Batman #135

I don't know if I've been this excited for a next issue of a Batman book since the heyday of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's run. Read Full Review

Batman #135 is a winner. This is comics. Justice, combat, and ridiculous storytelling with a spoonful of heart to stab you in the gut. Read Full Review

Batman #900 is simply magical. Yes, it's a great wrap up to the current arc yes, but it's ultimately also a treasure trove of Batman incarnations through the ages. It demands several repeat readings and is an milestone issue that will stand the test of time. Read Full Review

Quite simply, outstanding. Dzarsky doesn't put a foot wrong in setting up an epic conclusion to the current Batman arc. With a superstar art team this is a true celebration of the Dark Knight's 900th solo issue. Read Full Review

Batman #135 is available today and you can pick up your copies from your local comic book shop or via digital format through your preferred digital retailer. Not sure where your local comic book shop is? Head over to comicshoplocator.com to find out! Read Full Review

There's a great payoff to the Tim Drake backup as well as an emotional moment between Batman and Alfred. Zdarsky's track record might not be 100%, but an arc like this should be encouraging for Batman fans who want something beyond the normal somewhat stale presentation of Batman. Read Full Review

I don't often give a book an extremely high rating almost entirely on art, but this issue deserves it. Jimenez has proved himself as the greatest Bat-artist of his generation in the back half of this issue. Read Full Review

Batman #135 is an issue that takes the best parts of this arc and connects them into a satisfying at worst, thrilling at the best conclusion. It feels like an issue that works towards true closure when it comes to the death of Alfred, the sidelining of Tim Drake, and the suffocating darkness of an isolated and doubtful Batman. Zdarsky gets to work in the quieter moments, which is where his scripting sings, letting Jimnez deliver on the bombastic through the exploration of Batman and various styling through the multiverse. This issue sets up an excellent emotional status quo for the Dark Knight and cements Jimnez as one of the greats when it comes to illustrating the hero. Read Full Review

Batman #135 is a lot of fun. It wraps up the current story arc, makes strong statements about Batman and Joker's roles across the multiverse, and gets to give in-continuity Batman a chance to meet Batman icons across media and comic miniseries. It's a huge and epic idea at work here, and the creative team pulls it off guaranteeing you have a big stupid smile on your face while you read it. Read Full Review

Overall, Zdarsky did an outstanding job for a 900th issue. Batman fans get a glimpse of multiple artistic renderings of the vigilante from multiple universe while tying together multiple Jokers in the process. So, from an artistic standpoint as well as a way to pay homage to the character, Zdarksy does a phenomenal job. That said, the actual story itself, its plot threads, and machinations, as to exactly how and why this is happening, were certainly a bit flat. The science and reasoning were a bit off as well as the explanation associated with how Halliday and Bruce were jumping across multiverses. More was definitely required to provide readers with a better understanding and purpose. Hopefully, Zdarsky can iron those details out in Batman #136. Read Full Review

Batman #135 is the Batman issue #900 celebration we didn't know we needed. It's beautiful, fun, and such a joy to read. Read Full Review

Admittedly, a little bit of the storytelling is weak in spots and it does at time feel a little rushed, but there's a lot here that really speaks to the core of Batman as a multidimensional character, something I think a lot of creators miss. The art here is also bananas good. Read Full Review

The nostalgia bait of The Flash movie trailers is turned into a synergistic comic book issue, which doubles and triples down on the fan service. It doesn't necessarily work as an overall cohesive story or character journey, but it's still just plain fun. Read Full Review

Batman #135 reads like Chip Zdarsky watched Spider-Man: No Way Home and said, "Yeah, I can top that." And he does. The small army of artists gives you every Batman you can imagine for a multiversal adventure for the ages, and it works. Read Full Review

Batman #135 delivers a satisfying end to "The Bat-Man Of Gotham that includes incredible fan-service Multiverse fun that's fitting for the Batman #900 milestone issue. The way Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jimenez, and Mikel Janin celebrate the history of Batman through the utilization of the Multiverse is something all fans of Batman should experience for themselves. Read Full Review

