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Batman (2025)

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Batman (2025) (Comic Book)
Back in blue.

It doesn't rain in Gotham, anymore.

Batman is a 2025 comic book series published by DC Comics as part of the DC All In branding initiative, following Chip Zdarsky's run and the first half of Batman: Hush 2. It is the fourth series to use the Batman title.

The initial creative team for the relaunch is writer Matt Fraction and longtime illustrator Jorge Jiménez.

According to Matt Fraction, the comic aims to bring a revamped look for Batman and Gotham City, with Batman donning a new suit and Gotham City having a more "slight pop influence" harkening back to its classic depictions, while maintaining the modern dark atmosphere of the runs prior.

The first issue was released on September 3rd, 2025.

Previews: Batman #1 Teaser Trailer


Batman (2025) provides examples of:

  • Animal Motifs: Butterflies, in relation to the first issue's themes about the willingness to change.
  • Armor-Piercing Response: The mentally regressed Croc still has enough intelligence to notice that Batman also has "head bad," and asks him "who help you?" Partly to reassure him, Batman claims he doesn't need help. Croc leaves him with "if you say so," in a manner that makes it highly ambiguous if he's still in Hulk Speak or temporarily became lucid.
  • Crazy-Prepared: When Tim drives the new Batmobile, he's bewildered to find out that it has thirteen gears. Batman explains that three out of the four extra gears he installed are for use during space-time crisis events, and the thirteenth gear is... "secret." Oddly enough, Tim is more weirded out by the "secret gear" than the three created for space-time anomalies.
  • Creator Thumbprint:
    • In lieu of a "To Be Continued" caption at the end, Matt Fraction has the title character's emblem bookend an issue. This was something Fraction has used in past works like Hawkeye (2012) and Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen (2019).
    • The series shows graphics displaying descriptions for various gadgets that Batman pulls out, which was something Fraction did similarly in his Hawkeye run with the character's Trick Arrows.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Vandal Savage is still Gotham's police commissioner.
    • After the destruction of Wayne Manor by Failsafe in the Zdarsky run, Bruce is still operating out of Pennyworth Manor.
    • Tim Drake being sprayed by water in issue #2 is drawn in a similar way to how he was shot in the dream sequence in the first issue of Chip Zdarsky's run.
    • Arkham Tower is still trying to be a proper mental health facility, rather than the Bedlam House of Arkham Asylum.
  • Costume Evolution:
    • Batman gains a brand new suit that redesigns that Bat-logo and colours it blue note 
    • Tim Drake gains a brand new Robin suit that harkens back to his third Robin outfit which debuted in Robin: Wanted
  • Cryptic Background Reference: A news roundtable show has someone complain about Gotham's "ninja problem" and how it's the fault of all the "unregulated dojos" around the place.
  • Doesn't Like Guns: Subtly Played for Laughs. When Batman discourages a cop from using his gun on Croc on the basis that it'll make him mad and scare a nearby girl, Batman takes it and holds it like he's holding a disgusting dirty napkin.
  • Evolving Credits: The relaunch features a brand new logo and finally retires the one first introduced in the New 52 (the logos introduced during Tynion's run and Zdarsky's run were modernized modifications to the New 52 logo).
  • Heel–Face Turn: Killer Croc seems to be becoming a friend of Batman in the first issue, with Batman able to peacefully talk him into returning to Arkham.
  • Here We Go Again!: The nature of Status Quo Is God and the subsequent character Snap Back it often causes is discussed in Issue #1, as Killer Croc has once again escaped from Arkham custody to wreak havoc as the typical Starter Villain for Batman to stop at the beginning of a new run/relaunch. Even Batman is annoyed at the perceived Vicious Cycle of the lack of change Gotham's colorful characters are unable to break out of.
  • Hope Bringer: In Issue #1, a crying little girl stops the tears and visibly smiles when she sees that Batman has arrived.
  • Lighter and Softer: As emphasized by Batman's new brighter blue suit, this run is generally more lighthearted than the previous ones that went to dark places quickly within their first issues. Bruce is even more prone to cracking jokes whilst maintaining his stoic glower.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The giant typewriter several supervillains use as a gimmicky deathtrap appears on top of a building as a massive decoration.
    • The news reports throughout the series are formatted similarly to the reports in The Dark Knight Returns. There is also a panel where a lightning bolt streaks across the sky against Killer Croc's mid-air silhouette, harkening to that comic's iconic cover.
    • The Batmobile Damian is washing in Issue #2 is the one from the Tim Burton films.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Vargas's partner tries to turn on him and help Batman when he starts pointing his shotgun at the Dynamic Duo. This gets him killed, and Vandal Savage uses his death as an excuse to sic the Gotham Police on Batman.
  • Our Slogan Is Terrible: A sign for the city shows that its motto is apparently: "You don't have to be crazy to live here... but it helps!"
  • Police Brutality: Officer Vargas in Issue #2 is fully willing to shoot fleeing suspects in the back and Robin as he's fleeing up a building. He then tries to lock him up in the back of a truck with a bunch of criminals in the hopes that he gets killed by them. This unsurprisingly lands him on Batman's bad side.
    Batman: Police brutality and murder puts us on opposite sides. Officers.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Bruce's blue outfit compared to Tim's red outfit
  • Revisiting the Roots: Batman's suit for the run is deliberately meant to harken back to his classic blue and grey suit, with some more modern flourishes like the blue Bat symbol and utility belt.
  • Rule of Symbolism:
    • As part of Issue #1's Central Theme of how Status Quo Is God is a Vicious Cycle of stasis and Snap Backs, Killer Croc is revealed to have not just grown into a more monstrous version of himself (again), but has also mentally regressed into a Hulk Speaking frightened child. Hoping to break the cycle, Batman doesn't try to beat up Croc with raw strength, but instead takes off his mask and keeps him company to comfort him until the Arkham staff arrives to take him back.
    • In the vivarium, Croc compares himself to the giant T-rex statue that is not dissimilar to the one Batman used to have in the Batcave. At the end of Issue #1, he gifts Batman his first trophy of the run: a small T-rex toy that not only represents Croc's regression into a more harmless, child-like creature, but also Bruce's attempts to better himself by being more compassionate so he can break the cycle that led to Croc's regression to begin with.
  • Series Continuity Error: Apparently, #2 is the first time Tim has ever driven the Batmobile, and the flashback shows Bruce teaching him to drive in a pick-up while Damian hangs around being unhelpful. By the time Damian was introduced, Tim had not only driven the Batmobile several times, he'd also had his own car, the Redbird for many years, having been given a driver's permit at a young age owing to his father's injuries.
  • Terror Hero: Defied. Batman was about to, as he says, "strike a little terror" into Killer Croc's heart. However, when he sees that Croc truly regressed mentally into a frightened child, he heeds the Alfred AI's advice and instead keeps him company until the authorities come to escort him back to safety.
  • Virtual Sidekick: Since Alfred Pennyworth is still dead following the events of City Of Bane, he is shown in the teaser to be an AI assistant accompanying Batman, not unlike A.L.F.R.E.D. in The New 52: Futures End and the Alfred Protocol in Batman: The Murder Machine. That said, Matt Fraction has implied that this isn't a holographic projection of Alfred.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?: Robin stops a truck robbery by some followers of Anarky and initially assumes that the score is some stash of drugs. He finds out quickly that it's actually baby formula, and the mook he stopped is apparently a father with a very hungry baby. Said mook also ends up shot in the back by some cops while trying to flee.

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