Summary

A Young Bruce bangs against the door of the bat enclosure, only to have his father’s lifelss body blocking his way. The bats swarm around him, engulfing him, the sound of their screeching being etched into his memories.

Alfred continues to observe Bruce in his endeavors to fight the Party Animals. He becomes a shadow after work, showing up at the biggest gatherings of the Party Animals, but he’s only one man. Between keeping ahead of the gang, sabotaging one of own safe houses, he makes time to stop by Gotham Peitentiary to visit his father’s killer in jail.

Jim Gordan rests in his hospital bed while Policeman Bullock makes plans to apprehend Batman. Barbara Gordan objects to this but the presence of the Party Animals has only increased since Batman shows up. While they head out to respond to a call, Martha Wayne pops in for a visit as Jim begins thinks back to the day he found Bruce Wayne in that bat enclosure. Didn’t even see him at first with how covered he was. Martha thinks to his personality changed, avoiding his friends, throwing away his trophy’s. Only his friend Selina Kyle could get him of the house, secretly of course.

Bruce finally makes it to a poker game with his childhood friends - Harvey, Ozzy, Edward and Waylon. Bruce then throws a Party Animal Mask into the pot, and asks what they heard, what are their motivations? Ozzy tells him all seems to be running smoothly in the criminal underground, though the Party Animals don’t seem to keen on negotiating. Harvey doesn’t think their motivations are political since Jim’s Re-Election has gone down the toilet. That only leaves the biggest motivation of all: Money.

Harvey gives Bruce the lowdown on Jim’s political rival, Hill, and how much capital he seems to be pulling in. Batman heads in to snoop on Hills computer files and comes across one entitled ArkM. The ambuah is spring as Black Mask appears on screen. Party animals burst in, Gotham PD has the building grounded, and Alfred appears, stating he’s information on the Party Animals. First things first thought they gotta get out of here, and Batmans modified mining vehicle is a quick way to make an escape.

Review
Last issue laid the groundwork for who Bruce Wayne is, where he came from, and what Batman is truly capable of. This issue we get into the grit of our story and digging for answers about the Party Animals. I love how grounded this story is so far. Batman is a super hero in our eyes, but we’re presented with the fact that he is one man against an entire city of criminals, and he can’t stop them all. We also see that Batman isn’t a uniquely powerful person due to Alfred being able to track and know most of his movements and safe houses. I feel like this series is taking a bit of realism with the hero of batman, but accentuating it’s villains and making them feel like and overwhelming force

It places Bruce is a different position then we’re used to when it comes to him being a hero. He isn’t a symbol, he doesn’t bring hope and his motivations don’t have the same aura as the other iterations of Batman that we are used to. This is also contrasted by the fact that Bruce actually has friends. Now granted there all named after the good old Batman Villains of old so I think we can surmise where each of these characters are going to end up, but as of now we are building a connection to these characters seeing how they can assist Bruce with his endeavors.

The Moments

I just really like the choice to make these flashback panels have a little bit of a fog to them. I think it’s a easy way to show us when a flashback is occurring, but I think it a clever way to remind us that memories of the past aren’t always crystal clear. I’m not saying that these flashbacks aren’t true, but I think it could be a knob they could turn, and the fogginess they are using could be a way to establish that.

I just find it really funny when Batman can find ways to make bat logos wherever he can. From where he decides to place his stash houses to how he decides a building should burn. As Alfred says - He’s certainly committed to the bit

I’m gonna be honest… look it’s badass looking and it’s a way over the top version of the Batmobile, and yes he probably has access to one of these due to his job. It’s a bit over the top for me personally but we will see how often and how useful it is as the issues go on.