Board 8 > Batman #1 releases tomorrow from Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez

(+) Yeah! (+)

If you don't already know those names, you probably don't know why another comic relaunch in a sea of dozens deserves it's own topic.

If you know...then you know! Those people probably don't need this topic, but it may grab someone else.

https://comicbookclublive.com/2025/08/29/dc-comics-preview-batman-1/

I may end up going down to get a physical single issue of a comic for the first time in ages.

....And yes there are two series that will be running side by side that are just called Batman for some reason. God forbid we stop Loeb and Lee's Hush 2 run in it's tracks, everyone is loving that thing.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Those people probably don't need this topic, but it may grab someone else.

that's me. i'll check this out

this does seem like a run that should get me back into comics. but then I think about Fraction's X-Men run and I remember he's not always on. but his hawkeye and iron fist runs are legendary so this should theoretically be good.

but also I'm just not buying floppies anymore. too expensive

Sweet sweet relief from H2SH

I mean we still have Tom Taylor on DTec and PKJ on Batman & Robin, so it's not like we were starving.

But it will be nice for all 3 mainliners to be good again lol.

And then Waid still on World's Finest if you count that. Man it's a good time for DC.

James Gunn you've done it again!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I mean we still have Tom Taylor on DTec and PKJ on Batman & Robin, so it's not like we were starving.

But it will be nice for all 3 mainliners to be good again lol.

And then Waid still on World's Finest if you count that. Man it's a good time for DC.

True, even though it's a good while since I've been excited about the flagship, you can generally count on there being at least one good Batman book.

I'd add Batman: Dark Patterns to the list of current good Batman books too!

Explain to someone like me who knows dc characters but like nothing about actual comics why this is a big deal

Oh for sure. And of course there's Absolute Batman from Scott Snyder which is amazing, Batman and Robin Year One from Waid which is incredible, Nightwing is crazy good (I adored Taylor's Nightwing but this change in time has been great for different reasons), Jeff Lemire's Robin and Batman: Jason Todd has only just started but it's superb....

.....Is this the most consistently good the Batbooks have ever been across the board? Even Loeb's The Last Halloween hasn't been that bad, better than Hush 2 at least (why are both weak links Jeph Loeb sequels nobody asked for lol)

This new Red Hood series is looming on the horizon though, which looks like it could be either super interesting or an absolute trainwreck.

Emeraldegg posted...

Explain to someone like me who knows dc characters but like nothing about actual comics why this is a big deal

Matt Fraction is a huge name in comics well know for being one of the best street level writers both in cape comics and in indie comics for the past decade....plus? Time is hard to keep track of. Also a huge name in Iron Man but I've never followed Iron Man so can't speak to that first hand. His Hawkeye is considered the modern standard for the character.

But he's a SIGNATURE Marvel writer. The only time he's ever noteably touched DC is a Jimmy Olsen mini series. He's not alone either, he's one in a long line of Marvel writers who have foregone renewing their exclusivity contracts to do DC work in recent years.

Him writing Batman is a big deal, just like Zdarsky writing Batman while still on Daredevil was a big deal not that long ago. Al Ewing, who was responsible for turning Hulk of all things into one of the biggest and best comics on the market, also recently started moving over to DC work.

Marvel really has one holdout in their superstars that hasn't come across the pond, and it's their best one; Hickman. The man has not exactly been treated well over there in recent years, so it's only a matter of time!

And now we've got Marvel editors touting AI, so...

...Missed that story. You must escape, Hickman!

Hickman feels like the one big name left that hasnt at least dipped his toe in DC at this point.

I see, thank you!

Got it!

Really impressed by how this entire issue is completely built in the foundation of several ongoing plot threads from other books, but still feels totally readable without knowing any of that information coming in, and it does so without any unnecessary exposition.

Seeing Gordon's demotion to beat cop in action is rough, full uniform in everything. I never thought this Commissioner Savage stuff was going to be more than an arc, so it's been wild to see it as a continuous throughline through all the books.

I was worried about the comments from Bruce about people never changing in the preview, but that was unwarranted by the end. Killer Croc has been slowly going back and forth between not being a villain for a couple years now, and I'm glad to see this maybe going somewhere in a more unique way. Hopefully it doesn't get fumbled down the line like Clayface and instead ends up being a more meaningful shift in status quo like Penguin (and no, Poison Ivy is not shifting to some anti-hero status, she is definitely still a villain even if all she's been doing is fighting other villains. She's killed hundreds of civilians in this run last I checked lol).

Bruce full on having an AI projection of Alfred with him to talk to whenever now is.....questionable, mental health wise, despite him feeling like he's getting his shit back together again. Maybe this is what's helping him since the Bat Family on the whole (other than Damian) has been drifting apart after recent events (I can't believe Hush 2 is cannon, I'm glad nobody is really paying attention to it elsewhere).

EXTREMELY happy to see Tim is apparently going to be back in the spotlight. He's been in such a nebulous place. Unpopular books, little to no involvement in Batfamily in major titles in years, and obviously he's still just rocking the Robin outfit again as he has for years despite not being, you know...THE Robin anymore. If Fraction can pull Tim out of his slump and back into the limelight I'd be ecstatic. Just being back Red Robin please, that costume was so damn good.

Sounds like this may be selling real well too, which is not something you hear much nowadays.

Maybe too well since it sounds like stores are running out.

Also of note for the comics readers in case anybody missed it, Phillip Kennedy Johnson is finally getting to end his Superman Warworld story when was just....dropped a while back, for whatever weird behind the scenes reason, via The Book of El which started today too.

Not gonna turn this into a weekly comics topic or anything because we don't have the community here for that I think, but Absolute Batman #12 this week was one of the most insane issues of a comic I have read in years for reasons that are impossible to convey from the outside.

Oooh, those preview pages were good. Might check this out.

Already starting to see the blue outfit hit other main Batbooks, love it.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fc34f9d2.jpg

Man the blue cape and cowl look incredible. Glad they finally brought it back and better than ever! Time to get back into some comic book reading, it's been a couple years.