THIS WEEK: Checking out Batman #9, Absolute Superman #19, Batgirl #19, and Poison Ivy #44!
Note: the review below contains spoilers. If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.
Batman #9
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Ryan Sook
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles with Ryan Sook
This current run of Batman has hit me with a lot of curveballs, many of which I have enjoyed. Whether it be Damian getting scolded, Tim learning how to drive, or even getting a Bat-face palm that left my stomach hurting, I never know what to expect when it comes to this series.
So, I found it interesting that the first page in this book had writer Matt Fraction and artist Ryan Sook having a calm and almost relieved Bruce Wayne look me dead in the eyes and tell me that we (Bat Family, and to an extent us readers) are going to lose. What follows is a carefully orchestrated set of events of something we don’t get to see a lot: what the Bat Family does when things hit the fan. They attack their own resources, burning, washing, exploding, smashing, or shredding all the evidence they can of what they have in their own bunkers.
Yet, Fraction’s script also delivers this separate story about Bruce’s failures as a father. While “failures” might be too harsh, the reality is that Bruce does not know how to fail. This leads to him making mistakes, and so forth, especially in how to handle his own son, who doesn’t know how to take failure. I am still getting used to a digital Alfred telling Bruce off; however, what I believe hurt most is having these genuine moments with Bruce being honest with himself. That being a parent is hard, that he knows he’s making mistakes, while simultaneously having Fraction write these lines that make me laugh. So seeing Bruce fix those mistakes, to try and be better, has honestly been some of the best parts of this current run.
To that end, seeing the family heal and deal with their problems has been incredible, even if it’s little moments like Drake not flying into the fray and taking his “retirement” seriously (for now). It feels like Fraction is writing a larger story overall about what these pauses in between these characters’ constantly chaotic lives mean, and what it takes to gain some peace from them over and over again.
All of this while Sook delivers these great full-page spreads that leave me holding this comic close to my face so I don’t miss any details. One of them shows Batman gliding down to help Oracle, his dark figure taking up the bottom of the page, all while Duke is illuminated by the armored trucks attempting to fill him with multiple holes, as if signaling to Batman himself what to do next. What follows is a barrage of gliding movements from Batman as he swallows up the operator of a .50 cal heavy machine gun back into the air. It’s moments like those that have me look at the silhouetted figure of the Bat for much longer than normal. All while the family makes more jokes about their father figure’s multiple “bat gadgets.” I never thought I’d see the day “Bat-Bollards” would get coined in a comic.
Genuinely, just when I think that things might get better for them, I’m always reminded that some sort of sacrifice has to be made, one that I knew was coming (thank you, DC Previews). However, I am happy to say it’s a welcome one. Fraction and Sook delivered the capture of Barbara Gordon perfectly, because it isn’t just this simple excuse to get another comic out for the year. It came at a cost and with a lesson. Bruce has had years to figure things out, even longer to understand how to do this job with others. He is still learning, and he doesn’t feel like he is the father figure a lot of the people he cares about deserve. He is choosing to learn, choosing to catch up in a race that he is desperately behind on.
How else can Fraction emphasize the importance of that than to have Damian and Bruce blow the Wayne Manor to smithereens to signify the start of a whole new era for the Bat Family, right before having that high come crashing back down as a bloodied, beaten, glasses-cracked, and chained Barbara Gordon comes out of the back of a GCPD armored truck, with reporters saying: “The case is described as ‘open and shut,’ where the suspect would, quote—‘be going behind bars very soon and for a long time.’”
Seriously, that page spread of reporters and armored guards hauling Babs out of there and into the literal spotlight stuck with me for a bit. Mainly because this isn’t just some cool page spread. Fraction means it to be the big moment that will set plans in motion for the foreseeable future of this storyline.
A good time to get chills, I won’t lie.
In the end, Batman #9 feels like a deliberate turning point that balanced big wow factors with introspection. Fraction and Sook don’t just want to escalate stakes for the sake of some kind of big fan reaction. It is an attempt at reshaping the emotional foundation of the Bat Family by forcing Bruce to confront the consequences of who he’s been and who he still needs to become. The destruction, the sacrifice, and Barbara’s arrest all land with weight because they are tied to that central idea of growth through failure. It leaves the book in a tense, uncertain place, but one that feels purposeful, setting the stage for a story that is less about winning the fight and more about whether this family can endure what comes next.
Verdict: Buy
Absolute Superman, in general, is a comic I come back to every couple of months that leaves me wondering what the heck I missed in only a couple of issues. Absolute Superman #19 was no exception. Opening up to John Henry Irons, now an established character in this universe, side by side with Superman, the Al-Ghuls, and Lois, while facing off against Absolute Shazam, it was safe to say I remembered why I liked this series. Of course, what follows is writer Jason Aaron and artist Rafa Sandoval delivering on these impactful lines and brutal destruction brought to life through the eyes of these characters who could rip everything in two. At the same time, delivering these thoughtful conversations and questions about the world that now surrounds King Shazam and Superman. You don’t want to miss out on this one. 
Batgirl #19 Is something of a guilty pleasure. I see the discourse online about the validity of the run, while I see others rejoice in having anything with Cassandra Cain in it. In that, I have to say it has been a lot of fun, even if it isn’t in everyone’s pull boxes. Writer Tate Brombal and pencil/inker Takeshi Miyazawa still put their all into creating every issue. In truth, it’s endearing to have a story that focuses on Cass’s new extended family and the Bat-family that has shaped her current growth. How that upbringing applies in this world filled with ninjas and assassins, something that she has dealt with all of her life. Yet in that absurd story, they manage to land deep introspective conversations and deliver these phenomenal art pieces that I cant help but look over again and again. If you are a fan of Cass, this run will still put a smile on your face. 
Writer G. Willow Wilson, making it all the way to Poison Ivy #44, is still such an impressive feat. Following the current events of the Fraction Batman run, it has become that much more important to the series as a whole now that things are taking a very interesting turn for Isley. Artist James Infante makes sure of that with the way they bring their gritty art style to Ivy’s world, especially now that it manages to, well, feel dirty now that the political claws have dug into Ivy’s Mayoral run in Gotham. So to jump from her delegating with the Parliament of trees to her own cabinet, Wilson, oh, the analogies run rampant here. Yet something sinister this way comes, with so much left up in the air still and a lot more for Ivy to fix. Only time will tell how this plays out, and I will be there watching.
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