry?
In the backup story, Zur-En-Arrh brings all of the other Zur-En-Arrh personalities into Failsafe. Some of them fight for dominance, and it ends with the main Zur telling them all that, while they can’t control Failsafe, they will eventually be brought back to their own multiverse to replace their respective Batmen. It’s definitely a colorful backup story, with each panel bearing the colors of Zur-En-Arrh (with no background).
That said, while it answers where they all went, it’s not necessarily satisfying. The other Zur-En-Arrh personalities are essentially just “hanging out” in Failsafe. It seems like a quick answer to take a problematic story decision out of the picture for a bit.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with an advanced copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
