Batman, Vol. 5: Fear State (2024)

Sort of like how people used to feel on blind dates with me: "This looks AMAZING...but it's kind of weird. I'm not sure I like it. I guess I kind of like it. Gosh it's beautiful, though, if garishly colored. I like it. I do. Don't I? I mean, I certainly WANT to like it. It's just that sometimes, it doesn't make it easy. I need another drink."

Holy smokes, does this book look fantastic. Jorge Jimenez may be the best artist working in comics right now. If you can get past some of the nonsensical things in this (like Fauxracle announcing to citizens that cannibals are coming to eat you and the people are acting like they believe it.), it's actually pretty good. Some of the story is missing from this collection. I think it will probably read better in Batman: Fear State Saga where you get the complete story instead of just the Batman issues.

An incredibly boring and lackluster arc, somewhat made readable by fantastic art from Jorge Jiménez. I am not exaggerating when I say I have never in my life seen a book be carried so hard by its art. The idea of Scarecrow swallowing all of Gotham in fear is awesome on paper, and just doesn’t work at all in execution.

Flipping through the art, with just no context to what is actually going on, is probably the best way to enjoy this whimper of an end to Tynion’s overall pretty meh Batman run. Thank the editors he never got 3 years on this title.

A great story. Everything about this book is awesome from yhe setups, to the main story. Batman and Gotham are both pushed breaking point and possibly beyond to the point of no return.

This time Batman will definitely not not be enough on his one. He will need not only the whole Bat family but the whole of Gotham as well.

Batman is no stranger to fear but even he has not experienced anything like what the Scarecrow has done to him and Gotham. Now with Simon Saint's greatest weapon has been corrupted things are going to hold from bad to worse.

It is so great when a story belivers on it potentially on every level. Great story that strikes every emotional response. The artwork is awesome, and the action is on point. I do wish it showed what yhe rest of the Bat family were up to but I think that will be in the other books. Incredible moment in the book and especially at the end. The book finishes with a cover gallery that contains full page versions of the varient covers and a two page sketch book.

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

It is no surprise when villains put the city in which they reside through the wringer and force the hands of its heroes, sometimes to the extent of pushing their physical and psychological strengths to the extreme limits. Since writer James Tynion IV’s debut on this comic book run, starting with Batman #86, he has approached the Caped Crusader with tact and offered fans a grim, ally-surrounded, and complex characterization where both Bruce Wayne and Batman’s psyche were crucial to his survival. Concluding his time on this canonical Batman series and collecting Batman #112-117, writer James Tynion IV teams up one last time with artist Jorge Jiménez to deliver his grand finale before handing over the mantle to writer Joshua Williamson.

What is Batman: Fear State? Gotham City is now on the verge of self-destruction as Batman has to participate in a two-front battle. On one end, he must hunt down the Scarecrow before his mass-brainwash experiment sends the population into a delirious and fear-fueled mayhem, as he uses Peacekeeper-01’s (Sean Mahoney) tormented mind to his benefice to create his Fear State. On the other end, the Magistrate is ready to begin his high-tech and high-level law enforcement project with the accord of mayor Christopher Nakano. Still, before the world can embrace this new draconian anti-vigilante authoritative vision, Simon Saint must stop the now insane Peacekeeper-01 before the Magistrate’s reputation is harmed. With unusual allies waiting in the periphery, Batman must act quickly before Gotham City succumbs under the weight of this newly-established chaos.

Once more, this final story arc falls victim to a larger marketing and publisher issue as the narrative suffers from the absence of crossover issues that could potentially fill in the plot holes spread across this major crossover event. With the release of Batman: Fear State Saga, containing the additional issues, from Secret Files to the Alpha & Omega stories, fans are better off picking up the complete story than focusing solely on the Batman issues. The absence of these issues mostly emphasizes writer James Tynion IV’s weaknesses, noticeable in terms of narrative pacing and his tendency toward unstoppable torrents of words through an abundance of dialogues. Although there is some great characterization and key dilemmas discussed in-depth, it is difficult to not observe their irrelevance, which could have been spared to allow readers to indulge in the subtleties of these intimate and emotional moments through action and artwork alone.

With all the major new characters created by writer James Tynion IV making their appearance once more in this final battle, allowing him to wrap up the motley of narrative threads that he has had difficulty weaving together since his debut, the story itself is not particularly impressive, often feeling like certain central ideas didn’t get the opportunity to properly bloom. Where his comic book run did succeed however is almost entirely thanks to the phenomenal artwork by artist Jorge Jiménez. There isn’t a single moment where his artwork doesn’t command the narrative and leave the reader mesmerized by the glorious character designs, impeccable and dynamic action sequences, and phenomenal grasp over emotion and feeling. Tomeu Morey’s colouring also adds electricity and madness to the world, perfectly capturing a world on the brink of destruction. It would not be an exaggeration to vouch for this comic book run simply for its visual exploits. And, of course, Batman.

