A routine night in Gotham City for a young Batman proves to be anything but routine when the crime-fighter is confronted with a sort of foe he’s never faced before–one from beyond the stars! A universe of possible alien threats leads Batman to make a daring decision–to venture alone into the far reaches of the cosmos for the very first time, where the Dark Knight will face the fight of his life! Batman: Off-World #1 takes Batman into the cosmos for a story that’s… familiar.

Written by Jason Aaron, Batman: Off-World #1 is an interesting start. After facing an alien threat hire by a local mobster (year, don’t ask), Batman heads to space. Why? To figure out how to take on these types of threats. Yes, at its core, Batman: Off-World #1 is just another Batman training story. But, this time in space.

Where Batman: Off-World #1 stands out is the focus on how alien everything is. There’s aren’t human beings he’s been training to deal with. Their vulnerabilities are new to him. They have physiology he’s not used to. Overall, he’s at square one having to learn how to deal with a new enemy. That aspect is interesting and that type of detail intriguing. And, to the aliens, Batman is a bit goofy. They keep making fun of his costume and him in general, infantilizing him and calling him weak. And compared to them, he currently is. He’s enslaved and given pretty menial tasks because he’s perceived as not strong enough to do other things. All of that is actually interesting.

But, at it’s core, the story is one we’ve seen before. And beyond those interesting details, the latter half of the comic comes off as a bit of a “training montage” just without the quick cuts and music to get the reader pumped. The comic doesn’t deliver much beyond putting Batman in a new setting with new enemies to deal with.

The art by Doug Mahnke is good. With ink by Jaime Mendoza and color by David Baron the aliens and ship looks solid. There’s a lot of variation and due to that, the comic has a great feel that this truly are slavers and bounty hunters snatching aliens from all over. This isn’t just one alien race enslaving planets and others, it’s a hodgepodge of different beings from different planets. There’s also a solid use of size, showing Batman as tinier and thus weaker than those around him. Finally, there’s something nice in the aliens look as such, and at times scary, but not being treated as such. Aaron’s writing has them as just soldiers, warriors, slaves, so when Mahnke reveals the initial two looking for Batman on his ship, they look frightening but are just two beings doing their jobs. It brings a little bit of humor to it all, along with the utter chaos of the first encounter.

Batman: Off-World #1 has moments. There’s good details within and when it focuses on how it stands out, it does that really well. But, the overall plot feels like something we’ve seen so many times before on Earth. There’s potential here and this is clearly a setup of more to come but as a first issue, it’s entertaining but doesn’t quite hook the reader with excitement.

Story: Jason Aaron Art: Doug Mahnke
Ink: Jaime Mendoza Color: David Baron
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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