Batman is stuck in Gotham, but it’s not his city in Chip Zdarsky and Mike Hawthorne’s new story arc. No, it’s another universe where Harvey Dent is fueled up on Venom, Catwoman works for the worst villain of Gotham, and Riddler is messing with kids. That’s where things start in Batman #133, out this week, but how they end up may shock you.
What’s evident after reading this issue is that Zdarsky is smartly saying something about Gotham and Batman by looking at this alternate Gotham through a twisted mirror. The city is more or less the same, but it no longer has a protector in Batman. This issue reveals more about what happened to Bruce Wayne of this universe–with a delicious twist on top of that, I might add–that should drive the narrative home to its finish.
There’s plenty of battling left for Batman by the end of the issue, even after Hawthorne draws another great action sequence in this issue. It’s Batman vs. Harvey, another example of Hawthorne’s excellent fight choreography. Bordering this fight scene is a touching moment between Batman and Alfred you won’t want to miss. Again, Hawthorne captures the emotion very well.
It’s nice to see the cover of this issue play out in the comic. So often, the cover is a tease for something that never happens. Why Batman is digging up his own grave is probably easy to guess, but it leads to a touching moment that shows Alfred loves Bruce in any universe. Not much is made of it, but it’s also nice to see Bruce talk to Alfred, seeing as he’s been dead for so long.
Harvey!!!!
Credit: DC Comics
I will argue that the opening scene feels long, especially since the Riddler is defeated so quickly. Clearly, Zdarsky is playing around with this universe’s Riddler and how he’s different, but it’s four pages long and feels like it could have easily been one or two.
The backup continues to explore Robin’s time in another universe as he’s up against the Toyman. Drawn by Miguel Mendonca with a story by Zdarsky, the tale is a good example of how the multiverse allows writers to explore big wins for villains and how the world can be tainted by it. Much of this chapter in the backup is a race by Robin to lock down all the victims with some good captioning to remind us he’s learned everything from Batman and won’t let him down. Once again, the backups under Zdarsky tie into the main story ever so slightly, which gives them a little more purpose than the usual backups that are just bonus stories.
Batman #133 continues to reveal what Gotham would be like without Batman, and a little Batman injected into it can start to fix things with a bit of elbow grease. This issue also begins to reveal there may be a larger purpose to Batman being zapped into another dimension, making the next issue even more tantalizing to read.
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