All of the artists deliver great work. There are some visual moments that are better than others, but the subjective nature of art makes it hard to say which artist delivered better imagery. Read Full Review

As fun as it is to see everything tumble through at the end of the issue, Zdarsky and company take a hard turn when everything looks like it will resolve somewhere around Page 26. Really, they could have ended it there, and it would have been a solid glance into drama with Batman. Though the art in the final pages is impressive, it scarcely justifies ruining the ending of an otherwise interesting and reflective drama.  Read Full Review

I do not enjoy this issue at all. Pretty much nothing resonates with me. The story is weak; the villain is uninteresting; nothing's really at stake for Batman; and the ending feels unearned. I don't recommend spending any money on this, not when there are so many other books on stands that deserve the support. Read Full Review

Tempra16v2.0Turbo

May 02, 2023

Very good, the ending is a gift to Batman fans.

Dr Narukami

May 02, 2023

Fan service is what makes this issue special.

Dave

May 02, 2023

A fun love letter to all batmans.

sawright20

May 03, 2023

Zdarsky is the best Batman writer since Scott Snyder, maybe even since Grant Morrison. I’m excited every month, and both of his arcs have blown me away. He really understands the pathos of not just Batman, but Alfred, Selina, and most of all Tim Drake. This issue gives a nice ending to the Bat-Man of Gotham story arc, and is also a perfect anniversary issue. I certainly didn’t expect it to touch on the Three Jokers, but honestly I thought it was neat, if convoluted. Zdarsky also strikes a fantastic balance of brooding darkness with fun. The art is also great, there are so many fun stylistic references, and I’m glad to see Jorge Jimenez back. I want Chip Zdarsky to write Batman forever.

Stormwrath

May 02, 2023

This arc was boring and dumb, but damn that ending was fun with unbelievable art by Jorge Jimenez, that was something very special, even though the dumbness of this arc, Zdarsky voice for Batman and Robin is special, a great ending for a not so great story.

KiryuMajima28t

May 01, 2023

A pretty average arc ends in style with a lovely fan service ending and issue. Great to see Jimenez back on art aswell.

daspidaboy

May 02, 2023

Damn. When u look at the difference in quality on thr way dc comics treats batman compared to how marvel treats spider man. It's no question that batman obliterates spider man. Great art action and story. It's nice to see jorge Jimenez back. The villain may have felt flat and the arc isn't as good. But chip zdarsky sticks the landing with great flair. Batman is given with good dialogue and the ending was great. Also amazing fan service. Batman is the only comic book character to interact with movie video games and cartoon characters. Like I said before. People may grumble and complain about batman being overused. But it feels like they're jealous batman has better content than 90 percent of comic book characters.

Hydro-Man

May 03, 2023

Enjoyed this way more than expected. A lot of fan service. When it was getting to the end, I was prepared to dock this a full point if Bats DIDN’T use the Bat Shark Repellent… but he did. Minus one for the Alfred scenes. Pathetic and whiney. Nothing says “I’ve never wanted for anything in my life” like writing “money is stupid.”

Psycamorean

May 07, 2023

I was losing interest in this arc, but I thought this was a strong finish. It's fan-service-y, sure, but fan service is not inherently bad. This was fun, and not cynically done. JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/xJz6buvNFZ MY PHYSICAL COLLECTION (FOR SHOWING OFF): https://psycamorean.libib.com/

Worlds greatest detective

May 02, 2023

Not a huge fan of this arc at all and this final issue is messy but damn, the cameos of the different Batmans is what makes it for me.

wakizashireviews

May 03, 2023

As a milestone issue it is good. It marks the occasion well, especially the second half of the story. It isn’t perfect though and there are things you can find fault with. But maybe I’m overthinking things. Most of the reader reviews I’ve seen are positive, but the main criticism appears to be that this issue becomes a bit of a Picard Season 3-esque “member-berry” Multiverse of Nostalgia TM. Well, I’m a sucker for a bit of nostalgia if it’s done well and I believe Batman #900 does it very well. If you are a Batman fan, then this issue is a must-buy. Yes it’s expensive, but you get double the usual page count. And as I’ve already said, the second half of this issue is a wonderful trip through the Batman Multiverse. Not p erfect, but so much fun. more

