In this review of Batman #147, Bruce escapes prison and plans for his assault on Zur En Arrh. But he can’t do it alone.
Batman #147 main cover by Jorge Jiménez (Credit: DC Comics)
Batman #147
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Color Artist: Tomeu Morey
Cover Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Variant Covers: Yasmine Putri, Jorge Jiménez, Kendrik “Kukka” Lim, Stevan Subic, John Giang
Release Date: May 7, 2024
This review contains spoilers
Zur-En-Arrh is in the Failsafe Batsuit and is chatting with Robin. Zur is listening in on any/every electronic device in Gotham. Elsewhere, the newly installed Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, Vandal Savage, is addressing a crowd of reports and onlookers. An assailant raises a pistol and fires a shot but Zur swoops down and blocks the shot. He then apprehends the perpetrator, noting that the latter most recently worked for Catwoman. Zur then taunts Savage with a return to prison, who returns the challenge.
In Gamorra, Amanda Waller is monitoring the situation.
In Rhode Island, Bruce is driving to a family cabin, hoping that Zur won’t think of the cabin nor realize Bruce’s plans. Bruce makes a stop at a former headquarters of Justice League. He reminisces about an encounter with Flash in which Barry reminded him of the need to let others help.
Back at Blackgate, Zur meets with Daniel Captio, who points out that Batman has escaped and charges Zur with underestimating him. Zur is unconcerned.
Amanda Waller’s agents infiltrate the location where they expect Batman to be. Robin is waiting for them and takes them out. Zur crashes the location at which Ms. Waller is directing the operation, along with Clock King. Waller and Zur banter. Zur leaves Waller with a warning.
At the Wayne cabin, Bruce unpacks his haul from the Justice League headquarters and flashes back to a time when he tried to teach Tim archery. He reflects on the fact that Dick’s acrobatics background made the transition to Robin far easier than for Tim, who had to work for everything.
In the Batcave, Zur explains his plans to Robin, which involve Amazo bots impregnated with the consciousnesses of different Zur-en-Arhhs from across the multiverse. Robin suddenly realizes what Zur has done, grows enraged and attacks Zur, demanding to know what Zur has done with his father.
Zur easily evades and immobilizes Robin, remarking that he can only trust a Robin he has made himself. He then reveals his own Robin – either a bot Robin, a Zur-En-Arrh Robin, or both (?).
At the Wayne cabin, Bruce hears a noise and goes out to investigate. It’s Tim! Bruce is happy to see him and they talk over dinner and washing up. Bruce acknowledges that his fears for the Bat-Family and what Zur might do to them caused him to isolate himself.
Tim reminds Bruce that each and every member of the Bat-Family chose that life and that Bruce can neither stop nor hold himself accountable for loss and death of his friends and loved ones. He tells Bruce the key is to live by helping each other. Bruce dons the Batsuit and closes by fiercely remarking that the Bat-Family is his strength.
Analysis:
Well! After the setup issue in #146, it is great to see the narrative really accelerate in #147. Zur is moving forward rapidly with his own plans, Robin finally realizes the imposture, and Bruce snaps out of his mournful and lonely reverie, with help from Tim. There’s a lot to talk about here, so let’s get to it!
First, I should say I’m not a huge fan of the Zur-en-Arrh arc in particular. I’m not quite sure I understand Zur and his motivations, although it’s not that clear any of the titular characters do, either. Enter Amanda Waller, operating here almost as the chorus in a Greek tragedy, working to explain Zur to herself and to the audience as swell. Although I remain confused, the good news is that the plot accelerates to the point where such understanding is not fully necessary to apprehend the set pieces and their movements.
Second, the theme that arguably underpins this book is “Robins.” Zdarsky creates an ironic reversal: One “Batman” (Zur) reveals himself to a Robin that results in entrapment while a different Robin reveals himself to a second Batman that results in freedom. This reversal works especially because what unites both Robins is their fierce love and loyalty to Batman himself, creating a deeper dramatic irony through which Damian is freed via his own capture.
Third, like many Batman fans, I was vexed with writer Chip Zdarsky reaching for the “conflict with the Bat-Family” rhetorical device. It’s personally not a favorite of mine and especially because I struggled to understand Zur-en-Arrh anyway, had little real sense of precisely why and how Batman (yet again) felt compelled to separate himself from the Bat-Family. Neither the audience nor Batman himself could credibly be charged with a reasonable belief that he is better off alone, so without adequate depth and explanation, this reader did not find the latest incarnation of the motif plausible.
Precisely because I have not been enjoying the prolongation of the conflict, it is lovely to see Bruce finally “get it,” even if I’m unsure of why he had forgotten it to begin with. The final panels that feature the conversation with Tim feature great emotional resonance, especially when juxtaposed with the heartbreaking rendering of Bruce alone in the former Justice League headquarters, slumped over a desk as he remembers that fundamental insight: Even Batman is better with his family.
In that Justice League image, artist Jorge Jiménez’s powerful representation of Bruce’s exhaustion and grief is saturated in colorist Tomeu Morey’s red overtones that made this reader think of kryptonite, made more plausible by the presence of Superman in Batman #146. Batman’s chosen alienation from his friends and allies is nothing if not his own personal kryptonite. The conversation with bright, warm, Tim (my favorite Robin!) in the bright, warm cabin features Zdarsky at his best. The dialogue is simple, straightforward, and genuine. The message is clear and important and it is difficult not to feel one’s heart lift when Batman finally realizes his most grievous mistake, dons cape and cowl, and prepares to right his wrongs, for himself, the Bat-Family, and all of Gotham.
There remains opaque threads: Why is Vandal Savage the Commissioner? What is Daniel Captio’s ultimate role? What exactly did Robin realize that made him finally turn on Zur? (I still don’t get it).
Still, Dark Prisons: Part Three finally propels the narrative forward and gives us the beginning of a reconnection with the Bat-Family for which so many readers have been waiting.
Backup: Show the World
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Miguel Mendonça
Color Artist: Eren Angiolini
Synopsis
Riddler and Two-Face are bantering from their adjacent prison cells. A bot informs Riddler that Warden Captio wants to speak with him and Riddler heads to the yard. Captio is taping his hands and begins battering several other inmates including Zsasz (armed with knives, no less). Captio baits him, asking Riddler why, given his intelligence, he isn’t already a billionaire. Riddler grows angry and starts ranting about Batman.
In the process, he insults one of the combatants, who turns on Riddler and begins to pummel him. Captio instructs Riddler, suggesting that Riddler holds himself back so that he can continue to show the extent of his skills against Batman. As Captio is speaking, Riddler gains the upper hand against his assailant and proceeds to strangle him. Riddler then tells Captio he is just as obsessed with Batman as any Rogue. Captio disagrees and as they leave the yard indicates that he wants to help the inmates as well as Batman by unconventional means, halting in front of a giant contraption inside the prison. Riddler looks stunned.
Analysis
Unlike many of the backups, this one seems to converge with the storyline in the main book. Zdarsky gives the audience some hints as to Captio’s true motivations while integrating Riddler into the possible plot. The story here raises more questions than it answers, but at least it represents a commitment to explaining (eventually) Captio’s function in the broader arc.
Final Thoughts:
Although I have not really enjoyed the Zur En Arrh narrative, Batman #147 does better than many of its more recent predecessors, marking some key emotional moments and advancing the narrative. Plus, Tim!
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with an advance copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
