Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Jorge Jimenez
Colors by: Tomeu Morey
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Jorge Jimenez (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: November 5, 2025
First Impressions
Batman #3 opens with an old Gothamite wisdom bomb that lands somewhere between poetic and played out. The art? As punchy and kinetic as ever, though panel-to-panel transitions can get muddier than Gotham’s alleys. That initial vibe is moody nostalgia seasoned with a dash of confused cops and unhinged genius, pulling you in and keeping you guessing.
Recap
Previously, Gotham’s knight and his Robins juggled gritty family moments and a disastrous Slabs heist involving baby formula. Tim Drake’s gravity-flouting stunts and Robin’s nearly unbelievable escapes led to a police shootout, culminating with Batman rescuing Robin only to have Commissioner Savage blacklist them both. As law and order crumble, newfound enemies lurk everywhere, leaving the Bat-family battered on every front.
Batman #3 starts with a school project: Huston Gray interviews Miss Marjorie about Gotham’s ever-shifting landscape, a clever lens for exploring the city’s soul. The peaceful opening cracks when Huston stumbles upon a chaotic crime scene, with Vandal Savage's planted evidence awkwardly pointing to Batman. Detective Gordon and his old colleagues struggle amidst Gotham’s political and criminal upheaval, their investigation stampeded by higher powers with murky motives.
At Mercy Hospital, the fallout from prior events leaves officers bruised in ways that policing and Bat-vigilantism rarely address. One officer is even bullied into pinning the scene on Batman by Savage. Meanwhile, family tension brews: Bruce Wayne visits Tim Drake in the hospital, where Bernard Dowd isn’t sure if Bruce brings more healing or more bruises, nudging Tim's guardian out of the way with a subtle suggestion that their relationship is abusive.
Parallel to the human grit, Gotham’s talk shows descend into heated debates over Dr. Zeller’s experimental brain device, funded by the Wayne Foundation. Hugo Strange, pitching reality checks like curveballs, calls out the questionable ethics of these clinical experiments. As accusations fly about profiteering and mind-control, the issue juggles classic Batman themes: where do power and responsibility really end?
Finally, the Riddler steps up his mind games. At Arkham Towers, Batman cracks the clue that Dr. Zeller’s device has been used on patients, tipping the scales for a final encounter. The last act sets up Gotham’s continued slide toward anarchy, painting the Dark Knight less as a savior than a target, with old foes inventing new torments.
Plot Analysis
Batman #3 starts with a school project: Huston Gray interviews Miss Marjorie about Gotham’s ever-shifting landscape, a clever lens for exploring the city’s soul. The peaceful opening cracks when Huston stumbles upon a chaotic crime scene, with Vandal Savage's planted evidence awkwardly pointing to Batman. Detective Gordon and his old colleagues struggle amidst Gotham’s political and criminal upheaval, their investigation stampeded by higher powers with murky motives.
At Mercy Hospital, the fallout from prior events leaves officers bruised in ways that policing and Bat-vigilantism rarely address. One officer is even bullied into pinning the scene on Batman by Savage. Meanwhile, family tension brews: Bruce Wayne visits Tim Drake in the hospital, where Bernard Dowd isn’t sure if Bruce brings more healing or more bruises, nudging Tim's guardian out of the way with a subtle suggestion that their relationship is abusive.
Parallel to the human grit, Gotham’s talk shows descend into heated debates over Dr. Zeller’s experimental brain device, funded by the Wayne Foundation. Hugo Strange, pitching reality checks like curveballs, calls out the questionable ethics of these clinical experiments. As accusations fly about profiteering and mind-control, the issue juggles classic Batman themes: where do power and responsibility really end?
Finally, the Riddler steps up his mind games. At Arkham Towers, Batman cracks the clue that Dr. Zeller’s device has been used on patients, tipping the scales for a final encounter. The last act sets up Gotham’s continued slide toward anarchy, painting the Dark Knight less as a savior than a target, with old foes inventing new torments.