Screaming Enigma

May 07, 2023

This was a fairly satisfying finale to the Bat-Man of Gotham arc. I might have liked a little more substance to the actual story, but it was solid for what it was and Bruce traveling to all the different universes is what boosts the grade of this up for me. Seeing Bruce meet with various different iterations of Batman was super cool, including Michael Keaton's version, the Dark Knight Returns version, the version from the Batman Beyond Animated Series, and even Adam West's version. The latter was especially fun, considering that Bruce later used his shark repellant. Plus, the ending where Tim finds Bruce was very heartfelt. This issue was almost a love-letter to Batman and I'm excited to see where the run goes from here.

Afre

May 12, 2023

For a storyline that started to get a bit boring near the end, this was a great finale. Full of fan-service, but I didn't mind.

Comics Code Authorities

May 13, 2023

Wow. Where to begin with this one? It has so many ups and downs. It wasn't much of a landmark for the 900th issue, but I guess that;s okay because naturally DC wants to stick with the current numbering instead, so next issue will be #136. It could be worse though. If this were by Marvel it would be starting over at Volume 7 #1 next instead. The story was about as average as most chapters. But the trip through dimensions gave most of us amusement it seems. Especially in his meeting Keaton's and West's Batmen and two of his most well known future portrayals from Batman Beyond and the dark Knight Returns. Several of them even gave him a little help along the way. And who can review this issue without mentioning the shark scene. Joker's famous shark from Batman #251 and Batman finding West's utility belt carrying a can of his legendary shark repellent. That plus his statement that he met a Batman even more prepared than himself will live on in infamy. So far it's my favorite moment by Zdarsky. We also have the emotional goodbye with Alfred. I only hope he did find Leslie okay. Maybe we'll see them all again one day. I will admit Zdarsky writes Batman a little less ashamed to show some emotion toward his "family" than most modern writers who usually keep giving him the brooding loner image. Still, the plot was still rather boring and this was in no way a great story. In fact It wasn't really an enjoyable one either. But it was a satisfying conclusion. I'll give it that. It looks like after 6 1/2 years since Rebirth brought me back that I'll be departing from reading the regular Bat-books. Maybe in time I'll return to catch up on what's still yet to happen, but I think this issue also provided me with an excellent jumping off point with its end. Batman and Robin reunite and head home to return to their never ending war on crime. It seems pretty appropriate. more

Batmanaholic

May 04, 2023

That was a fun finale lots of fan service but it was awesomely drawn. Jimenez is the best artist on Batman since capullo I love his Gotham and everything he does with each bstman he drawn. Michael Keaton needs to buy the page of his Batman for his office. And the Adam west one should go into a Batman museum. Simply breathtaking what that man can do eith a pencil. The story was fun but I didn't overly like the whole " he created every joker " thing. It looks more like the regular joker drove him mad and not the other way around. All in all this run has been good. Nothing special I am going to be honest I think I enjoyed the first 2 arcs of tynions Batman run more then zdarsky's. Not by much but batman their dark designs was a way b etter story then it gets credit for, and better then fail safe, and joker war was better then this arc too. So we will see where this goes from here. I'm excited for the next arc. more

Loafy Trophy

May 08, 2023

A really fun finish to an otherwise messy, underbaked story arc. I was on the fence coming into this issue and luckily Zdarsky pushed all the right buttons. I particularly loved the nod to Adam West's Batman and the subtle implication by Chip that he's the best Batman. Jimenez also does yeoman's work here, shifting styles seamlessly from Batman '89 to Dark Knight Returns to the Arkham video games. I was particularly impressed with his ability to nearly perfectly channel Frank Miller's scratchy pencils. I'm curious to see where we go from here. We've gotten a couple of extremely compressed arcs and it feels like Zdarsky is in a rush to get to whatever is coming next. I'm hoping he slows down the pace just a bit so the stories have a litt le more room to breathe. more

