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.)

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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).](https://game-addicted.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/future-batman-met-old-batman-and-they-did-not-get-along-7.jpg)
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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