Batman #93: Good Design

Wow. This issue was great. After James Tynion IV took over for Tom King, who I loved, I was obviously skeptical. All of Tynion’s Batman comics until now were just okay. The art was fantastic but everything else was underwhelming. But let me tell you, this issue was shocking. We start off with Batman and the Designer having a stare down. Ready for combat. Batman explains that he knew how the plan was supposed to go but he foiled it…so he thought (more on that later.) Then Batman and the Designer have a sword fight, which is really cool but it raises a problem for later on. We then transition to Catwoman trying to steal all of Bruce’s money which I’m highly critical of. Catwoman and Batman loved each other at the end of Tom King’s run. So why is she sabotaging him now? But I guess this issue takes care of it for me because after this happens Punchline shoots Catwoman in the head. I was shocked. Then we cut to Harley Quinn and Punchline fighting. Everything seems normal until Punchline SLITS HER THROAT. WHAT!?! There’s no way she’s dead because she’s Harley Quinn and she makes money, but still. We cut back to Batman and the Designer fighting and Batman gets the upper hand and reveals the Designer’s face… A dead corpse with a walkie talkie in it. He has been a LITERAL puppet for Joker this whole time… At this point my hearts beating a mile a minute but I realized something… How could a dead body sword fight? I still don’t get it but it’s a cool reveal. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse… Deathstroke stabs Batman and leaves him in the yard to bleed. Joker doesn’t want Batman dead. He wants Batman to watch as the world collapses around him. The issue ends on a panel of Joker laughing. This issue was one of the best current, in print comics I’ve read in 2020. I loved the art and this time the writing was fantastic. I’m counting the days until #94!