Batman #138: The Oath

Kintsugi is the process in which broken pottery is restored by lining the cracks and breakpoints with rare metals like gold and silver. The concept behind the art form is emphasizing and honoring the cracks, enshrining them in a certain beauty. Much of the modern comic book landscape feels like it’s living by this artistic expression, as writers and artists are working to pick up the pieces of endless status quo shifts and deconstructions of characters. As the industry starts to move back into a storytelling pattern of reconstruction, a clear focus on how to build characters back up starts to occur. 

Batman #138 – written by Zdarsky with art by Jiménez, colors from Tomeu Morey, and letters by Clayton Cowles – reads like a moment of clarity after waking up from the thralls of a fever dream. The shift in perspective from Batman to Vandal Savage trades one form of obsession for another. By doing so, it recalibrates the view of Bruce’s actions since the start of the run, revealing how off-kilter his choices have been. After a brief set-up for Vandal’s motivation and connections to the Lazarus Pits, the book returns to the Batfamily civil war. 

Bruce has captured Red Hood and plans to install a personality much like Zur-En-Arrh into Jason that will keep the gun-toting vigilante from ever crossing a line and killing again. Meanwhile, Nightwing is on a mission to cut off Batman’s central system, which is located in the first apartment that Bruce’s parents lived in together. A flashback reveals the oath that Bruce had Dick take as a child, while Nightwing battles Damian’s Robin in the present. Another battle breaks out between the two sides, as Batman continues to struggle against the influence of Zur’s whispers in his ear. 

The issue bookends with Scandal Savage trying to recruit Jason but quickly abandoning him when she realizes Bruce has changed his mind. Scandal has continued to help play Bruce and Selina against one another and is working to help restore the Savages’ immortality and usher in a new era of humanity. The book closes with a fascinating twist to the deeper lore of the al Ghuls, the Savages, and the various Leagues of the DC Universe. 

Zdarsky’s scripting thrives in the pockets of making those subtle shifts to established continuity, smoothing the rougher edges of the recent years of Bat-lore. This works in perfect harmony with the writer’s ability to capture the voices and intrinsic characteristics to weave a complex, unexpected tale of justice vs. control. The idea of Bruce as a controlling person is nothing new for Batman comics, but the overcorrection that this run has been building to feels like fresh, fertile ground for exploration. The idea that Bruce is willing to go as far as to tweak one of his adopted son’s personality is a narratively rich premise that dramatizes the conflict of ideologies in the issue. 

The little moments in between stunning action sequences are what bump this book from good to great, and there is no better example than the oath scene. As Nightwing walks through the steps to disconnect the Bat-system, he remembers the instructions that Bruce guided him through. Part of those included an oath sworn by gothic candlelight, the words serving as a key phrase that triggers the shutdown. Zdarsky weaves these moments through dialogue and emotion, moving the vigilante from the ultimate sense of trust to the inevitable conclusion of rampant paranoia. Nightwing’s choice, to both take the oath as a child and shut down the system, establishes a path forward as Bruce reacts. 

This expertly transitions into an extended, stunning action sequence from Jiménez and Morey that pits Bruce and Damian against Dick and Tim, as brother fights brother in the streets of the city. Jiménez’s panel compositions control the kinetic flow of the fight, with the use of strategic silhouettes and centering to emphasize bodies and the real weight behind them. The outcome is an instance of a fight that reads like storyboards to a stunning action sequence (this is meant to be a very positive observation) that is easily imaginable. Every line and punch feels tangible and thrives off the emotion laid out previously. 

Jiménez is more than just an action artist, letting movements and expressions scream emotion and meaning from the page. In some places, the emotion in the linework is palpable, like Jason’s heightened fear thanks to Batman’s tampering. There’s a sense of abject horror on the vigilante’s face in the wide panels that make the normally hulking character seem small. In other places, Batman’s snarling rage only gets more twisted, and Jiménez’s pencils give his eyes and frown a monstrous quality that builds on the inhumane, urban legend aspect of the character. 

Alongside the art, Morey’s coloring gives that sense of myth in the way the palette channels the shining lights and absolute darkness of Gotham. The oath sequence is breathtakingly colored, as the light from the candle just cuts through the endless black. It’s the perfect symbol for the idea of the Batfamily, as Tim reminds Bruce over and over again. Morey plays in the obvious blues, blacks, and reds of the heroes’ costumes, but finds new ways to showcase the sickly yellows and greens of the city (and its mystical elements).