It’s time for Catwoman to come clean about the Designer’s plans for Gotham, hopefully not destroying her relationship with Batman. Spoilers for Batman #90 follow.
So far, James Tynion IV’s run on Batman has been really solid through his first arc. He’s nailed down the characters, as well as building a proper new status quo for Gotham. There are also some fantastic world-building elements that have been present. All that said, this issue really makes it clear what this first arc is for Tynion’s run. It’s a prelude to “Joker War.” That doesn’t mean that it’s not an enjoyable story or issue, but there’s a recontextualization for the story at large that occurs in this issue.
So that recontextualization of how this story is almost just a prelude for “Joker War?” It all stems back to Selina, Riddler, Penguin, and Joker’s first meeting with the Designer. Each come up with plans to foil Batman without him knowing. This culminates in a plan by Joker, that we don’t hear yet, so evil that the Designer wants to kill all four of them, only to be supposedly killed by the Joker. Afterwards, Selina first gets a glimpse of the evil that Joker would become, probably leading directly to “Joker War.” Hence, the recontextualization.
This was never a story about the Designer, but rather about the lead-up to whatever the plan that the Joker forged with the Designer. It simultaneously makes this arc feel more worth it and even more meandering at the same time though. We’re now five issues into the arc and it really feels like nothing as happened really. The plot isn’t that intricate, there are just secrets that keep being revealed. It feels like this story could’ve been four or five issues at this point. The length allows for some great character moments though, so it’s really the trade-off of expediency vs. character moments. Neither is a bad thing and Tynion opts for the character moments, leading to a bit of a slow-moving story.
But those character moments in this issue, they’re great. Seeing Selina and Bruce at the different points in their relationship is fun and heartbreaking at the same. This issue does a really solid job of summing up the decades of their time together in just a few pages. Plus, it’s always fun to see Selina in one of her classic costumes, this time around being her purple and black one. Even Harley has a fun scene here.
As for the Designer though, we get to learn more about him, even though he still remains very much a mystery. My money is on the idea that he’s Moriarty, the archenemy of Sherlock Holmes. I’m probably very wrong, but that’s what it seems like.
As for Jorge Jimenez’s art in this issue, man, it’s absolutely gorgeous in every way. This may be one of his best issues to date. Everything about his art is fantastic. The linework is clean and beautiful throughout the entire issue. His inks convey the tone perfectly, while never falling into a gloomy nature. His layout design tells the story incredibly well, when the script doesn’t jump around a but confusingly at times, and is easy to follow. His art doesn’t read side to side that often. Instead, it reads up to down which creates a feeling only comics can create. Plus, Tomey Morey’s colors are absolutely pitch-perfect.
When there’s a rotating group of artists on a series, it’s very important that colors stay consistent. Even if the art styles are drastically different, the colors create a cohesiveness to the series. So, by having Morey color everything, this book not only has one of the best colorists in comics, but consistency.