Batman #147 continues the build-up of Zur-En-Arrh as the march to Absolute Power progresses. We already know that Batman of Zur-En-Arrh will be a major character in the DC Universe for the rest of 2024. The question is how the narrative Chip Zdarsky is creating around Batman of Zur-En-Arrh will factor into what we will be seeing in Absolute Power. That is addition to how Bruce Wayne will reestablish himself after the way Zur-En-Arrh beat him. Let’s see how things go next with Batman #147.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
BATMAN #147 SOLICITATION
“NO ALLIES. NO WEAPONS. NO HOPE? With no allies, no weapons, and almost no hope… can Batman fight back before Zur makes a true devil’s bargain? The world is about to know Zur’s true power! Him and… his new sidekick? “Dark Prisons” continues!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
I can’t remember a title where I’ve gone from excited about what comes next to frustrated by the creative decisions issue to issue like Chip Zdarsky’s run on Batman. After Batman #146 my expectations were at their lowest for this Zur-En-Arrh storyline. Now we get to the start of May with the release of Batman #147 and Zdarsky brought the high excitement level back expected from his comic book work.
What makes Batman #147 exceed what took place in the previous issue by a country mile was the balance in storytelling. Zdarsky returned to the most interesting players in this narrative to be the drivers of the story. Those players were none other than Bruce Wayne and Zur-En-Arrh. All of the other supporting characters role in the story is elevated.
That is specifically seen with how Daniel Captio’s presentation was much better this time around. Captio is a character that works much better when his arrogance in showing his control is the focal point. He plays off well trying to play the mental game of Zur-En-Arrh that highlights their contentious partnership.
This all plays into Zur-En-Arrh continuing to act like Bruce Wayne while, in his mind, taking Batman to the next level. It makes how Amanda Waller enters the picture and we see Zur-En-Arrh drop trying to be Bruce so effective. While their partnership isn’t fully formed the interaction with Waller was the trigger needed for Zur-En-Arrh to execute the next phase of his plan.
That next phase turning out to be creating his own Justice League of Zur-En-Arrh was a great way to further integrate the importance of the Multiverse in the narrative Zdarsky has created. It was only a matter of time before Zur-En-Arrh took his vision for “protecting” Gotham City and expanded to the rest of the world and DC Universe as a whole. Zdarsky does a good job showing this shift happening not just by showing the Amazo Justice League but also in the way Zur-En-Arrh talked slightly differently.
The way Zur-En-Arrh talked is made noticeable by Damian Wayne’s Robin reaction to what he is shown. Up to this point Zur-En-Arrh made sure he was as careful as possible to make it seem Bruce did in fact transfer his consciousness into Failsafe. That care was dropped once Zur-En-Arrh started to execute his full vision. This led to the biggest surprise of Batman #147 with Zur-En-Arrh turning Damian Wayne into Robin of Zur-En-Arrh. That was certainly unexpected though seems like a long play to use Damian against Bruce when he shows back up.
Speaking of Bruce Wayne, given the way he was defeated, going on a journey that goes through his history was well done. While Bruce does have a sense of urgency about defeating Zur-En-Arrh it does not mean he has to be rash. Zur-En-Arrh completely broke Bruce physically and mentally. If he has any hopes of defeating Zur-En-Arrh he must rebuild himself. Going back to key locations like the Justice League’s original headquarters in Happy Harbor and the cabin his father built was a good reset.
His current status quo reminding him of how much work Tim Drake had to put into becoming Robin was a great call. Tim didn’t have the head start Bruce or Dick Grayson had with their natural talent. Tim had to work to become someone many consider the best Robin. Bruce is now in spot where he is rebuilding himself as Batman and has to put in a ton of work to get that done.
This naturally paved a way to bring Tim back into the fold for he and Bruce to operate as Batman and Robin again. Zdarsky did a great job having Bruce and Tim quickly reestablish their bond with how the former opened up to the latter. This made the introduction of Bruce’s new Batman suit have a bigger impact of being a step forward.
The only aspect of Batman #147 that didn’t work was Vandal Savage becoming the GCPD Commissioner. The path to get to this big moment for Vandal Savage just never worked with all the stumbles it had. The opening with his introductory press conference as Commissioner Vandal Savage played into how badly forced this development was. It’s certainly a story that once the Zur-En-Arrh and Absolute Power story wraps should become a focal point.
Jorge Jiménez once again delivers phenomenal artwork throughout Batman #147. Jimenez continues to be the brightest part of this series as he makes every page feel like your reading a big event. Jimenez artwork specially made the confrontation between Batman of Zur-En-Arrh and Amanda Waller be a big deal. It helps set the groundwork for their future partnership. The design for Robin of Zur-En-Arrh was also on spot to make the design match the original Batman of Zur-En-Arrh design in a Robin color scheme.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Batman #147 is exactly the chapter that this Zur-En-Arrh Saga needed to move forward with. Batman of Zur-En-Arrh moves his plans forward in a way that both work to escalate the narrative Chip Zdarsky is crafting and builds towards the Absolute Power event. It’s a delicate balance that ends up working to make progress for all the players involved to have greater importance.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
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