Promotional material for Batman #1 By William Deaver
With James Gunn’s “Superman” hitting theaters this summer doing very well in the box office and DC Comics Absolute universe reeling in hundreds of thousands of readers, it looks like Marvels domination over the superhero market is slowing to a stop. I believe that a fantastic example of this new age of DC is the start of the new “Batman” book written by the two-time Eisner Award winning Matt Fraction. Notably this is only the fourth time that a new “Batman” series has been published, with the last time being nearly 10 years ago in 2016 with the “Rebirth” initiative.
The first thing you’ll notice when opening the book is the sheer blast of bold color that Jorge Jiménez brings to the book. I cannot stress enough how gorgeous this run is so far. Batman’s suit is a lot brighter and softer than his previous incarnations, with a fabric look and the return of the beloved blue and grey.
The art works really well with the tone of the writing; this Bruce is a lot kinder and somewhat calmer. I love this side of the character, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this brighter disposition comes from Gunns DCU and the success of “Superman”
At the time of writing only the first 2 issues are out, but they give us a fantastic idea of what we might see from the next coming issues. Personally, my favorite aspect of the book so far is Batman and Robins’ relationship.
As mentioned before, this Bruce is a lot softer and kinder than he was in the past. Especially when Bruce is teaching Tim Drake, this runs Robin, to drive for the first time. It’s a very wholesome scene and it’s nice to see Batman being a real father, as opposed to the gritty public image he’s had for a majority of the 2000’s.
With these positives there’s bound to be issues with the book, at least, something that could be an issue if it’s not part of the overall story that Fraction has planned out. While speaking to one of the Akram Towers doctors, Batman mentions “People never change. Not really.” This is incredibly out of character for Batman as that’s one of the reasons Batman has a no kill rule, he believes that there’s always a chance for people to get better and change. Hearing him say this makes me worried for the Fractions run as a whole.
If I had to guess why Bruce says this, I would say he’s just tired. He’s been disappointed by his villains too many times and is just tired of being wrong. When Killer Croc escapes, he says “You’re new here, Doctor. Killer Croc hasn’t been ‘Waylon Jones’ for a long time. I try to keep them separate, in my mind. it’s easier that way…”.
To me, that sounds like a grizzled old detective that’s getting too old for this game. I hope that’s what it is, but only time (and a couple new issues) will tell.
