Batman: Fortress [DC Comics, 2023]

Batman: Fortress

by

Gary Whitta (writer), Darick Robertson (Illustrator)

A truly surprising book/mini-series that I checked out just because and continued my streak as a reader, of the non-core DC comics being better than anything in their main universe.

Now to start with, let me be clear – I was not expecting what this comic became as it went beyond issue #1. It seemed like a storyline where Earth is under attack and Batman (as you can see by the cover) is dealing with a Gotham City that, like the whole planet, is under a complete blackout due to extreme alien tech – a very worst, case scenario that reminded me of the old “No-Man’s Land” storyline which was one of the most badass ever in Batman comics, not great, but a first of its kind at the time and done pretty well. I thought this would be Batman making the Bat-cave and his city a fortress to hold back the darkness and evil.

NOPE!

It turns out that Superman is completely AWOL and no one knows where or even when he vanished off the face of the Earth. So as the story kicks off at a very brisk clip from the very first pages, we have a world on the edge with a looming alien force in space and Batman has to find a way to revive communication and bring together the Justice League or literally any forces he can marshal, to try and hold back the tide – all while looking for a way to access the titular Fortress, i.e, Supermans’ Fortress of Solitude aaaaaall the way in the frozen North. Somehow. And hope against hope that they can find some Kryptonian tech in there that might help them fight back against the aliens.

A big draw for me for an unknown random comic that seemed on the face of it mainly just another Batman book, was that lead artist is Darick Robertson. I’ve followed his art since all his early collaborations with guys like Garth Ennis (on The Boys and more) and Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan!) and he is one of my top artists – and he is in solid form here. Granted, there are moments and particularly facial close-ups that are less than stellar compared to his norm, but overall he does a good job and one that somehow worked well for me with the story. Plus I always appreciate his ability to mostly be framing a grounded, up-close imagery but when it’s needed to bounce between that and big action shots and dynamic pages, he can transition quite well. His distinctive style I think suited the story for me quite well.

I was not familiar with the work of Gary Whitta before this (that I can remember) but he has done a stellar job. The story moves at a remarkably brisk pace and that keeps the energy at a nice high – something I’ve seen not happening in many such mini’s where the company decides to expand them to the more common 12 issues whereas this being a tight-8 actually works for it very well!

The handling in the narrative of Bruce is solid and in-character to a core version rather than any specific one I can think of and his relationship with Alfred is subtle but plays a strong part here as a low-key thing that manages to really add to the feel of it all. On top of that, we get a nice take on President Luthor after a good long while and his interactions with Batman are another highlight.

Then there is the real big selling point of the story – it’s always surprising. I was just reading it for fun and I found that in a rare instance, the tale takes choices and directions I really didn’t see coming, both in terms of some characters who make appearances, choices made along the way and hidden facts about the history of the DC universe that FIRSTLY makes it clear that this is a non-canon story for sure and SECONDLY, it allows for things to go in even more unexpected directions that just make it more fun all the way to an ending I promise you, I did not see coming until I turned to a specific page and read a specific line. Very cool!

Now both in terms of the artwork and the older-style feel to it as well as the non-canon setting and very over-the-top concept of the story, this could have super easily gone down the road of “Batman: Odyssey” and “Superman: The Coming of the Supermen” in the last decade by comic icon Neal Adams – both of which were bombastic and high-concept but veered into insanity the likes of which made them books we all read like a train-wreck you can’t stop staring at.

Thankfully, Batman: Fortress manages to push in that direction while keeping its feet on the ground enough to tell a good looking, grounded story that manages to shock and surprise and keep you engaged and entertained from start to finish.



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