I Am Batman #7 (2022) by John Ridley & Christian Duce

This is the series which has Lucius Fox’s son Tim “Jace” Fox as a black Batman who took the mantle during the Future State story-event in 2021. Batman was missing presumed dead when Jace decided to become “The Next Batman.” The character made his debut last year in a four issue mini-series also written by John Ridley. I read the first issue but it didn’t draw me in. I guess it must have sold well enough to merit this new series. (You might have heard of Luke Fox, Jace’s older brother. He became the character Batwing back in 2013.)

I reviewed issue #1 of I Am Batman on my YouTube channel back in September last year. While the art by Olivier Coipel was very good, the story didn’t really interest me and I didn’t continue with the series. I found main character Jace Fox unlikeable and wondered whether writer John Ridley was purposely trying to court controversy with his character’s attitude towards original Batman Bruce Wayne. Yet here I am six months later writing a review of issue #7. What happened? I think it was watching the new Batman (2022) movie that got me all excited and tempted me to give this series another try. It was also the cover art, to be honest. It really stood out among the new releases. What do you think of it?

Art by Ken Lashley

Issue #7 was a much better read than the opening issue last September. It’s part two of a new story arc titled “Empire State of Mind” in which Jace Fox has moved from Gotham City to New York. He is targetting street-level criminals and believes he can make a difference in this city. He’s also not hiding in the shadows and seems fine with being seen by the public.

“This isn’t Gotham craziness. It’s just straight-up New York City.”

After the gruesome murder of a high profile victim, the New York Mayor has set up an “experimental special crimes unit” that the media is nicknaming “Strike Force Bat.” Mayor Villanueva wants the police to work with this Batman, a controversial decision that is ruffling a lot of feathers, especially NYPD Commisioner Beckett. He doesn’t trust the vigilante and is expecting the plan to backfire.

The series artist has changed again, with interior art by Christian Duce. I don’t know the name but I enjoyed his work in here. I also got pulled into the story by Ridley’s writing, especially his character work. Jace Fox is much more likeable here and I enjoyed his interactions with the different characters. I found I Am Batman #7 to be much improved compared with issue #1. I enjoyed it enought to want to pick up the next issue.

My Video Review of the comic, (8 mins).

Thanks for reading!

-Wakizashi, *Planning to go see The Batman again on Friday.*