Written by: Chip Zdarsky
Art by: Jorge Fornés
Colors by: Tomeu Morey
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: December 4, 2024
Batman #155, by DC Comics on 12/4/24, sends Batman on a mission to prove Jim Gordon's innocence in the murder of Mayor Nakano.
Is Batman #155 Good?
First Impressions
What an ugly, ugly story. As writer Chip Zdarsky's tenure dwindles on an abysmal run, he seems intent on tearing down characters and going out on a depressing note. Even with a predictable bait-and-switch, nobody comes out of this arc looking good.
Recap
When last we left the Caped Crusader in Batman #154, we learned the mysterious "brother" trying to take over Wayne Enterprises is the secret love child of Thomas Wayne and a nurse. Meanwhile, the investigation into Mayor Nakano's murder uncovered a secret affair between Mrs. Nakano and Jim Gordon.
Plot Synopsis
In Batman #155, we witness the downfall of Jim Gordon, beginning with a series of flashbacks that started thirteen weeks ago. Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock tackle seedy cases in their small-time detective agency. One day, Gordon is asked for by name by an anonymous client who believes her husband is cheating on her. That client was Koyuki Nakano.
Three weeks later, Gordon delivers the news that he can find no evidence that Mayor Nakano is cheating on his wife. The news hits Mrs. Nakano harder than if her suspicions were true because the lack of an affair means her husband's coldness toward her is a sign of falling out of love. Gordon begins to comfort her.
Two weeks later, Gordon and Mrs. Nakano are accosted by kidnappers as they walk together in the park. Gordon thwarts the attempt and saves Koyuki's life. Let the smooching begin.
On the night of the murder, Gordon arrived at the Nakano residence to take Koyuki with him to Metropolis to start over in a new life. Mayor Nakano is waiting for him. The Mayor knew about the affair, and he told Gordon it was over. After an argument that gets physical, Gordon pulls his gun.
Now, Bullock tells Batman he has enough evidence for an arrest, but Batman can't accept that Gordon is a killer.
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne attempts to meet his half-brother, but he's stonewalled by Leonid Kull (current head of the Court of Owls). Kull's security gets rough with Bruce, but when he's on the ground taking his punishment, Bruce awkwardly places a tracker on Kull's shoe.
Elsewhere, Edward Nygma informs Wayne Industries' chief counsel, Rowan Birkemoe, that he intends to buy out Wayne Enterprises and take NygmaTech global.
The issue ends with Batman discovering that Jim Gordon is a killer thanks to a cleverly placed application of Mad Hatter tech through NygmaTech resources.
What’s great about Batman #155 ?
Chip Zdarsky gives Jim Gordon an out for the murder of Mayor Nakano, which is better than nothing. Batman makes the final discovery while trapped in a GCPD interrogation room, which puts the Caped Crusader in an inescapable spot to up the ante and dramatic tension in his investigation.
What’s not great about Batman #155 ?
The fundamental premise is just plain ugly. Jim Gordon has been around the block enough times to know that having an affair with a woman married to a powerful man never ends well. Gordon has years of experience witnessing how seedy decisions made with other organs besides the brain always lead to trouble. You could argue Gordon entered into the affair via mind control, but the timing isn't clear. The best you could offer is that Gordon killed Nakano under mind control duress, but everything that led to the murder is due to a series of really bad choices by somebody who should know better.
Further, the subplots are just as ugly, narratively speaking.
Gotham's latest vigilante, Commander Star, pops in and out for no reason.
Readers are once again reminded about Thomas Wayne's secret love child by a disturbing dream that besmirches the father's character.
Bruce's ploy to attach a tracker on Kull's shoe looks so ridiculous that you'll wonder how Kull didn't see what was happening.
How’s the Art?
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Batman #155 delivers an ugly next chapter in Chip Zdarsky's last run. Zdarsky's quest to tear down all the family figures in Batman's life is depressing, and Jim Gordon's character makes a series of foolishly bad choices. Further, the art is a step down from the previous issue.
4.5/10
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I would give this way lower than a 4.5 . This is what I am referencing when I say that Taylor's run in Detectives so far is nowhere close to this and so far is good. (Maybe he will turn out like this too who knows but so far nowhere close) however people got wayyyy more upset at that than this awful stuff. Before that, I will say that all my criticisms are intended for the quality of the writing itself and not a personal attack on the writer.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, still there is no explanation on how could someone like Riddler possibly achieve this and become a owner of this company and work legit. Who would invest???? I can buy someone like Penguin having a casino and power behind the curtains but even he after all these arrests wouldn't be able to be this let alone someone like Riddler that is basically somewhat like Joker or scarecrow. They had a gang war in Gotham that killed poeple!! (Does anyone remember the war of jokes and riddles or whatever that awful arc was called???). If all this was done by having someone else be a front is something I could buy but Riddler is doing this himself personally! You can't do that and expect poeple to not treat this as a silver age plot. ( let's not get into the Savage as Police Commissioner plot, enough has been said about him before)
Secondly, the wayne heir thing is a ruse just like the whole Gordon is the killer thing and most people figured that out the previous issue but still it doesn't do anything for that unnecessary reveal about Thomas that was way out of character. Damage has been done. I have hated Zdarsky's run for a long time now and debated poeple when they were saying his initial Gotham war stuff was good but now it feels like before his run ends, he is going to triple and quadruple all that I dislike about his run and damage it further, the nonsense plot, the out of character moments that don't fit anyone, the retcons. Didn't think something worse than that joker backstory and Captio or whatever his name was would come along but clearly I was wrong.
How could you mention those lines in Detective and not mention "antifa" just being casually name dropped here?? I cringed when I read it. Look I am not an American nor do i care which political party wins over there but there is no finesse about these stories or what they are trying to say. It's just as cringy as older comics just having whatever current political real world figure there was to be in the comics as themselves. It was badly written then a lot of times, it is bad now. There is no sense of people actually caring about the worldbuilding here. It feels like I have sat down for a badly written lecture about American politics. ( it feels a lot like that awful last issue of Batgirl run with Barbara)
Lastly, there is no way that Gordon would have provided such huge blackmail material to potential rivals by having an affair with the mayor's wife WHILE investigating if he was having an affair. It's another case of the writer having an idea of a story and instead of writing it in a way that fits the characters, breaking said characters to fit his story instead. Also there is no way that Gordon would pull a gun on a non criminal while they were having a brawl or throwing punches especially cause it started because of something he did. (And before someone says mind control, that happened before his glasses were broken. However when did they find the Mayor's body and how fast did he get his glasses fixed?? Cause it must have happened the day Nakano was murdered for him to be mind controlled into going back and wiping the evidence before the police got there unless I am missing something about the timeline of the events.) 0 out of 10 lol cause even the art can't save this issue.