Batman #161 – Jeph Loeb, Writer; Jim Lee, Penciller, Scott Williams, Inker; Alex Sinclair, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s been a while as this storyarc runs into some delays – it’ll be taking a hiatus after the first six issues conclude – but it’s still a fun, fast-paced read that delivers some great action and some surprisingly tense character interactions. Hush is back, and he’s playing a sick game with Batman that is targeting every single one of his allies and family members. That includes Damian – who got a very unexpected ally in Bane, the man who killed Alfred. Bane apparently owes Damian a debt, but Batman isn’t willing to go along with that – sucker-punching Bane as soon as Hush makes his escape and ordering Damian to return him to Arkham where he belongs. Given how much Alfred looms large in this story and how much the character is missed, I wouldn’t be surprised if he winds up playing some sort of larger role in this story – Hush is definitely considering him a player in his chessboard.
But with Hush in the wind and Joker quickly recovering from his injuries and looking to add to his kill count of Robins, there’s another relationship that will be causing Bruce much more tension this issue – Batgirl. Jim Gordon is in the hospital because of Joker’s actions, and Barbara is not happy when she finds out that Bruce saved Joker’s life yet again. Even though it’s something Bruce and Jim are simpatico on, she wastes no time making her feelings known to Bruce – in full-on brawl form. Bruce’s narration delving into his complex relationship with Barbara, the only one of his proteges he didn’t train, is pretty interesting, and you can see where both sides are coming from in this argument. But from the outside, it looks more and more like Bruce is losing control – and that’s what his partners think when they show up at the end of the issue, with an unexpected new ally. Good stuff, schedule issues aside.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
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