Batman fell off the moon, landed on Superman’s house, and is mad as hell

Batman has been in hell of his own for months now, ever since writer Chip Zdarsky took the reins on the character’s flagship series. As drawn by Jorge Jimenez, the Caped Crusader has battled “Failsafe”, an unstoppable robot designed by Batman’s own emergency personality to activate and kill him should he ever break his rule against killing.

Failsafe has so far chewed through Batman (several times), Batman’s entire family, and even Justice League members like Superman himself. In the previous issue, Batman lured the machine out to the old Justice League satellite near the moon, and this month’s issue opened with Batman stranded and drifting in the space between the moon and Earth. So he did what any of us would have done in that situation.

He found a way to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and reach the ground alive.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s list of the books our comics editor enjoyed this week. There are partly community pages with superhero lives, partly reading recommendations, partly “look at this cool art”. There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But it will be great cartoons. (And if you missed the last issue, read this one.)

How did Batman get back to the Arctic? He grabbed an oxygen tank and a booster rocket from his wrecked ship to hang on to for propulsion, relied on the batsuit for insulation and shielding (slinging the case around his face when his oxygen mask melted on reentry), and I guess he did it. one a lot of orbital mechanics mathematics on the go.

He even managed to land within walking distance of the Fortress of Solitude. No one tells Tom Cruise about this.

Photo: Gerry Duggan, Rod Reis/Marvel Comics

I love a superhero story set at Christmas, and one where the mundane objects of New York City all turn into Toon Town-esque nightmares, which Dark Web, is particularly funny. The core premise of this series—Jean Gray and Peter Parker’s embittered clones teaming up to make things worse—is unclear, but the series itself feels like it knows how ridiculous it is.

The bit that will stick with me for a while is this real-life New York Problems-ass example of superhero collateral damage. Not a broken building, not a broken bridge: A major eyesore on a major landmark that takes far too long to clean up. It is perfect.

Photo: Daniel Warren Johnson/Image Comics

Do a Powerbombwhich is already one of my top comics of 2023 (because the trade doesn’t come until March), takes its sweet leave this week, with electrifying action and tear-jerking drama until the very end.

Image: Tom King, Jorge Fornés/DC Comics

From the team that brought you Rorschach is coming Danger Streetnominally an ensemble thriller miniseries just about shmoes from DC Comics’ most obscure and disjointed series – characters like Lady Cop, Atlas (not the Greek one) and Star Man (not the one you’ve heard of).

It’s a strange illusion, given that I’m very familiar with some of these characters – Metamorpho, Warlord and Doctor Fate, for example – but the overall experience reminds me most of something like Top ten or Watchmen or even an old Wildstorm book. Somehow writer Tom King and artist Jorge Fornés have made the DC Universe feel like an ad hoc original superhero setting inspired by, playing with, and celebrating the weirdness of the DC Universe.

Photo: Ryan North, Francesco Mobili/Marvel Comics

Don’t think I noticed Squirrel Girl’s no-line Avengers cameo in Ryan North and Francesco Mobilis Secret Invasion. Because I did. I see it, I’m here for it, and I love it.