I Am Batman #18 Preview

[Hypo]

I Am Batman #18 Preview (Unlettered)
Writer: John Ridley
Artist: Christian Dulce

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm skeptical of the birth mother drama but I'm hoping Ridley pulls it off.

[Frontier]

Looks like a tense issue for Jace and fam.

[Hypo]

I Am Batman #18 Preview (Lettered)
Writer: John Ridley
Artist: Christian Dulce

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I Am Batman #18 Preview (Lettered)
Writer: John Ridley
Artist: Christian Dulce

Nobody to the rescue.

[Frontier]

I'm hoping Jace gets to actually do something meaningful in the final issue of his comic.

[Hypo]

Somehow missed that this was the final issue - I assume he won't be benched for long.

[sifighter]

Somehow missed that this was the final issue - I assume he won't be benched for long.

Yeah I have a feeling we might get a tease at the end tomorrow or later considering Jace is on the Dawn of DC art.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Issue 18 was a low key end. There are threads that could be picked up in a followup mini but nothing like a cliffhanger was dropped.

[Morgoth]

To be honest, it doesn't seem like there's going to be another series or mini, or at least there's no sign of it. No cliffhangers, no big twists, no set ups. It's pretty much might be the end for Jace, unless Ridley has more plans or someone will be interested to use him.

[sifighter]

To be honest, it doesn't seem like there's going to be another series or mini, or at least there's no sign of it. No cliffhangers, no big twists, no set ups. It's pretty much might be the end for Jace, unless Ridley has more plans or someone will be interested to use him.

I believe Ridley said there is more Jace plans at DC in an earlier interview, so at this point it’s just a wait and see what happens/what they announce.

[Mantis-Ray]

I believe Ridley said there is more Jace plans at DC in an earlier interview, so at this point it’s just a wait and see what happens/what they announce.

Yeah I recall Ridley has another ongoing in the pipleline

Read the issue, eh. Really my main issue with the book overall, Jace has potential but Ridley never really realized it beyond okay at best. Maybe under another writer Jace can shine but if Ridley's still writing him he might not have that chance.

[Emperorjones]

Beware spoilers in my post. Don't see where I can put things in spoilers.



I don't see Jace getting much attention elsewhere unless Ridley is writing the story. Where else does he fit? Where is he needed? I guess they could keep him in New York and whenever a hero visits, they could do a team up, but unless Jace gets a new code name and costume I think he's going to be limited (I think it was a missed opportunity for DC not to bring back the Orpheus codename and legacy; this was an original Black character in the Batman world created by a Black creator, if they wanted to tout diversity, Orpheus was more the way to go than a hand-me-down Batman). Perhaps they'll treat him like Luke and slot him into another Bat book, like Batman Inc. (where he will become the umpteenth Batman kind of character), a supporting character in Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Batgirl, Robin, or the million other Batman books out there, but I don't see him leading a solo again. If it's hard for Black Lightning to get and keep a solo, or Batwing, then I don't see Jace getting that shot again. To me, when it comes to Black characters deserving solos, I see Black Lightning, Mr. Terrific, Vixen, Nubia, Kid Flash, Duke Thomas, Luke Fox, and Ben Turner deserving it more. I'm glad that Cyborg and John Stewart will be getting more swings at the bat.

I think this was DC's attempt to create a Miles Morales and it didn't work. Miles had the benefit of the Ultimate line, and of being the sole Spider-Man in that reality for a minute before jumping over to the 616. (Personally, I still think Miles needs a separate codename) Jace isn't a bad character, and overall the I Am Batman series read better than Ridley's Black Panther run to me, but it also suffered from some of the same problems. Pacing and some of Ridley's race fixations, particularly his need to lambaste Black men. While he went full on at T'Challa in Black Panther, he spit more venom at Lucius in I Am Batman, and I was disappointed that Ridley didn't heal the rift between father and son by the end of the last issue. I did like though that his birth mother somewhat defended Lucius (the defense could've been stronger), and I also liked that his adopted mother checked Jace.

As for the rest of the issue, it was rushed, which is understandable, with it being the last issue. I imagine that Ridley had planned out a much longer and even slower paced arc for many of these storylines (heck, I don't think we even learned why Tim went by the nickname "Jace"). Ezekiel King wasn't fleshed out much, and while Jace made a crack about his race, I felt it needed more explanation for why King was leading this group. It made no sense that the NYPD sort of knew where King was but hadn't moved on him but agreed to a teenager's plan to go in first. I also thought it was ridiculous that Tam was taking out big dudes with weapons like that, and so easy. The new Question (or Nobody, wish they had picked a name) was okay, though her fighting in high-heels (not even high-heeled boots) was also strange. I didn't care for her having to save Jace's bacon, like he had given up at that moment, but it worked for dramatic effect, and it was in keeping with Jace's character, who had inconsistent courage and fight.

Throughout the I Am Batman run I've enjoyed the artwork. It generally was pretty clean.