Future Batman met Old Batman and they did not get along

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Future Batman met Old Batman and they did not get along

Future Batman met Old Batman and they did not get along

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In case you hadn’t heard, there are two Batmans in the DC Universe right now. One is new, and from the near-future, and the other is … let’s say classic. The younger one is the estranged son of Lucius Fox, and the other is Bruce Wayne, who everybody thinks is dead. Everybody also thinks that the original Batman is dead, hence Tim Fox stepping up as the mysterious new Batman.

So, to recap, there’s a Batman who can’t tell anyone he’s the original Batman, and there’s a new Batman who’s stepped up to fill the void left by the original Batman. And this week, they came face to face in a dingy Gotham City alleyway.

It just goes to show that even in the potential future of DC Universe’s Future State that may or may not be canonical, Gotham City still has dingy alleyways. A comforting thought.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? 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. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the last edition, read this.)

“You keep this up, you’re going to get killed,” Tim Fox/Batman tells Bruce Wayne/Batman, not knowing he’s the original Batman in Future State: Dark Detective #3, DC Comics (2021). Image: Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora/DC Comics

I was already hype for Mariko Tamaki to take over Detective Comics, but I keep forgetting that Dan Mora is also going to be drawing it until I see Dan Mora’s art again. Then I get excited anew.

A robot holds Wolverine down and blasts his face with its eye lasers with a resounding SZPOKKK in Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #3, Marvel Comics (2021). Image: Jed MacKay, Jesús Saiz/Marvel Comics

The award for best sound effect of the week goes to Wolverine: Black, White & Blood #3 and SZPOKKK, the most visceral communication of lasers gouging out Wolverine’s eyes I think I’ll ever encounter.

“I kill him for you,” protests one lead, an older man, in I Walk With Monsters. “You shouldn’t follow me,” the younger lead, a teenage girl, says, “You should be who you want to be.” In I Walk With Monsters #3, Vault Comics (2021). Image: Paul Cornell, Sally Cantrino/Vault Comics

I Walk With Monsters is telling a fun (read: creepy, tense, and mysterious) story about a teenage girl who can sense the presence of abused children and their abusers, and an adult man who can transform into a horrible monster and wants to atone for being an abuser himself by eating the right people. These panels are followed by a full page spread of what he “wants to be” but knows he can’t: A school bus-sized monster eating an entire political rally of people.

Superman and Wonder Woman share breakfast on an glacier in Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #2, DC Comics (2021). Image: Dan Watters, Leila del Duca/DC Comics

Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman was very cute. A bit of Silver Age whimsy with a grounding in modern character depth. It’s just good comics.

Ami approaches a ghost whose eyes are the wheels of a VHS cassette, and its feminine body formed from unspooled VHS tape, in Home Sick Pilots #3, Image Comics (2021). Image: Dan Watters, Caspar Wijngaard/Image Comics

Home Sick Pilots, a spooky ’90s punk rock story, has some great monster design, is all I’m saying.

“Ah, you know, where I always go,” says the mutant Manifold as he steps from space, through six different alien environments over six rainbow-colored panels, and then to the Australian outback, “Everywhere.” in SWORD #3, Marvel Comics (2021). Image: Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Ray-Anthony Height, Bernard Chang, Nico Leon/Marvel Comics

SWORD #3 is a meditation on Manifold, the native Australian mutant “teleporter” — not to be confused with native Australian mutant teleporter Gateway. It’s a great one-issue character exploration and it contains this stunning double page spread.

“If no one feeds you, I want you to swipe something for yourselves,” an orc warrior mom tells her son and his dog. “You’re such a hen!” her friend reassures her, “He’ll be okay. He’s got wolfie and that little crew of his,” in Orcs! #1, Boom Studios (2021). Image: Christine Larsen/Boom Studios

I quite liked Orcs! #1! It’s got that Adventure Time humor with Bone-style world building. Also: Lady orcs. Mom orcs! I had no idea what I was in for when I cracked it open but now I’m excited for more.

A young black girl explains to her parents that she wants to be a chef when she grows up. Her father shares his disappointment with her mother, “Your mom was a house-keeper, my folks were sharecroppers [...] I just want more for her than being somebody’s cook.” In Represent! #3, DC Comics (2021). Image: Regine Sawyer, Eric Battle/DC Comics

DC announced its Represent! series as a way to “showcase and introduce creators traditionally underrepresented in the mainstream comic book medium.” Most of what it’s put out so far isn’t even superhero stories, like this week’s which was just a nice story about a father and daughter growing together.

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