Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: jorge jimenez, matt fraction

Gossip About Batman #1 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez (Spoilers)

Gossip about Batman #1 by Matt Fraction, Jorge Jiménez and Tomeu Morey out in September from DC Comics (Spoilers)

September sees the launch of the new Batman #1 by Matt Fraction, Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey, following on from Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair's Batman H2SH run concluding with Batman #163. Even though that's out at the end of October when the new Batman volume will have had its first two issues out. Will that cause problems? Maybe not as much as I thought.

Because I get the word that the series doesn't look like it follows on much from H2SH, which has its own continuity problems as a result of only following on from previous Loeb stories rather than the other Hush stories that followed from other creators. Instead, and probably suitably given that Jorge Jimenez drew much it, it will follow on from the Chip Zdarsky run more. The only sop to H2SH seems to be an absence of the Batfamily from Gotham – though not all of them. It looks like Red Hood #1 will reflect the events of H2SH more than the new Batman #1.

The biggest difference is probably the way Gotham is portrayed, a rich mix of different neighbourhoods and areas, of wealth inequality, the good, areas, the bad areas, the parks, the city blocks, the underpasses, as distinct and separate personalities within the mass of Gotham. This is not new for Batman, but maybe there hasn't been quite as much of it.

And this Gotham, with Jim Gordon as a beat cop, Vandal Savage as Police Commissioner, and Arkham Tower still in play in Gotham City itself, is heading more to the worlds of Robocop, Judge Dredd and Blade Runner, satire and critique on policing in the modern city state. While also having a vigilante running around knocking heads.

So we have journalists being arrested, personal Lexcorp body armour being sold like underwear of fashion accessories on shopping channels, suspicion about foreign dojos breeding ninjas on the streets, and more advertising screens than before, Times Square everywhere. And the police working with face-covered, armoured and weapons up private special forces to take down the villains of Gotham – and the heroes too.

Meanwhile Alfred Pennyworth has returned from the dead in the form of an A.I. – and yes, we have seen that before. This one seems to follow Batman around, hologram or hallucination? We will see. And who built it? Well, the solicit for Mister Terrific Year One #4 for August reads "Bruce Wayne arrives at his doorstep with an unexpected proposal." But what does the Batman #1 preview show us?

Beat cop Jim Gordon with his new partner, well away from the city centre, non-digital advertising billboards, Arkham Tower with the other skyscrapers in the background. A sign to the Butterfly Vivarium at the Gotham Natural History Museum. That's called foreshadowing, folks.

Batman looking down from on high from a room where something escapes. This is Arkham Tower, whoever it was who escaped was rather big. Clue, he's the king of the crocodiles. You can see crocodile toys and imagery legft in his room, along with a doctor and iPad..

Arkham Towers. So there is more than one of them. And Batman is working with her. King Croc seems to have been going through some changes according to the Arkham Towers files. Getting more monstrous?

We mentioned the lack of the Batfamily in the new Batman series, something the Chip Zdarsky took Batman to with Failsafe and Zur En Arrh, but rather than forcing them away, it seems that they have forced themselves away, leaving Bruce almost alone in Gotham. Maybe, just maybe, this means that Batman is going to have to take advice from others, listen to it, and do things differently…

Batman #1 by Matt Fraction, Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey is published on the 3rd of September 2025. Copies may be available at San Diego Comic-Con the week before, we will have to wait and see.

BATMAN #1
(W) Matt Fraction (A/CA) Jorge Jimenez
A BOLD NEW ERA OF BATMAN STARTS HERE! A new day dawns for the Dark Knight Detective as Eisner Award-winning writer Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen) joins forces with superstar artist Jorge Jimenez (Batman, Summer of Superman Special) for an unforgettable new era of Batman! The best superhero in comics gets a brand-new first issue to kick off this new era that will test Batman and Bruce Wayne like never before! $4.99 9/3/2025

MR TERRIFIC YEAR ONE #4 (OF 6) CVR A DAN MORA
(W) Al Letson (A) Valentine De Landro (CA) Dan Mora
GUEST-STARRING BRUCE WAYNE! Michael Holt's first outing as Mr. Terrific goes terribly awry, and he barely escapes with his life. But just as he's about to hang up the leather jacket for good after one single use…Bruce Wayne arrives at his doorstep with an unexpected proposal. But that's not the only surprise guest star…in the present, a mysterious young interloper rescues Mr. Terrific from a parademon onslaught! Retail: $3.99 8/27/202

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