Batman '89 #4

I already want the remaining issues! Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones hit all the right notes. Clayton Cowles letters like the pro he is and Leonardo Ito splashes that 80's vibe across the pages that we so wanted! You are drinking in Catwoman making her appearances and in this issue"it's rare to see Batman. That's the uniqueness of this storytelling. The cinema hid Batman until specific parts of the movie. Quinones and company do the very same thing and it works! Read Full Review

I already want the remaining issues! Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones hit all the right notes. Clayton Cowles letters like the pro he is and Leonardo Ito splashes that 80's vibe across the pages that we've so wanted! We all drink in Catwoman's appearances and in this issue it's rare to see Batman. That's the uniqueness of this type of storytelling because the films hid Batman until specific parts of the movie too. Quinones and company do the very same thing… and it works! Read Full Review

A great issue that really gets the story moving forward at a very fast pace. All the set-up is done, now it's time for some crazy good action!! Read Full Review

This series hasn't disappointed yet and the only letdown at this point would be for DC not to follow it up with another installment. Read Full Review

Two-Face has never quite had the flair of other Gotham villains, lacking the flashy lairs and gimmicks. No more, as he gets a new home base at the end of the issue that's one of the best visuals of the entire series. In only four issues, this version of Gotham feels fleshed out and with enough complex flashpoints that it's hard to see it wrapping up in only two issues. Read Full Review

Leonardo Ito may be the breakout here. He manages to find the right visual tone to make Gotham City feel like a world of perpetual twilight. Read Full Review

As one duo unites and another wars within one man's mind, the latest issue of 'Batman '89' raises the stakes even higher. Read Full Review

There are decent ideas that could have been explored more, but instead the narrative goes in a different direction that leaves its most interesting aspects untapped. It's a pretty good Harvey Dent comic, but not a great Burton Batman comic, and I've just about come to terms with that. Read Full Review

Quinones delivers some impressive art, but the story makes everything visually disjointed, and you never get a sense of style within the art. Read Full Review

Batman '89 #4 is the big introduction to the film version of Two-Face and Robin for fans of Burton's Batman. The character designs are greats, and the frantic personality of Two-Face would have been a fantastic sight if it had been depicted on screen as it is here. That said, Hamm goes extreme with out-of-character versions of Bullock as a racist cop intent on beating people of color and using Bullock's antics to justify turning Robin into something he shouldn't be.  It all makes for a thoroughly distasteful (if that was even possible) version of Gotham. Read Full Review

motorik

Dec 07, 2021

8 A fun continuation of the Burton films.

deen

Dec 15, 2021

The story and writing are great here, with stylized art that's not a direct caricature of the actor they're meant to represent, which is a choice I agree with. The only thing bringing this series down for me is how heavily compressed it is with a 6 issue run. There's a lot to explore here, and a 12 issue run could have fit the bill better. I know DC previously stated they were scaling back their printed comics and cancelled quite a few series before their prime (coughHELLBLAZERcough), so with a series like this where fans finally get a glimpse at what could have been with Two-Face and Robin, it's disappointing to get so little face time with either of them. That said, given how Robin and Two-Face are usually adversaries, this wrinkle in the ir relationship and their origins feels fresh and inventive. more

Psycamorean

Jan 02, 2022

Oh no, a comic with social justice undertones. Better cry about it.

Comics Code Authorities

Jan 16, 2022

This has been the best issue yet, but unfortunately that's not saying much. The most I've gotten from reading this story is a better appreciation for Batman Forever. I've found myself already with crossed fingers for more Superman'78, while hoping though that this series will just fade into the realm of forgotten comics.

