Batman #9 is the big comic book that DC Comics has been promoting as the game changer for Matt Fraction run. Joining Fraction for this major chapter in his creative run will be artist Ryan Sook. It is the comic book that not only impacts this series moving forward. This comic book issue results will have ramifications that span the entire Batman Family publishing line-up. That is putting a lot for this comic book to deliver on that promise. Let’s see if Fraction and Jimenez did in fact deliver with Batman #9.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Ryan Sook
Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterers: Clayton Cowles and Ryan Sook
BATMAN #9 SOLICITATION
“THE GCPD LAUNCHES AN ALL-OUT ASSAULT ON THE BAT-FAMILY! After making a sinister deal with Mayor Isley, Commissioner Vandal Savage initiates “Operation Peregrine”, sending his brutal TUCO squads across Gotham City on a singular mission: bring in the Batman!
Batman and his team must destroy and abandon their hideouts, safeguard their data, and escape the long arm of the law… but not everyone will make it safely through the night!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Batman #9 delivers on the intended impact. Matt Fraction and Ryan Sook change the game but not in the normal way we see these types of stories go down. It’s the difference in approach that allows this story to not just feel like change for change sake. Rather, we get a meaningful development that has wide ranging impact as many stories can branch out of what happens here.
Batman Family United
Normally when we get a Batman vs the world style story creators go down a very similar route. That is leaning into Batman being the solo act that he is known for when faced with such a scenario. It is a classic Batman trope we most recently Gotham War and Hush 2.
Thankfully Fraction and Sook take a whole different approach, and they establish this fact from the moment you open Batman #9. We immediately see that Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon knew there was no “winning” against Mayor Poison Ivey and GCPD Commissioner Vandal Savage. To make things more favorable for them in the long run they had to “lose” this current battle.
Adding to what makes this strategy different is that Bruce brings in the current Gotham City Batman Family residents into his plan. It may seem like an obvious thing to include Barbara Gordon, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, and Duke Thomas on his plans, but it is not normal. It is very un-Batman-like, which is exactly why it is great long-term strategy. In the process Fraction and Sook are able to create the feeling that this story not going down the usual route a Batman vs the world story normally goes.
The Barbara Gordon Plan
The biggest gamble that the Batman Family are taking with this current plan is putting Barbara Gordon in a scapegoat situation. Based on how the plan went Bruce and Barbara knew they needed someone from the “inside” to make sure they ultimately win. Though that does not mean betraying the Batman Family. Rather in being captured Barbara is now in position to find out how Vandal Savage is approaching handling his problems.
This is most obviously done to set up Barbara Gordon’s new ongoing series. But this development does much more than just being set-up for a new comic book. It shows the complex nature of the situation where the Batman Family find themselves in Gotham City right now.
They literally have the entire city against them. Going with the same old approach of hoping that being the superhero of the story will lead to victory being relied on. Poison Ivy and Vandal Savage have changed the game. The Batman Family must evolve in order to respond. Barbara’s capture is the start of that. And most importantly, it shows that there will be a role for each Batman Family member to play in this story.
Vandal Savage Response
While the focus was on Batman Family the presence of Vandal Savage is constantly felt throughout Batman #9. That is because we see the results of the additional power Vandal Savage gained by having Mayor Poison Ivy on his side. He was able to launch a full on hunt for the Batman Family.
The hunt of the Batman Family made the plan that Bruce and Barbara put together stand out even more. They made sure that they were prepared to be flexible, knowing that their was risk in the Batman Family gathering as much of their material as possible. Savage showed he was ready for Bruce and Barbara’s planning to corner Batgirl and Signal at certain points.
This in turn created a sense of urgency because there was no time to waste. Which made the change in the plan to have Damian Wayne setting up the explosives in the Batcave and Batman playing defense a nice change. Bruce showed the trust in his son to pull off what he and Barbara thought Bruce was most fitting to do. All of that once again proved the big time threat that Savage is that there needed to be trust for the Batman Family to pull off everything they did.
Future of Tim Drake
The scene was short but there appears to be plans in place for Tim Drake in the future. With how purposeful Fraction was with the sense of urgency with the Batman Family being hunted by the GCPD this page certainly stood out. There was such a focus on the urgency of what the Batman Family was doing that there was no time to waste.
With there being no time to waste Tim’s single page showed he isn’t done with the superhero life. Though it may be that whenever he does step back into the superhero world it won’t be in a costume. Tim’s reaction to what was going on in Gotham City was one that he didn’t necessarily want to jump back into action. Instead, it was a reaction of him being able to do something.
That something could be filling a major hole that has been left in the DCU superhero world. That is the one left due to Barbara Gordon’s arrest. Even when she is released from prison Barbara will likely not be able to operate go back to operating as Oracle. Tim could be someone that could fill an Oracle-like role but with a twist of using his expertise as a detective rather than tech. It would certainly help the Batman Family a lot to have Tim working as a guy in the chair-like role for everything going on in Gotham City and Bludhaven.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Batman #9 nails exactly what it was aiming to do as the game changing comic book for the entire Batman Family. Matt Fraction and Ryan Sook instantly create a sense of urgency with the Batman Family vs the GCPD. Establishing that Batman and Oracle had a plan in place keeps us on our toes as we are left wondering if everything will go down as they planned. There are so many possibilities open by how things end that creates a lot of excitement for the future of the Batman franchise.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
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