Batman #93 Review

Show Me the Money!

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Guillem March, Javier Fernandez, Tomeu Morey, David Baron, and Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 24, 2020

As we get closer to the Joker War, I want to get to the Joker War!!!  It's not that the Designer story is terrible; it just seems to want to get to the Joker War as well, so what the hell, let's do it!  I guess that's not how things work, so Tynion has a few more issues to dot his Ts and Cross his Is before the big crossover arrives at Batman #95.  So, how is this latest issue?  It looks like old Jimmy boy was right on a couple of things, and that always makes me happy.  What am I talking about?  Let's find out...


We open where we left off the last issue, with Batman and the Designer face-to-face in Wayne Enterprises.  Instead of the Designer coming clean (how much do you think his cleaning bill is, by the way?), he has Batman go through what he believes was the plan back in the day.  It's an okay thing to show Batman is a smarty pants, but besides switching up some of the assassins, it's a plan we already know.  Side note, getting stuck with Mr. Teeth instead of Deathstroke or KGBeast is like getting a bag of balls for Mike Trout!

Watch our Batman #93 Video Review

Like I said, we knew or could guess the Designer's big plan all along.  Penguin controls through politics, Selina steals the money, and Riddler annoys the shit out of everyone until people lose their minds. Yea, we see that Selina was going to take Bruce Wayne's money, but we all knew that was the case. There is no real time frame called out here, but for some reason, it feels like Gordon wouldn't have been Commissioner yet, but I am going with Zero Year as a reference and maybe that's screwing me up.

I didn't expect a sword fight to break out between the Designer and Batman, and even if I did, I would have expected something sexier!  I mean, no bare chests?  Actual swords?  Bah humbug!   While this is going on, Harley Quinn is fighting Punchline, and Selina is busy stealing money with the Underbroker.  Guess what?  It's Bruce Wayne's money!  I am way more a fan of Harley than Punchline, and if you are in the same boat, our ship is sinking fast.  Just like Harley's bleeding, limp body.  Maybe we will luck out, and the shit water in the Gotham Sewer is a long lost cousin of some fancy Lazarus Pit.  However, it would probably end up being like Stavros, Uncle Jessie's woman-crazed, con-artist cousin, and we do not want that!

The hits keep coming as Selina finds out she's being played and worse, and Batman figures out the Designer isn't who he said he was this whole time.  I am not going to spoil it here, but you can check out the video below from a few weeks ago and see that it looks like I was right.

The issue ends with the good guys on the ground looking up and the Joker in the money.  He does say that this is just the beginning of what he has planned, but if I were him, I'd be on some island like a modern-day Mr. Howell, counting my money and watching the Honeybees perform 24/7!

This book is coasting a bit to get to the Joker War.  I mentioned on our podcast that everything we have been getting so far has me more and more excited for the crossover, but this issue fell a little flat.  Some big things happened, but they didn't have the impact they should have with the bigger story around the bend.  Plus, seeing the Designer's plan felt more like a recap than a huge reveal.

I love Guillem March's art and usually hate Javier Fernandez's, and that did not change here.  It's a personal taste thing, but every time Fernandez's art popped up, things took a downswing for me.  

Bits and Pieces:

This book seems like it's arrived a day early for the Joker War, and we are hanging with it until the real party starts.  Big things happen, but I still found myself looking at my watch, knowing it's all just set up for later.  The art was inconsistent (a two artist problem), and I'll file this in the okay bin.  I wasn't upset that I read it, but it's the first prelude to the Joker War that didn't have me more excited for it all by the end.

6.5/10