Batman: Fear State is a chaotic and frenzied finale marking writer James Tynion IV’s final moments as the lead writer as he sends Batman up against Scarecrow and the Magistrate in a nutty and twisted two-front battle.

I'll go into the actual review of this storyline more over on the Batman: Fear State Saga volume (spoilers: I liked it a lot), but it's worth mentioning here that this volume's incomplete, hence the lower rating than usual.

While the Joker War issues of Batman could be read alone without all the fluff around them, Fear State kind of needs the set-up Alpha issue and the wind-down Omega issue to really feel complete. They give the impetus for the story and the conclusion, so this is like reading the middle of the story without the beginning or the end.

It's a very strange decision by DC to collect the story like this, and definitely not one I agree with.

The end of James' Batman run is here.

Batman has suffered a semi-loss from facing against scarecrow. Not sure if he can trust his own mind. On top of that the military state leader pushing his soldiers into the frontline and the Batman crew has to stop him. Letting our new female sexy badass step up to plate.

overall, it's a fine volume. It's not great, but not bad. The art is fantastic. I just wish James got more time on this title to flush out his story. but of course he has famously said this is where he dipped to write his own creator own stuff, and that's respectable.

A 3 out of 5.

4.5🌟 I've been really into James Tynion's indie created projects over the last couple years so that's why I picked this series up in the first place. I'm not regularly a DC reader, but overall really enjoyed this arc. It has it's eye rolling moments sure but I was still invested.

This is guaranteed the best looking super hero book I've ever seen. Jorge Jiminez's art is superb. The character designs are amazing and the colour and effects just pop so well.

Арка у рані «Бетмен» #112-117 є основною у події «Стан страху». Джеймс Тайнін IV вже іде протоптаною стежкою, на початку наганяє пафосу, масштабності й інтриги, навіть видає один із кращих номерів після того, як він замінив Тома Кінґа на цій серії. А пізніше все знівельовує, спрощує і зливає.

Схожі відчуття у мене були під час події «Війна Джокера». Обидві події тісно пов’язані, адже без «ВД» не було б «СС», бо Страхопудало чекало правильного часу аби покрити страхом увесь Ґотем.

Що ж мені хотілося від події? Відчути те, що відчувають жителі Ґотему, відчути цей страх виглянути у вікно. А отримав боротьбу Бетса й Ко проти Магістрату й Страхопудала.

Розв’язка виявилася передбачуваною, бо лінія із Отруйною Євою настільки довго тягнулася, що іншого не могло бути. Очікував більшого з таким розмахом. Єдине варте уваги — малюнок Хорхе Хіменеза. А, і ще Саймона Сайнта запроторили у в’язницю. Кінець Магістрату?

The end of the series doesn't quite stick the landing. There's a little bit too much chaos, and it seems to get to the point of being convoluted. There's another Peacekeeper for 2 seconds, then Mad Hatter gets needlessly name dropped. Robot armies and multiple personality Ivy. It's all a bit much.

However, Batman still crushes dudes and Miracle Molly is awesome. The art is stellar, though I don't much care for the small portions contributed by Bengal. I don't really dig his style. I do love the look of Scarecrow in this arc.

Overall, the Tynion run is lots of fun and honestly super clever at its height. At its lowest point, it's still good but has a bit of a smack of "what could have been".

3,5*

Oddly I thought the previous prologue volume slighly better than the actual main course. More compact, more tense and somewhat less pyrotechnic.

Still I rather enjoyed this book. Tie-ins obviously expand the big picture but that’s not a true condition to follow the plot which logically follows the path developed from The cowardly lot. Overall it is well handled though sometimes chaotic. Tension mounts quickly and is coherently maintained throughout without breaks. There’s lots of action, explosions and.... a kiss.

I can’t say this arc is particularly original, breaks the rules or whatever but it is decently crafted and entertaining. Works for me.

Jimenez and Morey both do wonders on the artboard. Again.

2,5/5

Maybe my least favorite Batman arc since RoboBat.

And yet somehow there are still people living in Gotham.

Just okay--perfect example of a "meh" book. The artwork is great, but the story is pretty dull. Tynion just doesn't seem to have what it takes to write a decent solo Batman book, even with all his past experience. I can't figure it out...

