In Batman #148, Batman and the Bat-family team up to stop Zur-En-Arrh and Daniel Captio once and for all.
Batman #148 main cover by Jorge Jimenez
Title: Batman #148 — “The Storm”
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colors: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Main Cover: Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey
Variant Covers: Woo-Chul Lee, Yasmine Putri, Homare & Gabriele Dell’Otto
Release Date: June 4, 2024
This comic book review contain spoilers.
Batman #148 opens with a moment in the past as a young, bruised, and scarred Bruce Wayne trains under the mentorship of Daniel Captio. Bruce is in an ornate villa that sits atop a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. It’s a picturesque day, and Bruce refuses to continue, standing up from his meditation stance and walking out to greet the day. While Bruce dismisses the idea of creating multiple personalities as a method of losing control, Captio follows behind, refuting those claims. To Captio, a man who claims to have seen the evils that will cause the world to crumble, this is about creating a personality that is greater than Bruce Wayne, about creating something that’s the most “in control” by way of becoming a storm.
The two overlook the sunny horizon before the issue abruptly cuts to Tim Drake roping down into a cave. Before we move on, I want to stay a moment with this opener. The youthful vigor artist Jorge Jimenez draws each of the characters with comes across as almost Manga-like, and there’s this vibrant, matching energy in the colors by Tomeu Morey. Neither of these two artists are subtle, but for this flashback, they leaned extremely into a picturesque scene that overwhelms readers’ senses with a hopefulness that feels almost unreal, as if it truly is a heavily edited memory meant to highlight the goodness. From the colors of the character to the lighting and landscaping, there’s a saccharine joy that’s suddenly ripped away by the darkness of a cave on the next page.
That’s an artful pivot, and it’s one worth noticing.
In the cave, Tim Drake looks for Bruce, who is working on something on a table. He’s in his Batsuit, his back to Tim, but he hears his adopted son.
“Call everyone, Tim,” Bruce says. “Call the Family. It’s time.”
As Bruce looks over his shoulder, his eyes are wiser, older, and far from the gleam in that opening page. This is a much different Bruce, one no longer able to be led by the whims of others.
Elsewhere, Robin (Damian Wayne) is tethered to a wall. Zur-En-Arrh’s Robin taunts him, and when Damian starts making morse code signals with his hand, Batman of Zur-En-Arrh intervenes, shocking Damian. Daniel Captio walks in, informing the robotic dynamic duo that their machine to “cure Gotham” is ready.
Across the city, we get some exposition as to what’s happened. Zur-En-Arrh has encapsulated Gotham City in a force field of some sort, and no one can enter or leave. Commissioner Vandal Savage (that’s still weird to say, right?) is mobilizing an effort to assault Blackgate while the Bat-family battles Zur-En-Arrh’s bots.
At the machine, Zur-En-Arrh and Captio have Riddler strapped in. They’re going to “cure” Gotham by giving Riddler a “personality upgrade.” If it works on Nygma, it should work on everyone else and free Gotham from evil once and for all. The evil pair pull the trigger, and Nygma is released after an electroshock.
For readers who have been with Batman for a while, if Riddler is fixed, one wonders if this will be like that era when he was a private detective helping to solve crimes. That era didn’t last long, and all it took was an explosion to send Riddler right back to clue-ridden capers.
At Bruce’s cave, Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, and Jason Todd come to hear out their father figure. When Dick and Babs express doubt, Tim tries to remind them that this isn’t Batman’s doing, but Bruce accepts the responsibility. After all, he created Zur-En-Arrh. While Bruce initially rejected Captio’s offer, he later doubled back and created Zur-En-Arrh after his first year as Batman.
Bruce gives a little speech, apologizing for his actions and admitting that Zur-En-Arrh is an untethered piece of him, so it’s his fault. The Bat-family seems to forgive Bruce pretty easily, and Bruce, who just finished saying that it was his hubris that led to Zur, responds to a question about having a plan with, “I’m Batman, aren’t I?”
It’s time… (Image Credit: DC Comics)
Has Bruce Learned Nothing?!
If this quick little speech did little to move the needle for readers, the arrogant “I’m Batman, aren’t I” won’t help either. It’s a cute line, one that carries a lot of weight and references to callbacks and Batman memes, but to be used in this moment when Bruce is trying to get the Bat-family on his side? This speech already felt like an afterthought, and this smart-mouth comment gives the impression that Bruce was spinning a yarn about “hubris” so he can get his “kids” on his side again. I get that the intention is to unite the Bat-family and this line was meant to be amusing and nothing else, but when you think about it, it undermines unearned coming together of the family.
The Bat-family jumps into action, and Commissioner Savage surrounds Blackgate. It’s all a series of distractions and battles to get Batman to Blackgate, and what follows are a glorious few panels of Bruce, in a gorgeous new Batsuit, marching into the prison.
Bruce confronts Zur, who has more villains strapped into the machine. Red Hood leaps from the shadows, slicing at Zur, and the battle is on. Elsewhere, Tim Drake is about to free Damian when that Robin of Zur-En-Arrh stops him. It’s revealed that this Robin is a clone of Bruce, which is why his hair and face pass a resemblance to the youthful Bruce in the opening panel.
Batman battles Zur while Red Hood takes on Captio. Tim Drake fights the clone Bruce, and Damian, who frees himself, joins in. Drake tries to reason with the clone, telling him that if they win, they’ll just be dictators.
Jason leaps away from Captio, helping out Bruce, and in the process sacrificing himself. His “death” sends Zur into a spiral, as Failsafe’s programming was meant to stop Batman if he committed murder. Zur is finally down, but Captio uses a special word he implanted in Bruce to take Batman down.
We flashback to a moment earlier, when Jason and Bruce are talking about a piece of the Lazarus meteor beneath Gotham. Batman was planning to sacrifice himself and program his suit to reanimate him with the Lazarus. Jason vies for it instead, saying it would work better he Hood died temporarily.
Back in the present, Red Hood stands back up, and the entire Bat-family joins together to take down Captio. The military is shelling the prison from the outside, and Batman gives Captio a parting shot before leaving with his family.
For now, it seems that Zur-En-Arrh is gone, as is Captio, who is presumably buried under the rubble. We know, however, that Failsafe will return, working with Amanda Waller in a big event over the summer, so one can assume that either Zur, Captio, or both will be tagging along. After all, for these big Batman arcs, new villains don’t get their comeuppance until audiences are exhausted of them.
Batman #148 is… an ending. Bruce Wayne is back as Batman, no longer infected with Zur-En-Arrh, which is a win. The Bat-family, seemingly, is united. The story and long road getting here has been a long, drawn-out exercise in exhaustion, and even Jorge Jimenez’s fantastic art with Tomeu Morey’s colors can’t save it. That’s where we’re at with Batman #148, so very tired.
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.
