Batman #105 Review

Writer: James Tynion IV / Artists: Carlo Pagulayan, Danny Miki, Alvaro Martinez, and Christian Duce / DC Comics Come one, come all. We’re about to witness the fight of the century! Or at least 2020. No, not Roy Jones Jr. vs. Mike Tyson. Or even Jake Paul vs. Nate Robinson. This is Batman going toe to toe against Ghost-Maker, with an undercard fight between Clownhunter and Harley Quinn. This was a pretty strong issue but not for reasons that you might think. It’s billed as a good old-fashioned fight. And to be honest, this whole arc has been building toward a showdown between Batman and Ghost-Hunter. But while fists are thrown, the fight is not even remotely what the issue is about. If you were expecting a knock-down, drag-out fight, you might be disappointed. What we got instead was a battle of emotional will.  In the undercard fight, Clownhunter had a sword to Harley’s neck, ready to cut her head off with the power of teenage angst, but Harley countered with some emotional resonance that stopped Clownhunter in his tracks. He’s wanted to kill her for her part in the death of his parents. But Harley gets real with Clownhunter. She tells him she’s sorry, and that she’s on a path to do better. She’s open and honest, and it’s not something he expected or was ready for. Harley got the TKO in two rounds.

The fight between Batman and Ghost-Maker was along the same lines. Words were thrown more than hands, and… I’m not mad at it? Yes, it was a bit anticlimactic, but the after…