In DC Comics‘ Batman: Off-World #1, writer Jason Aaron and artist Doug Mahnke pit Batman vs aliens.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Batman: Off-World #1 Review:
Batman is fighting aliens in space towards the beginning of his career. Why? It’s pretty simple, actually: he can already take anyone on Earth. Off Earth? Not so much.
On the reveal in the issue, that Batman is headed off-planet to train against aliens, host Alex Zalben said, “there’s a surprising revelation in terms of why he is out in space in the first place that really makes [this] unlike a lot of other Batman stories I’ve read before, or what I expected from this book.”
Pete LePage added, “I’m going to go out on a limb here: this Jason Aaron guy is a good writer… This is awesome. This makes me very excited, Batman really challenging himself.” LePage also liked that Aaron took Batman “away from all the continuity” to “have this separate little pocket where Batman can be Batman.”
Zalben agreed, noting that he feels like “Batman is this weird fit in these cosmic events. Of course he’s done it a million times by this point, but having him hang out of the corner, standing on a rooftop… Is always is very strange place to be. That’s not where he lives, and that’s not where he works, and that’s not where his strength is… Jason Aaron uses that disadvantage that Batman has to his advantage as a writer.”
Instead, in this issue we get Batman doing “one giant training montage,” according to LePage. “Batman comes out of it bigger and badder than he’s ever been. Man, I’m hyped.”
Zalben also noted that Doug Mahnke is one of his favorite DC artists working, and he loved his take on alien creatures that truly look alien. Including a Tamaranean who may strike up some “romance with Batman… A little enemies to lovers thing going on here potentially.”
Summing up, Zalben said the book is “beautifully drawn, cleverly written, definitely pick it up.”
Batman: Off-World #1 Official Synopsis:
SUPERSTAR WRITER JASON AARON TEAMS UP WITH BLOCKBUSTER ARTIST DOUG MAHNKE FOR THE FIGHT OF THE DARK KNIGHT’S LIFE! A routine night in Gotham City for a young Batman proves to be anything but routine when the crime-fighter is confronted with a sort of foe he’s never faced before—one from beyond the stars! A universe of possible alien threats leads Batman to make a daring decision—to venture alone into the far reaches of the cosmos for the very first time, where the Dark Knight will face the fight of his life! Superstar writer Jason Aaron delivers his first Batman story ever, partnered with artist Doug Mahnke for a unique, brutal tale!
