Batman #6
(W) Matt Fraction (A) Jorge Jiménez
After he survives the date night from hell, the long night isn’t over for Bruce Wayne. While he juggles multiple needs as Bruce, Hugo Strange’s Monster Men attack a petrochemical facility and force Batman into action. Gotham City becomes a powder keg as superstars Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez continue their acclaimed run on the Caped Crusader.
A man dressed as Batman confronted the Santa Clara City Council, city authorities, and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority on Monday during a joint meeting over ICE’s involvement with Super Bowl 60. Levi Stadium in Santa Clara will host the event.
The speaker’s comments as protests against ICE and its violent actions have increased, both the protests and violent actions. ICE has killed multiple individuals in its enforcement including two recently in Minneapolis. There’s also unknown amounts of abuses occurring under watch and directly by them to individuals detained.
He demanded the city bar the use of city resources in cooperation with ICE.
Fanhome has launched The Legends of Batman, an expansive series of hardcover graphic novels featuring the greatest adventures of DC’s legendary Caped Crusader.
This incredible series of stories brings Batman’s life story together in an epic full-color collection.
We check out Batman: The Black Glove which features Batman #667-669, #672-675.
Story Grant Morrison
Art: J.H. Williams III, Tony S. Daniel, Ryan Benjamin
Ink: J.H. Williams III, Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Jonathan Glapion, Mark Irwin, Saleem Crawford
Color: Dave Stewart, Guy Major
Letterer: Rob Leigh, Ken Lopez, John J. Hill, Randy Gentile, Steve Wands, Travis Lanham, Sal Cipriano
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
Fanhome provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Fanhome has launched The Legends of Batman, an expansive series of hardcover graphic novels featuring the greatest adventures of DC’s legendary Caped Crusader.
This incredible series of stories brings Batman’s life story together in an epic full-color collection.
We check out Tales of the Demon featuring Detective Comics #411, #485, #489-490, and Batman #232, #235, #240, #242-244, and DC Special Series #15.
Story: Denny O’Neil
Art: Bob Brown, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, Michael Golden, Don Newton
Ink: Dick Giordano, Dan Adkins
Color: Corey Adams, Adrienne Roy
Letterer: John Costanza, Milt Snapinn, Ben Oda
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
Fanhome provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
Fanhome has launched The Legends of Batman, an expansive series of hardcover graphic novels featuring the greatest adventures of DC’s legendary Caped Crusader.
This incredible series of stories brings Batman’s life story together in an epic full-color collection.
We check out The War of Jokes & Riddles, collecting Batman #25-#32.
Story: Tom King
Art: Mikel Janin, Clay Mann
Ink: Mikel Janin, Danny Miki, John Livesay, Clay Mann, Hugo Petrus, Seth Mann
Color: June Chung, Gabe Eltaeb, Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.
Fanhome provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site
In the thrilling 2013 prequel video game, Batman: Arkham Origins, a young Batman faces a defining moment in his second year as Gotham’s protector. On a snowy Christmas Eve, with a $50 million bounty placed on his head by Black Mask, he clashes with the world’s deadliest contract killers, including Killer Croc, Deathstroke, and Bane.
Revisit the shadowy underworld of Gotham City with the Batman 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure by Hot Toys. Inspired by Batman: Arkham Origins, this detailed figure features a newly developed masked head with 2 interchangeable lower face sculpts that showcase both his brooding look and a determined expression. The muscular body is highly poseable with over 30 points of articulation, and comes with a variety of interchangeable hands that allow for a wide range of dynamic display options.
The figure’s costume is faithfully recreated according to the game’s bulky yet practical armored design, featuring a newly developed Batsuit with gray and black full-body armor layered over an undersuit. The outfit is completed with a pair of heavy gauntlets, boots, a utility belt, and a wire-embedded cape.
The figure also includes a pair of shock glove armor plates with translucent blue lightning effects to showcase their electrified impact.
Batman is equipped with an arsenal of innovative weapons as seen in the game, including a grapnel gun, a disruptor, a sonic Batarang, a Batarang, a remote claw, a smoke pellet, and explosive gel.
Return to the Dark Knight’s early days with the Batman 1/6 Scale Collectible Figure. Available to pre-order.
This site contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from these sites. Making purchases through these links helps support the site.