L Silverman

Dec 07, 2021

Despite some good moments, this series has been a major letdown and that trend continues in this issue. To put it bluntly, this isn't Tim Burton's version of Batman, it's Sam Hamm's version of Batman. And what is Sam Hamm's vision of Batman? It's social justice, Gotham's version of Black Lives Matter. With an emerging villain and superhero, Harvey Dent and Drake Winston, who are black, this makes a lotta sense but the fact that it's the sole focus of the entire series grows tiresome and saps the story of any fun. This issue begins with yet another protest march by the good citizens of Burnside. It seems like there's been a protest march in every issue of this series. The marchers are upset over the perceived injustice to "Brother Harvey" in the fact that the only suspects in the arson that burned half his face off have been released from jail. The protesters (and Hamm) want to frame it as a racial thing but it doesn't hold water. Harvey is the District Attorney so you can bet the police would do everything in their power to bury these arsonists. The protest is peaceful but the police responsible for crowd control are led by Harvey Bullock who's dead set on busting heads and arresting everyone. And this is where young Drake Winston as Robin steps in. And what does he do? He arms the marchers with spray paint cans and throws firebombs at the police. This is his and Hamm's idea of justice. Drake's actions draw the attention of Bruce who invites the young hero to the mansion for a one-on-one. Complicating the matter is the completely unnecessary backstory that Bruce's great-grandfather stole the car company that Drake's great-grandfather started from him. It's the argument that white success derives from taking advantage of black folks and it feels forced and trite here. Needless to say, Bruce and Drake learn each other's superhero identity and after a little fighting foreplay decide to team-up. Drake tells Bruce that Batman needs to inspire hope in people not just fear. It's a great little moment in a series sorely lacking in great moments. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent escapes from the hospital as his scarred half starts to assert itself. There are some genuinely creepy scenes here, one in particular of Two-Face's reflection in a hospital window. And Harvey's back-and-forth with his other half is well-done. But, once again, Hamm feels the need to mire Harvey's course of action in yet more facets of systemic racism. Make no mistake, the entire focus of this series is that black lives matter. Selina Kyle/Catwoman returns in this issue but her appearance seems tacked-on. Even more unnecessary is the character of Barbara Gordon. By far, she's been the series' greatest disappointment. Even though she's a police sergeant, she's been denied any heroic agency. Her role has been reduced to nothing more than Harvey Dent's girlfriend. Nothing in her actions or personality suggests she could become Batgirl. For a moment, I was thinking that Hamm was angling for her to become Oracle but in this issue, we learn that she sucks at computers as well. As a big Winona Ryder fan, it just makes me so mad. The series' only saving grace has been the amazing and beautiful artwork by Joe Quinones. He's the only reason I'm rating this issue a four instead of like, a two. With only two issues left, the series is going to have to rush to get any excitement into this story but it's probably already too late to fix this series' problems. more

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Merlyn - Dec 7, 2021

Excellent review, I've been saying this all along.

Mingthemerciless - Dec 7, 2021

Its devoid of any of the appeal of Burtons vision. The whole point was to give fans more of a beloved version of a cinematic Batman and we get Hamm hammy race politics in a bait and switch. Missed opportunity.

L Silverman - Dec 7, 2021

I think they would have been better off if they had gotten Daniel Waters to write the series instead of Hamm. At the very least, Waters, who wrote Batman Returns and Heathers, would have been a lot more fun.

Zazikarion

Dec 21, 2021

When This comic was first announced, I thought it’d be really cool to see Hamm’s Version of the Burtonverse, boy, was I wrong. The Harvey Dent stuff is okay, but all the stuff with Robin is atrocious. Quinone’s art is the only reason I don’t give it a 1.

