In this review of Batman #157 Batman battles Russian communist forces for the fate of Gotham City.
Batman #157 main cover by Jorge Jimenez (DC Comics)
Batman #157
Written By: Chip Zdarsky
Art By: Jorge Jiménez and Tony S. Daniel
Colors By: Tomeu Morey
Main Cover Art By: Jorge Jiménez
Variant Covers By: Jorge Jiménez, Tony S. Daniel, Tony Harris, Mitch Gerads, Jerome Opeña, Rafael Grassetti
Release Date: February 5, 2025
This comic book review contains spoilers
Following the events of Batman #156, Batman pursues Leonid’s getaway plane headed for Russia with US intelligence secrets that the Riddler has haplessly provided. He takes out the gunmen and Leonid reveals his plan to bring Gotham down as an example of the corruption of capitalism to show his people back home. With the help of explosive putty, cables, and two automatic weapons, Batman is able to ground the plane in the middle of a cleared Gotham city street. Jervis Tetch deactivates the remaining explosives at NygmaTech as Riddler and Gordon scrap in the rubble. Batman takes down Commander Star AKA KGBeast using hand to hand combat in the street, thus saving Gotham from the communist threat.
One week later, Bruce visits William Pureford (the man who claimed to be Bruce’s half-brother) in the hospital where he works. They discuss mistakes both Bruce and his father have made but Pureford reveals that he is not Thomas Wayne’s son. Finally, Batman shares a coffee with Gordon on a rooftop. Gordon reveals that Kyouki left him and he is joining the Gotham police force again, possibly as a beat cop under Sergeant Vandal Savage.
Analysis
Zdarsky fails to engage with the political-philosophical ideas raised at the start of this arc in a significant way. The climax ultimately boils down to Batman and the ‘good guys’ taking down the evil Russian commies. What should be done about the wealth gap and economic issues plaguing the Gotham city citizens who are protesting in the streets? When Leonid says the oligarchs own all of Gotham and the people are left with the scraps, is it true? By revealing the corruption behind this plot to “serve the working class,” Zdarsky undermines the issues he raised by reducing the conflict to a black and white showdown of good vs evil.
In his defense however, it’s difficult to really engage with these nuanced ideas in a comic book story where at some point the audience is going to want to see someone get punched. I’m reminded of the fantastic second season of Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited when the season-long arc of a rising fascist-authoritarian government weaponizing fear and misinformation is jettisoned for an alien invasion twist. Neither of these narrative choices are inherently wrong. That’s the balancing act you have to play as a comic writer when you want to tackle big ideas without causing the average reader’s eyes to glaze over. I’d say this was one of the more valiant attempts. The biggest downside to this whole finale is that we never truly get a payoff to the promise of KGBeast. He’s there in Commander Star’s armor but beyond a few pages of Batman maiming and beating him, he serves no role in this final chapter.
The wild online popularity of things like Batfleck and especially Scott Snyder’s Absolute Batman have moved the Overton window to the point where mainline Batman is now openly swearing, using guns, and yes, even chopping people’s hands off. I’m not casting any aspersions as to the choices made in that book, but to see them reflected in the main continuity so soon comes across as DC learning all the wrong lessons from Absolute’s success. People will probably eat it up though.
Ironically, Batman landing a plane in the middle of Gotham didn’t bother me but I’m guessing people will complain about its “plausibility.”
There’s quite a bit of self-reflection from Bruce in the second part of this issue which is justified for an arc of this magnitude. My favorite moment comes from his line “I have a speech in me, about not falling for the rhetoric of a masked man. But sometimes I forget I’m wearing one too.” This demonstrates a self awareness of Batman’s own idolatry boarding on fascism. Less successful is the scene in the hospital picking up on a storyline from Detective Comics about Bruce’s possible long lost brother. I gotta admit, I’m not a big fan of this guy. First, he throws his people under the bus for the lawsuit then he immediately tells off Bruce for his lifestyle like he’s the moral authority. I don’t trust him.
I’m of two minds about Jim Gordon joining the police force again as a beat cop. On the one hand, is it not somewhat absurd that a man pushing seventy with his career decorations is going back to the position we first saw him in forty years ago? On the other hand, it’s not like his Private Investigator era has been particularly memorable and there is sort of a gravitational feeling you get when Gordon gets too far afield that he needs to be back where he belongs. In my mind an ideal scenario would be a Mad Men season 7 situation where he has to work his way up from the bottom pushing against hostile leadership in the form of Vandal Savage. Trying to see him exert his extensive skill set with limited resources and constant internal resistance is a premise rife with dramatic potential.
I’m sure we’ll never hear about him murdering a sitting Gotham mayor by shooting him in the face at point blank range ever again.
The Art
Jorge Jiménez and Tony S. Daniel share art duties this month and their styles blend well, to the point where it’s not immediately clear that there are two separate artists. I must give a shoutout to some of the action, specifically involving Batman scaling the plane while mid-air. There’s a dynamism and momentum helped by some thick motion lines that really give the sense that Batman is hanging on for dear life. At times it looks like he’s on the end of cable getting thrown around like a ragdoll by the velocity. I love the moments where he has to save someone who goes flying out, and you can see the strain he’s experiencing just from the way he’s drawn. It’s like a take on the moment in Batman Begins where he has to pull Ra’s up from the cliff face by his wrist. And as ridiculous as it is, the moment where Batman blows off the plane wings is expertly executed. If I were to nitpick though, Leslie Thompkins is completely unrecognizable.
Final Thoughts
Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jiménez, and Tony S. Daniel land the plane (literally) with a solid closer to a complex arc.