2.5 stars
A mediocre mess of an ending to Tynion’s mostly underwhelming run; its very busy plot is in a hurry to tie up several loose ends but none of them are compelling or interesting. It’s the epitome of boring cape comic nonsense where complications arise but are then swept aside just as quickly, and none of it stands up to the slightest inspection or internal logic. It’s made worse by Tynion’s indulgence with bloviating social commentary dialogue that’s unclear at best and painfully obvious but grasping to be meaningful at its worst. This line from Batman is typical: “Misinformation is spreading quickly. So I need you to take what I’m about to tell you at face value and believe it.”Or this later clunker of a line: “The people need to believe in something—all together. It’s the only way to break them out of this…”

Now that it’s over, this run’s legacy will be introducing a bunch of new characters and factions that had promise but never making anything from them. Maybe another writer will do something fun with them in the next few years. Jimenez’s and Morey’s art is still very nice looking, but that’s about all this book has going for it.

I was more invested in James Tynion IV's Fear State saga than I was in his Joker War epic, though not by much. It's more of the same, as is ever the case with Batman. Criminal element has a Big Plan to instill fear in the city's population. Corrupt leaders make affairs worse. Batman and his entourage punch their way to a satisfying conclusion. Rinse, repeat.

I'll say that I appreciated the finality of the ending in Fear State and the thoughtful way it was handled. Miracle Molly plays a welcome role - I'd enjoy seeing her in the Bat-Family in the future. Scarecrow's plan was convoluted, to say the least, but more effective than whatever Joker tried to pull off. And the Magistrate and his Peacekeeper goon were worthy villains, if much more interesting in The Cowardly Lot. I missed spending time with Robin-via-Harley Quinn and what the heck was going on with Ivy and the merging of her two selves??

Jorge Jimenez rocked the art, as always. The one issue that featured Bengal on art duties (who I usually love!) looked atrocious in comparison to Jimenez's god-like abilities. Fear State was quality Batman, but if you've read enough Batman, it was just kinda...more Batman.

A decent conclusion to Tynion's run: it wraps up most things. You walk away realizing it didn't have too much to do with Batman himself. The primary goal seemed to be to rev up the fear of Gotham citizens while also: adding potentially a new member to the Bat Family, modifying Poison Ivy (again), and continue Harley's journey to being if not her own hero but a Batman sidekick.

The ending is predictable and there were some liberties taken with some of the mind control devices, but like most of Tynion's work, he actually spends the time trying to make clear the reasons and motivations for the characters' actions. Not many writers do that nowadays so I give him a little more slack.

I'm still enamored with Jimenez's art coupled with Morey's colors. The look and feel of it is slightly anime, slick and energetic. Panels have so much detail which is only enhanced by the extra attention of the coloring. Unfortunately, some of this volume is not completely Jimenez and it changes right in the middle of an issue at times.

I think doing a straight read through on this run will produce an even more satisfying experience. It's a shame Tynion wasn't allowed to stay longer on the title.

So James Tynion IV finishes his long awaited run with Fear State an event of sorts though mostly contained within the main Batman title.

The previous trade while definitely not filler, was prelude to this. I enjoyed this for what it was, but after a trade of Batman fighting against Scarecrow-toxin-induced madness, and detective-ing his way through a plot with multiple parties, it was a touch disappointing that this ended with Bats punching his way to the finish line.

The toxin problem was solved in like a page, and the supposed threat of Scarecrow manipulating Bruce's mind was really just a vehicle to exposition our way through the baddies big plan.

Looked great, and was not awful by any stretch, just a liiiiiittle bit of a let down.

Still we got a lot of Batman righteously taking down bad guys that had it coming and their come-uppances were quite satisfying.

3.5 probably!

As with "Their Dark Designs" and "Joker War", I liked much more the story that was supposed to just build up to the larger story than the actual grant event. In this case, James Tynion did an amazing work in Cowardly Lot in setting a suspenseful tone for the Fear State. Fear State on the other hand was a bit dull and didn't manage to live up to its hype.
Gotham have been attacked so many times by Batman's big bads in the last few years that Fear State seemed like just another Tuesday to Batman fans. Pretty artwork thought
Glad to hear that Jimenez will be back to Batman in the summer with Chip Zdarsky.

No me gustó nada esto. Esperaba poco pero pensé que quizá nos daría una historia más original pero es lo que hemos visto siempre. Un villano se apodera de la ciudad y primero no pueden detenerlo pero luego si. Sentí que no tenía mucho chiste y los personajes nuevos tampoco me encantaron.
Solo el arte salva esta historia mediocre del personaje.

Collects Batman issues #112-117

This collection continues the story that was started in "Batman: The Cowardly Lot." Scarecrow has put Gotham City into a state of fear and chaos, while at the same time, shades of "Future State" are happening in the present day.

I'm torn between a 3.5-star rating and a 4-star rating, so I'll round up for this one.

