Batman, Vol. 4

#1O

Release:	Sep 03, 2025
Cover:	Nov 2025

Creators

Writer	Matt Fraction
Artist	Jorge Jiménez
Cover Artist	Jorge Jiménez
Colorist	Tomeu Morey
Letterer	Clayton Cowles
Editor	Rob Levin
Editor in Chief	Marie Javins

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Even before my lengthy hiatus from regularly buying comics, it had been a while since I’d bought any of the Bat-books with any regularity.

That didn’t change when I got back into buying comics, though I have picked up some Bat-related titles throughout the years.

It’s not going to change now, either, as I just picked up this issue on a whim, and while I generally like Fraction’s work and found it to be fine overall – and a good jumping-on point – I just don’t have it in me to buy a main Bat-title.

Why is that? I don’t know, but as with X-books, or Spider-books, it just feels like…too much. I’m content with my little corners of the Big Two’s respective universes.

This one drew me in via the blind bag gimmick. I didn’t go for the other gimmick on offer – giant-sized editions of the issue like the last novelty Batman comic I picked up – and I honestly had no idea what the potential options were for what would be inside, but it was there in front of me, so, with a shrug, I added it to the stack.

This is the cover that I got: a foil variant of the main cover by series artist Jorge Jiménez.

As for the issue itself, it sets up an interesting status quo – I keep forgetting that Vandal Savage is the current Gotham City Police Commissioner – and presents a different take on Batman, one whose edges are a bit softer and is more empathetic and willing to be vulnerable, spurred on by the Imaginary(?) presence of the spirit of Alfred.

A kinder, gentler Batman? Well, not exactly – the does actually mow some creeps down with the Batmobile – but one who brings to mind the Batman who sat on a swing and held out his hand to comfort a dying girl in that “Epilogue” episode of Justice League Unlimited and shut up I’m not crying you’re crying.

There’s solid art from Jiménez, and I like a lot of his design choices, though I’m not entirely sold on the Bat-suit, but I’m not sure it matters, as I likely won’t see it pop up in any of Batman’s appearances in the books I do buy regularly. I do like the little touches of little pop-up captions highlighting some of the tech Batman is using.

Like I said, I won’t be adding this to my Pull List, but I have added it to the ever-growing list of comics I plan to get around to reading on DC Universe Infinite one of these days.

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