Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics, Review | Tagged: Batman, batman who laughs, comic book reviews, Fortnite, foundation, justice league, lex luthor, zero point

Batman/Fortnite: Foundation #1 Review: Great And Horrifying

Published Sun, 31 Oct 2021 12:04:14 -0500

by Hannibal Tabu

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In one of the most meta approaches ever, Batman/Fornite: Foundation #1 works to become the St. Elsewhere of genre fiction in bringing it all together. Along the way, this answers more about what the game is really about than hours and hours of respawns or Season Passes could deliver.

Batman/Fortnite: Foundation #1 Review: Great And Horrifying — Batman/Fornite: Foundation #1 Cover. Credit: DC Comics

In the very financially successful mini-series, Batman was sucked into the world of Fortnite and forced to fight, over and over, losing his memory every time. Eventually, he was joined by Catwoman and Deathstroke, and through some very complex machinations, they all escaped back to "Earth Zero" as contractual obligations required. Now, Fortnite has come to "play" with the DC universe, and while the Justice League tries to stop an army of super-villains from entering the breach, Batman finds out a lot about the why and works to stop it from infecting his city world.

There's a lot to like about the action scenes and the dialogue presented by Donald Mustard and superstar writers Scott Snyder and Christos Gage. If you're a fan of the game, this issue will be the new gospel as finally, after all this time, you know with absolute certainty why the storm, why the reboots, why the losing all your stuff.

Likewise, there's a very meta look at things worth considering, given the "Zero Point," making all the rifts in the book and the game. The arguable lead Foundation says, "Countless realities originated from the Zero Point. Each its own universe … its own multiverse. Ordinarily, these realities would rarely, if ever, intersect. But the Imagined Order [BBEG] has been manipulating the Zero Point for … a long time. They are using it to tamper with realities. Change the course of their development … drastically, often disastrously. And traveling to and from them."

Why is that interesting? Well, given that a whole part of the Star Wars Skywalker saga happened exclusively on Fortnite, that a version of The Avengers and Thanos fought on the island, and that even Deadpool found his way there. Now that Batman has spent some time in there … Fortnite has become the de facto missing link between fictional universes, an arguable place where every fan cast, comic book store argument conflict could happen. Eternity vs. the Specter? On the table. Palpatine vs. Dr. Doom? Within reach. This idea also posits the concept that perhaps the whole Death Metal "universes that should not be" could just be a factor of Fortnite shenanigans. All of this is wild in ways that are both great and horrifying at the same time.

Likewise, the artwork from Joshua Hixson (doing a really intense amount of stuff here), Roman Stevens, and Andworld Design conveys so many moods. It looks that they have to be tired after depicting all this data in one book. There are lots of easter eggs and gags worth seeing, as well as superb usage of light and subtle shades (Stevens there) to accentuate the rest of the work.

What's the problem? Well, the lead has a lot of answers about what's happening but none about who he (she? they?) might be, why this crusade to end the loops is happening, and so on, and so forth. We never get a direct look at the Imagined Order and never get their side of the argument. For all the storm und drang of Lex Luthor and his regiment of reprobates, they and an army of superheroes served to only provide background noise with no discernible effect on what happened.

This is an artifact of various concepts that could be used as a reference for all brands of bananas theorems in the future, and for people who enjoy the game or enjoy Batman, this will give them lots to enjoy. However, from a "just walking into the story" standpoint, this is a lot to digest, and without the meta cultural angle, it's not exactly a clear picture. Nonetheless, you sure are in for a show if you pick this up, one way or another. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.

Batman/Fortnite: Foundation #1

By Scott Snyder, Christos Gage, Donald Mustard, Joshua Hixson

Directly from the bestselling, groundbreaking Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point miniseries, comes an oversized one-shot that brings the action from the island to Gotham City. If you thought the Batman/Fortnite saga was over, think again…it only gets bigger from here! Includes a bonus digital code for an outfit in Fortnite.

Batman/Fortnite: Foundation #1