KittyNone

May 03, 2023

It's pretty good fanservice, but Zdarsky sets the bar so much higher in his best work that it's a little disappointing that that's all he's got for Batman

fzanca

May 05, 2023

I haven't liked this entire story. I wasn't even that enthusiastic about Failsafe. Just to round this out, the Villain is flat and not really a threat, Catwoman gets the drop on him and kicks him through a portal, and, to top it all off, he gets his hand cut off. What is even going on here? There was speculation about Alfred going back with him, which would have made the story worth it in some regards, but that didn't even happen. Then he gets shunted through a host of dimensions simply for fan service. It was neat seeing the other Batmen, but it was so obvious that there was no logical reason behind it. All this for $6.00. Not worth it, in my opinion. After all of the backup stories with Tim, he just gets thrown into the end without being involved in the slightest way. This was a crap story in my opinion. more

Mout

May 08, 2023

Fan service does not make this book good, in fact, it emphasizes how lazy it is, bad arc. Hoping the next one will be better

Federico Liguori

Sep 04, 2023

Boring convoluted fan service marathon with a open ending. Boy, this run has declined fast. I really don't give a crap about the future of this right now!

ItsJess

May 02, 2023

Flat arc with a flat ending. The villain is not only uninteresting but downright stupid and ridiculous, IMO taking away from the mythos behind the Joker. There is the rehashed "Batman can't be happy" trope for the hundredth time and unnatural dialogue with Selina randomly speaking of "judgements" and "feeling safe," which serves no purpose other than to tease whatever absolutely nonsensical drama that will form between Bruce and MU Selina in the coming issues after this one. The most interesting thing about this issue are the memberberries, but they are ultimately a shallow way to make people go "I clapped when I saw thing I recognize!" Was hoping this run would stick the landing better but it didn't. If a 5/10 is utterly mediocre than t his is definitely subpar. more

Quinn

May 02, 2023

This issue reiterated points already made. The Omni verse needs a Batman. After defeating the enemy du jour, this earth’s Selina kicks one-handed Bruce through the portal and he meets all the other Bats in all the other earths. Even get shark repellant from Adam West Bats and later uses it against a laughing fish shark. Silly, but I give points for style. In one of the trips, Bruce gets an artificial hand and eventually gets back to “our” Earth. Does he now have an artificial hand? Will we see it in other books? Don’t know but doubt it. So what does it matter? When Peter David gave Aquaman. Hook hand, that stuck until an entire reboot of the universe. I guess I am disappointed. The theme of even without Batman monsters would e xist was literally said out loud. No points for being subtle. Meantime, story opportunities were thrown away. We don’t see other characters react to no Bruce. We don’t see Bruce react to losing his family. No reaction to losing his hand. Is he afraid he won’t be as handy? Will he be more (h) armless (see what I did there). Supposedly earthshattering events didn’t matter to the characters, so why should it matter to me? Didn’t like the arc, but I could be wrong. more

thejaguarmx

May 03, 2023

Failsafe Arc got me interested. The part of a world without Batman, was kind of predictable but still OK. The multiverse thing felt boring since currently you see multiverse everywhere. Good fan service but overall, felt disappointing. The Zur En Arrh Batmen was good, but based on this comic, I don't expect much from it.

cincyfan

May 08, 2023

Wow that was a big disappointment. I didn't care for that at all. I like complex and emotionally driven storytelling not fan service and TV characters layered over a paper thin story. I love chip zdarsky usually but his batman has not worked at all for me for the most part. I do hope others enjoyed this more than I did because this was a big swing and a miss for me

myconius

May 02, 2023

Wow! This is some god awful fan-fiction crappery. Zdarsky writes Bruce like a completely weak spined dullard. His last moments with this alternate universe Selina make him look like a complete putz, right up to when she literally kicks his ass right out of her dimension. The dialogue when Bruce meets all his alternate counterparts was written as if by a 12-year old. "I'm Batman and it appears so are you." FFS!!!