Summary

Where did we last leave Batman off? Oh ya, driving his dumpster truck of a Batmobile down the streets of Gotham! Alfred is absolutely appalled by this but he does have information on Roman Sionis, The Black Mask. He leads a paramilitary group that specializes in destabilizing governments and us willing to come to the table with Batman in order to negotiate a cease fire. If Batman goes quite, he’ll get the Party Animals to stop their terrorist attacks, and Alfred plans to use that information down the line to take out Roman. Batman has a think about it while he is currently surrounded by the police, and quickly gets Alfred to eject himself into the river while Batman escapes

In a flashback we see Selene pulling Bruce out of his bedroom window to explore the rooftops of the city. While Selene is coaching and comforting Bruce, we learn that she has been bouncing around foster homes repeatedly. While Bruce offers his home to her, she deflects by showing him the rooftop cats that keep her company and changing the subject. She pushes him into an abandoned movie theatre where his friends are waiting for him. Selene tells Bruce that he has a chance to leave what happened at the zoo behind, that it can’t be something that holds back the incredible talents he has, and that he can be something great. They turn on The Mark of Zorro and revel together while his mother looks on with joy in her eyes

Back to the present, Bruce goes to Edwards machine shops where he meets his A.I. counterpart ‘AL” and they diagnose the Party Animal Masks. They serve three functions. One, protect the users identity. Two, is a virtual wallet to exchange the crypto currency, Black Coin. Three, gives current monetary values for certain criminal activities, turning Gotham into a Murderworld Arcade.

Roman begins sticking his fingers into the political pie by getting Sargent Bibowski to back his corrupted politicians in the race for Mayor of Gotham. While Bruce advises his mother to lay low, she steps up in the political world and plans to run for Deputy Mayor to Jim Gordan. Harvey Dent roots around to discover that a private jail called Ark M is setting it’s roots off the coast of Gotham City. In the end Bruce makes the call to stand down as Batman for a week, for a cool 200 million.

Review

While this issue starts off with that pulse pounding action that kept the pages turning, it pretty quickly cools off and start laying the groundwork for the conclusion of ‘The Zoo’ story line. Were starting to zoom out and see the big picture of what Roman is up to and it’s pretty ingenious. Giving these masks to the desperate and radical people of Gotham and giving them monetary rewards for death and destruction is a horrifying idea, but it obviously is effective. Bruce is placed in a position where he can end the violence by simply staying out of the way, which I’m sure is tempting due to how widespread it is. He’s only one man. We have hints of Ark M being a pivotal location within the story, and Bruce’s mother is placing herself in Roman’s crosshairs. The beginning of this issue released the tension that was building in the first 2 issues, and now it’s rebuilding itself again.

I think the flashback story line is my favorite part of the story. It’s great to see how great of a friendship that Bruce and Selene have, not just to enjoy each others company, but to support each other when they are in need. Selene not only sees the pain that Bruce is going through, but also sees the potential he has in the future, and she doesn’t want it to rot away in his grief. Overall I found this issue to be fantastic, even if a good chunk of the current plotline is just establishing what is to come

The Moments

I found this moment to be incredibly sweet and kind. We live in a world where we as a people need reassurance that people are being genuine with what they say and for Selene to have this attitude even when their kids, shows how much she cares for Bruce. I love her advice to him, have Cat Eyes, focus on what is in front you. Not in ahead, not behind, right in front of you.

We don’t get another flashback to Zoo, but we get this small moment on the title page of Jim Gordan running while Bruce is in his arms. I think it’s just a gut punch type of follow up to the panel from last issue of him finding him buried underneath those bats