Merlyn

Dec 07, 2021

There's a disgusting bit in the first panel of the first page where Quinones draws a panel in which a guy holds a banner with the very hidden message "cops are pigs", that's very stupid and immature and I didn't expect this bullshit even in a book that has pulled some weird ideas from the very beginning. In case you were wondering, it doesn't get any better because we get even more race bullshit when we find out that the evil Waynes oppressed Robin's ancestor and basically stole their company from them. This isn't the first time when comic history is being rewritten to the point of making the Waynes bad just so the "past is bad" narrative can be pulled forward. Here we just have it combined with race because Sam Hamm suffers from a last sta ge white guilt syndrome and he needs to punish us for it. Also, we have a very weird scene with Harvey in a subway underground that is filled with racial undertones. I again feel the need to thank the guys at DC that took the decision to rein in this guy, he would have killed the Batman movie franchise before it even began. And without the Keaton movies being so successful, I don't know if we would have gotten Nolan's masterpieces. So yeah, the guys that realized that Sam Hamm is cuckoo crazy and cut his bullshit out from the movie basically saved Batman in the cinematic medium, they're fucking heroes. To end on an optimistic note, the humor was cringe here and the way Robin cucks Batman all around makes me think the next issues could somehow be even worse. more

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Mingthemerciless - Dec 7, 2021

I dumped this book after seeing issue 2. It's another bait and switch to suck readers in hoping to more Keaton/Burton Batman then making it about race politics. Thanks but I ll stick with Burtons vision.

Merlyn - Dec 7, 2021

Yeah, I think I'm dumping it, too, I just can't see it getting any better in the last two issues. I do like how he writes Dent, though.

L Silverman - Dec 7, 2021

I'll get the last two issues just because I'm a completist but I don't see it getting any better.

Merlyn - Dec 7, 2021

Yeah, I can't wait to see Batman put in his place even more by Sam Hamm's Robin, that will be a true joy...

Iceman - Dec 8, 2021

Lol, you seem so insecure. What a great job they did by “reigning him in” so we could get the cinematic masterpieces of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Merlyn - Dec 8, 2021

Lol, you seem such an idiot. Even those movies are better than this crap. No regrets there. Sam Hamm is a demented moron and we're better off without his racial obsession.

Merlyn - Dec 8, 2021

Btw I see we've done this dance before. You came at me like a moron with nothing to say, I blocked you, then I unblocked you in the hopes that maybe I should give you another chance and you'll get better. I see you're still very, very idiotic. Choose your next words carefully or I'll block you again, and this time for good.

Mingthemerciless - Dec 8, 2021

Yeah because 89 Batman would have been so much more successful if Hamm had made it about race politics. It's well documented that Hamms weiting was changed because it didnt align with what Burton wanted to direct.

Hydro-Man

Dec 08, 2021

If this was an ongoing series, I’d drop it. I’m to the point where I am just going to look at the art and not even bother reading any of the dialog. I tried. A few pages in, after Robin firebombed the police, I was already convinced this was the most ridiculous comic I’ve ever read. There needs to be a support group for white men who are this obsessed with race and their very warped views on “social justice.” If Hamm wanted to write a more topical story on a social justice issue, he should’ve made Harvey Dent an unhinged DA who let’s out hundreds of violent criminals who cause the murder rate in Gotham to skyrocket.

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Merlyn - Dec 8, 2021

Lol, your idea of a support group for white men obsessed with race really is a good one. I actually think it would help them if they would meet together, like AA meetings, and cry on each other's shoulders how much they hate being white. :)) And don't give them ideas with the Harvey thing. People already think prisons are overpopulated, hell, Chip Zdarsky has made his whole DD run about exactly that and people are actually buying into that.

Mingthemerciless - Dec 9, 2021

At first I was like you after seeing how Hamm wanted to play this book and just enjoy the art and visuals of the butonverse batman but I just hot sick of hamm s hamfisted race politics and said eff it I'm not paying money for this tripe.

Hydro-Man - Dec 9, 2021

@Merlyn, ah well, at least we got Superman ‘78. That book is a much more faithful continuation of that film series. @Ming, dunno if you meant to do it on purpose or not but you invented the perfect adjective for this series: Hamm-fisted For what it’s worth, even some of the critic reviews are looking at this issue and going: “no… just no.”

Mingthemerciless - Dec 9, 2021

Lol...feel free to use it Hydro. Yeah we were expecting a butonverse book and we got a BLM verse book instead. The superman counterpart book as you said understands what the audience enjoyed about those films and makes a better effort to deliver that.