Rory Wilding's Reviews > Batman, Vol. 4: Dark Prisons

As we wait to see what Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee has in store with the upcoming “H2sh”, which will be then followed up by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez taking over the main Batman title, there is still the matter of finishing up Chip Zdarsky’s run on the title with two remaining trades to go. Picking up where the previous volume left off, Batman defeated by the robotic Failsafe, whose body is taken over by Bruce’s evil inner persona Zur-En-Arhh, whilst the Dark Knight himself wakes up sharing a cell in Blackgate Penitentiary with the Joker.

Considering the previous volume has the Joker was a major presence, not least because there was the three-issue arc “The Joker: Year One”, but it is weird how Zdarsky has used him as he is both integral to the main narrative whilst also being sidelined. Much like Batman, the Joker was trained by Dr. Daniel Captio, a nihilist psychologist who developed techniques which allowed him to manufacture alternate personalities for specific requirements.

Through Captio’s mentoring, the Joker finds out about the Zur-En-Arhh persona and during a montage that goes through periods of his comics history, it is revealed that the Joker’s reason for all the evil stuff he has done is so that he can see Zur-En-Arhh. A recurring theme throughout Zdarsky’s run is remixing elements of Batman’s history, and considering that the Joker’s relationship with Batman is about the former pushing the latter down the deep end, the Joker’s motivation of unleashing Zur-En-Arhh is an interesting angle. But again, the Joker is not really the focus here.

Aside from the Clown Prince of Crime, there are other villains throughout this arc, starting with Zur-En-Arhh who has taken over Failsafe’s body and uses the symbol of Batman as a symbol as a vigilante to extreme measures to protect Gotham and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, you have Captio who uses his new status as Blackgate’s warden to keep Bruce Wayne in prison. And then, there’s Vandal Savage who returns from a previous arc, starting out as a Blackgate prisoner to somehow being Gotham’s Police Commissioner. Zdarsky throws a lot within these issues, leading to a climax that rushes to wrap up everything up as well as setting up future storylines such as the Absolute Power crossover event.

Given the moving parts of this arc, when it focuses Batman himself and the extended family that he founded, the book finds its beating heart. Family plays a major role and considering that certain family members have their ups and downs, especially when it comes to their relationship with Bruce, but this arc feels like the culmination where he learns the importance of his family, which is more than just a team of vigilantes. The theme of family is also explored in #149, an action-less epilogue where Bruce tries to save a rapidly aging clone of himself. While the outcome is tragic, it somewhat sets up a new status quo for Bruce in a positive light, including a greater inclusion with his family.

Concluding this volume is a two-issue arc that coincides with the aforementioned Absolute Power, in which Batman and Catwoman team up to pull a heist to rob a Mother Box that is at the hands of Amanda Waller. It is a worry when a creative team takes a break from their story to do tie-in issues for someone else’s story, but the big appeal of these issues is seeing the fun dynamic between the two former lovers, which had a rough patch during the problematic "Gotham War", and in here, we get a nice resolution that calls back to Tom King’s Batman run. Also, we get a brief appearance from Darkseid, which is tense but awesome.

With a variety of artists involved in this volume, it could be jarring, but everyone does their part extremely well. Whilst you have Jorge Jiménez delivering the action-packed spectacle as well as throwing in some awesome costume changes for the Bat-Family, Mike Hawthorne draws the tie-in issues where the Bat and Cat battle an interesting take on the Suicide Squad that includes Bizarro. And then you have Michele Bandini who delivers beautiful art when it comes to character drama, as seen in the touching #149.

Baggy with the amount of story it wants to tell, but this is the best volume of Zdarky’s run since the first one, which is both action-packed and heartfelt, when the Bat-Family are all on the same page.