DC just resurrected the weirdest version of Batman ever

The return of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was a final-page reveal in last month’s Batman. After reading it I was skeptical that I’d enjoy the rest of the book. Not even the powers of writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Jorge Jiménez could get me past that mountain of sheer weirdness.

Here I am, enjoying crow. Zdarsky and Jiménez made a Batman of Zur-En-Arrh-focused issue that I actually enjoyed.

The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is either the fictional version by Grant Morrison, artist Tony S. Daniel or the real one. Oh, you know, he’s the emergency backup personality Batman created within his own mind who takes over when the Caped Crusader’s main personality is sufficiently compromised and immediately puts on his own butt-ugly version of the Batsuit.

Who among us? hasn’tIn case Gotham required us to have a mental breakdown, we bifurcated the consciousness of ourselves. It’s a totally Normal Dude thing to do.

This story is about the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. Failsafe, a persistent robot that isn’t afraid to die trying to murder Batman (it was only a frame job), has succeeded in killing Batman. Frequently Asked QuestionsFailsafe was created by the Batman at Zur-En-Arrh in order to protect him, the main Batman. Now he needs the Batman at Zur-En-Arrh out to turn Failsafe off.

See? Totally Normal Dude events.

Is there anything else happening inside our favourite comics’ pages? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. It may not provide enough context. There will still be some great comics. You can also read the previous edition if you haven’t seen it yet.

The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh explains that he created Failsafe and that Batman has brought him out in order to turn Failsafe off. Tim Drake/Robin absorbs this with exhaustion. “Of course Bruce created a contingency backup who created a contingency plan...” in Batman #126 (2022).

Old Zur is a great character in this issue. It’s because almost everyone is tired with him. Even Batman, who engages in shouting matches with the man inside of his brain. It’s nice to see other characters have exactly my reaction to the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh: “Good lord, Bruce. Why do you? Similar to this?”

She-Hulk and Andy the Android talk — her with words, him with his chalkboard, while riding the subway in She-Hulk #6 (2022). She-Hulk wants to make sure he’s OK with dating Mallory Book. She asks if they’re sure they’re not mind controlled again, and if it’s OK that she’s his boss. Andy replies that he’s a partner and that she missed him, and draws a smiley face.

Shout out to writer Rainbow Rowell and artist Luca Maresca for bringing back my favorite ship from Dan Slott’s run on She-Hulk: cutthroat attorney Mallory Book and mute, reformed henchman Andy the Awesome Android.

Is this supposed to be a green-house, an old woman in a karate gi and toolbelt says to a Machine Boy. Indeed, Machine Boy’s attempt to fix Mr. Hound’s greenhouse is not good. He gazes in awe at the hammer the old woman hands him in Everyday Hero Machine Boy (2022).

There’s a lot of Astro Boy in Everyday Hero Machine Boy — but there’s so, so much more as well. Dog people! Chicken bros! Spaghetti! Drama in high school! Boy bands that are morally questionable and defend the Earth with the power music! It also addresses grief, self-discovery and how to repair the damage caused by ignorance or accident. It is a very good graphic novel and I bet there’s a kid you know who’d You will love it.

Encased in Sue Storm’s spherical force field, the Fantastic Four fall through fire and smoke in Fantastic Four: Full Circle (2022).

Alex Ross’ long-awaited Fantastic Four book is available, and the artist’s first turn at writing a comic is very much in the mold of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s early work on the FF — for better and for worse, and for scattershot plotting. But, as with all of Ross’ work, if you look at it as an exercise in draftsmanship, it’s a beautiful if sometimes overwhelming object of art.

#resurrected #weirdest #version #Batman