Straight from the pages of Batman: Year One, comes the Dark Knight at the very beginning of his war on crime. With unstoppable determination, Batman forges his path while refining his use of intimidation, technology and grit to create the mythic legend he is destined to become.
Outfitted in a comic-accurate, tailored cloth suit with a wired cape, allowing Batman to strike dramatic, grounded poses straight from the iconic storyline. Multiple interchangeable head portraits showcase a range of intense expressions, including an unmasked Bruce Wayne, reflecting the physical and emotional toll of his first year as Gotham’s vigilante.
Equipped with an experimental arsenal, Batman comes prepared with batarangs, explosives, a blowgun with dart effect, a recording device, a floodlight, and additional accessories recreating key moments from Year One.
In Batman: Year One, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham to wage a personal war on crime, crossing paths with a corrupt system, ruthless criminals, and a city in desperate need of a symbol.
Purchase: Mezco Toyz – Entertainment Earth
THE ONE:12 COLLECTIVE BATMAN FIGURE FEATURES:
COSTUME:
ACCESSORIES:
Books like Batman #5 are why I love superhero comics. Matt Fraction, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey create an entire issue that is centered around Bruce Wayne, not Batman, being chased by ninjas while on a kind of, sort of date with Dr. Annika Zeller, an Arkham employee who has invented something called the Crown of Storms to regulate electrical signals. So, of course, she’s on the run from rival ninja gangs, including Ojo aka Lady Death Man. There’s flirting, tension, cool gadgets, and a killer final page when an action from one of Wayne’s allies
Although, Jimenez has a much different art style from David Aja, Batman #5 reminded me a lot of another Fraction comic, Hawkeye #3 aka the freeway car chase issue where Clint Barton and Kate Bishop try out all the trick arrows. (It was adapted pretty well in the 2021 Disney Plus series too.) Batman #4 set up all kinds of labyrinthine plotting while this issue is all about a man getting a woman to safety and also dealing with his feelings about her. Of course, Dr. Zeller is a gorgeous woman, but Bruce is more attracted to lack of fear in solving mental health crises and speaking truth to power in a way that’s earned the ire of two and definitely more criminal syndicates. Even though the costume and cowl are miles away, some of his real personality comes out in this issue as he listens to her talk about innovative ways to make Gotham a better place, which is something he can assist through Bruce Wayne’s money and not just Batman’s fists. Finally, it’s so wholesome how protective Bruce is of Annika like when he immediately throws her into the safety of the dumpster when Ojo confronts him in an alley.
However, most of this issue is Jorge Jimenez and Morey turning in one of the coolest car chases (in comics) period. Seriously, there’s a double page spread that plays with time in an utterly insane way when Bruce catches a lock of Annika’s hair that was cut off by a biker gang member between her uttering “Oh God”. In this series of panels, you know what it’s like to have the reflexes of Gotham’s boy billionaire, who is also the Dark Knight. Specificity in sound effects from letterer Clayton Cowles and Jimenez are key in this and other segments of the chase sequences, and you hear the sword and the enemy’s body hit the side of the car before cutting to a small panel in silhouette that’s pure dark slapstick. In his colors, Tomeu Morey finds a happy medium between complex digital work and old school flat colors. When in doubt, pink and black look fantastic, and this scheme shows up in the issue’s movie poster-worthy title page along with the hand to hand fight between Bruce and Ojo.
Batman #5 also uses the high adrenaline action to fuel a kind of identity crisis for Bruce Wayne. He has to do Batman things to get through the issue, but has no access to his costume or gadgets beyond a sick suit of light body armor that’s also moisture wicking. Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez effectively use tics in Bruce’s vocabulary and shifts in body language to show when he’s blending or crossing over different parts of his dual identity. Of course, Ojo calls him out on this behavior, and this leads to Jimenez drawing his best, mean mugging action pose. Bruce Wayne is definitely more comfortable drifting cars and shifting gears than being a man in a business suit.
I love romantic comedies. I love action movies. So, I loved loved Batman #5. This comic is a showcase for Jorge Jimenez’s virtuosic art, Tomeu Morey’s ability to set the mood through colors, and also Fraction’s skill at quickly creating romantic chemistry and letting his artist cook. But, in a very cranked-to-eleven way, it demonstrates the best way to really know what someone is like is in a stressful situation, and I think Bruce passed with flying colors. (Until the final page.)