Writing
Fraction’s pacing oscillates between tight and tedious. His opening and closing scenes snap with electric dialogue, but mid-book banter sometimes tangles in its own loops. Dialogue is generally sharp, with the elderly narrator and Bernard Dowd’s lines adding poignancy, but occasional stretches devolve into jargon or forced Bat-philosophy that would puzzle a riddle-obsessed AI. Structurally, the issue jumps cleanly among perspectives, but overreliance on self-referential nods can cloud the core mystery.
Jorge Jiménez delivers dynamic compositions and charged, action-packed panels. The color palette swings expertly between Gotham’s dim alleys and the neon fluorescence of its tech-obsessed corners, keeping the mood alternately gloomy and electric. However, some character moments get visually lost in dense panel arrangements, and a few action sequences blur into abstraction rather than clarity.
Art
Jorge Jiménez delivers dynamic compositions and charged, action-packed panels. The color palette swings expertly between Gotham’s dim alleys and the neon fluorescence of its tech-obsessed corners, keeping the mood alternately gloomy and electric. However, some character moments get visually lost in dense panel arrangements, and a few action sequences blur into abstraction rather than clarity.
Character Development
Batman’s “mentor as emotional battering ram” arc deepens, with Bruce and Damian’s uneasy family ties on display and Bernard’s worried outsider angle lending everyday weight. The Riddler is all chaos logic and tics - never boring, sometimes teetering into caricature. Lesser characters like Huston and the hospital staff supply snippets of empathy, grounding the plot. But no one quite escapes the gravitational pull of Bat-dysfunction. It's relatable, yet at a cost to narrative tightness.
Fraction’s take is ambitious, threading classic Batman themes with a fresh lens on Gotham’s psychological stakes. Juxtaposing street-level perspectives with billionaire morality and pulpy villainy is gutsy, even if some threads strain credibility or fizzle out rather than pop. The “city as character” trope is solid, though not groundbreaking, and the ethically murky tech subplot feels timely, if slightly overstuffed.
Originality & Concept Execution
Fraction’s take is ambitious, threading classic Batman themes with a fresh lens on Gotham’s psychological stakes. Juxtaposing street-level perspectives with billionaire morality and pulpy villainy is gutsy, even if some threads strain credibility or fizzle out rather than pop. The “city as character” trope is solid, though not groundbreaking, and the ethically murky tech subplot feels timely, if slightly overstuffed.
Jiménez’s art is the star player. Every page drips with visual energy, driving home Gotham’s moody chaos in ways even seasoned Bat-fans will admire. Fraction’s willingness to let supporting characters speak truth to power (and to Batman) injects real friction and bite, giving even small moments a sense of weight and consequence.
Positives
Jiménez’s art is the star player. Every page drips with visual energy, driving home Gotham’s moody chaos in ways even seasoned Bat-fans will admire. Fraction’s willingness to let supporting characters speak truth to power (and to Batman) injects real friction and bite, giving even small moments a sense of weight and consequence.
Pacing stumbles and muddled dialogue can confuse more than they intrigue, especially during pivotal narrative shifts. The central mystery sometimes loses tension under a pile of Bat-nods, psychological debates, and Gotham’s endless parade of crises. And when spectacle trumps logic, even the sharpest lines and prettiest panels can’t stop that Batmobile from fishtailing off course.
Negatives
Pacing stumbles and muddled dialogue can confuse more than they intrigue, especially during pivotal narrative shifts. The central mystery sometimes loses tension under a pile of Bat-nods, psychological debates, and Gotham’s endless parade of crises. And when spectacle trumps logic, even the sharpest lines and prettiest panels can’t stop that Batmobile from fishtailing off course.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
The Scorecard
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): 3/4
Value (Originality & Entertainment): 1/2
Final Verdict
Batman #3 gives you bang for your buck if kinetic art and meaty Bat-family drama are draws, but its Bat-braininess sometimes leaves the plot gasping for focus. This comic justifies a slot on your pull list - barely - but Bat-fans hoping for fuss-free thrills or tight logic might need to park the Batmobile elsewhere next month.
6.5/10
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