It continues to boggle my mind that such a talented writer--WHO HAS AN ALL-TIME BANGER DETECTIVE COMICS RUN UNDER HIS BELT--turned in such an absolute sh*tshow of a Batman run.

i loved miracle molly !!! and her teaming up with batman :] the hug at the end was so sweet

ALSO CASS RANDOMLY KNOCKING DOWN BRUCE ON THE ROOF LOL

ALSO ALSO THAT ONE PANEL WITH THE HAPPY SMILING MAD HATTER IN HIS LAB OMFG😭 THAT WAS UNREASONABLY CUTE

I liked it more than the Joker War!!!

Miracle Molly one of my favorite new characters.
Scarecrow was developed as the villian that I always wanted to see.
The pacing was right but the endinf felt a little bit rushed.
Good last arc in the Tynion IV run.
Still loving the art.
I want to see more from the Bat Family in the future in the Batman comic.

3.75 Solid Stars!!!!!

I've enjoyed Tynion's run on Batman way more than King's, and this is a lovely way to wrap everything up. I do need to check out the full Batman: Fear State Saga, since this is only Batman's part, but Scarecrow is such a fascinating character and I love seeing how the different figures in Gotham respond to him.

I loved Tynion's first 3 Batman collections, but this and the last one were just kind of bad.

It's disappointing how little I cared about anything happening in this. Tynion's a good writer, and his run on Detective Comics is great, but his time on Batman started messy and ended similarly. I believe I remember him talking in his newsletter about how he felt restrained on the title (I don't know if he used those words, but that was the sentiment), and it shows in Fear State. The plot is paper-thin, and the writing feels like Tynion was on autopilot as he attempts to find an ending for his time with these characters while also forcing it to align with the Future State material. Nothing in here is bad, though—just unremarkable and at least a little hollow.

The interesting thematic work I enjoyed in the last volume is mainly gone here, too. Considering those themes actually had something to say, this isn't surprising, but it's still a bummer to see the otherwise compelling foundation for Fear State fail to amount to anything. It feels like they were trying to do a sequel to the Joker War event from a few volumes back, but unlike that story, this one has zero stakes or tension whatsoever.

As has always been the case with this run, the saving grace is Jorge Jimenez's art, which remains almost exclusively excellent. His lines, paired with all that sharp coloring from FCO Plascencia, make the comic feel far more lively than it is. I am glad that Jimenez is returning to Batman when Chip Zdarsky takes over the book later this year because he's a terrific artist who effortlessly delivers a jaw-dropping moment (or several) in every book he puts out. I hope he and Zdarsky (or even Williamson, whose ongoing run I've yet to dive into) can do something genuinely memorable with Batman—the title needs it.

The comic gets a 2.5 from me, but I will round up because Jimenez really is that good.

Another lackluster installment with incredible artwork by Jorge Jimenez.

Eh. Feels like I read this one before. Maybe it reminded me of The Joker War? Or City of Bane?
Either one.
Fear State reads like one of many (one after the other after the other) big baddie events that try to destroy Gotham. (+ the introduction of Peacekeeper-01; the "enlightened" Batman-hating anti-hero.)

Even Ghost-Maker says it in #113!
Ghost-Maker to Batman: "You know, it's remarkable! From the outside looking in, it seemed like every other month in Gotham there was some outrageous thing happening. But I just assumed it felt different on the ground. That it'd become ordinary after a time. But it really does just keep going and going."

I'm not sure what I didn't love. Maybe it was that Simon Saint, the architect of this whole fiasco, was barely present in his own story (and the way he got panicked and sick was so dumb -because he was so dumb). Or maybe it was Peacekeeper-01, himself. This story had Scarecrow in it, I don't think this book needed to introduce another Batman villain into the lineup. This story could have been a lot stronger (and a lot scarier for Gotham) had Scarecrow poisoned all the peacekeepers, not just Sean Mahoney.
I wrote in my review for Batman, Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot that to me, the weakest Batman volumes are the ones where he plays second fiddle to the story, and that was Fear State. Batman is in it, but he's only character #3 in a book with 35 other characters... And that makes for boring reading.

Anyway, I read Batman: Fear State Saga, and I think this volume lacked a bit from not having Batman: Fear State: Alpha #1 and Batman: Fear State: Omega #1 included in it. The Secret Files were extra (though I did like Batman Secret Files: Peacekeeper-01 #1), but Alpha & Omega did add to the story, including showing how Oracle's system was corrupted.

All-in-all, this story felt like just another big bad event after the last 10 big bad events. Chaotic and busy, with too many characters and introductions, and no real focus on Batman. :(
I didn't love the Unsanity collective, or the Eden storyline with Ivy. And Scarcrow's sole focus on Peace-Keeper 01 (as opposed to all the Peacekeepers) underwhelmed me.

3 stars.

P.s. 5 stars for Cass getting the drop on Batman in #112, though! ;)