Story: Matt Fraction Art: Jorge Jimenez
Colors: Tomeu Morey Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Comix Experience – Zeus Comics – Kindle
Batman #5
(W) Matt Fraction (A) Jorge Jiménez
A night out with Bruce Wayne goes off the rails immediately for Dr. Annika Zeller — it seems her experimental Crown of Storms has her marked for death. And if they survive the legendary 000 Gang, they’ll still have to confront the sinister assassin known as The Ojo!
Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
Ultimate Universe: Two Years In (Marvel) – Ultimate Universe: Two Years In is a complex story about the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy trying to fix the universe using the power of timey wimey things. Deniz Camp and Alex Paknadel turn in a script oozing with ideas about the nature of humanity, hope, and if a better world can happen complete with talking dogs, nihilistic robots, cosmic surgery, and a truly unique take on Daredevil. This book is worth reading for the Ultimate Daredevil sequence alone which is fourth wall shattering comics storytelling at its finest from Camp, Paknadel, and Javier Pulido. Pulido’s vivid, flat colors are the cherry on top. It wavers under the weight of its own complexity sometimes, but Deniz Camp and Alex Paknadel find the emotions at the core of this space and time-spanning story with Patrick Boutin and Phil Noto‘s facial expressions especially keeping me immersed in the story. Earth-6160 is full of ideas and interesting characters, and it’s sad it will conclude soon. Overall: 8.2 Verdict: Buy
Ultimate X-Men #22 (Marvel) – This issue of Ultimate X-Men has massive Buffy season finale energy filtered through the unique stylings of Peach Momoko as the X-Men face off against the Shadow King aka Kageyama. I love Momoko’s re-characterization of the classic villain as a spurned teenage boy who wants to control the lead character, Hisako, and for her to be just as empty as him. She shows this through visuals with all kinds of logic-defying and fear-inducing shapes as Hisako’s armor and Kageyama’s shadows face off. But he is a lone terror, and she has the fierce backing of the X-Men to help her in this death-defying battle. The emotional core of this issue is totally mainly through the rise and fall of Peach Momoko’s art, and there’s a real sense of payoff in this book. I was down on this book’s plotting early on, but have really come to love it and am also craving fried chicken. Overall: 8.7 Verdict: Buy
Hulk Smash Everything #1 (Marvel) – Hulk Smash Everything is another all killer, no filler action-packed comic book from Ryan North, Vincent Carratu, and Federico Blee. Calming and/or redirecting the Green Goliath’s anger is the driving force behind this comic, which is pure mayhem beginning with the initial assault on Dr. Strange. Carratu’s visuals capture the battle between finesse and brute strength using surrealist layouts for the scenes with Strange working his mojo and big ass splash pages for Hulk’s rampages. Pair it with a truly epic cliffhanger, and this is series that looks like it’ll be entertaining me into 2026! Overall: 8.6 Verdict: Buy
Giant Size Criminal #1 (Image) – Sticking up a talented poker player in a hotel room seems like an easy enough crime, but this is Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Jacob Phillips‘ Criminal so things are not so easy. They spin a yarn of a stick-up gone wrong complete with drugs (Phillips’ palette comes in handy here.), sex workers, cartoons, and of course, daddy issues. Even if you haven’t read a single Criminal story (Guilty as charged, I think), this is a great entry to the world and filled with humor and violence too. In addition to the 36 page lead story, Giant-Size Criminals features some background information about the creation of Criminal, some funny strips about Brubaker and Phillips’ experiences with the upcoming TV adaptation, and the holy grail of all, a Criminal TTRPG created by Kieron Gillen himself that’s worth the price of the comic. Overall: 9.5 Verdict: Buy
Batman #4 (DC) – A villain who runs an “algorithm of crime” is the perfect Big Bad for 2025/2026, and Matt Fraction, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey use Batman #4 to give us a tantalizing introduction to the Minotaur. The grid layouts paired with a precise monologue raise the stakes even higher in the first and final frames of the book while the bits in between show the utter chaos and hopelessness of Gotham. However, Fraction’s trademark witty humor shines in a sequence where Bruce Wayne flirts his way into some information. (His target wearing Krocs is an adorable detail.) Batman #4 is more a building block than a full meal or even a course on a tasting menu, but Jimenez’s slick visuals and a frightening, yet relatable villain make it worth a read. Overall: 7.7 Verdict: Buy
