Batman and the rest of his family had a big month. The start of Absolute Batman may be the most talked about, but it’s far from the only thing you need to know about. For example, in Kelly Thompson's Birds of Prey (issue No. 14), Cassandra Cain (Batgirl) went undercover to rescue Amazons being experimented on.
Coming up are the other important moments from Batman and his family during October 2024. Let's start with the best comic book of the month.
Tom Taylor’s Nightwing ends
- Comic book: Nightwing No. 118
- Writer: Tom Taylor
- Artist: Bruno Redondo
Tom Taylor’s iconic run came to an end and did more than have Dick Grayson beat the bad guy (Heartless). It tied up loose ends with his secret identity being discovered and the antagonist that plagued him since the beginning of his run (Leaping into the Light). And it had a happy ending. The latter is important since the next run will bring new problems to Nightwing, Dick Grayson, and Bludhaven's life.
When a creative team finishes a series, you hope they leave with something for the next creative team to build on. Writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo (with artists contributing) gave new goals to Dick Grayson leading to him becoming more than a hero. He became a better character too.
Dan Watters’ Nightwing begins
- Comic book: Nightwing No. 119
- Writer: Dan Watters
- Artist: Dexter Soy
Dan Watters didn’t leave Dick Grayson’s goal to make Bludhaven better with Tom Taylor. He’s making it a part of the main focus by starting the series with the CEO of Shperic Solutions, Olivia Pearce, giving weapons too advanced for Bludhaven’s police force.
Once Dick gets to the Spheric Solutions warehouse, he notices the superhero-stopping equipment. Dick rightly mentions that it’s overkill for regular criminals. This will likely lead to Bludhaven’s police killing someone with a gun too powerful for their police force.
If that isn’t enough, there’s a marionettist intent on turning Nightwing into a goofier character. He seems to have a way of manipulating our hero and they know his secret identity. To top it all off, the mysterious villain is working with Olivia Pearce. Together, they’ll make Nightwing’s life worse than when he was dealing with Heartless.
Batman’s New Story
- Comic book: Batman No. 153
- Writer: Chip Zdarsky
- Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Bruce Wayne is no longer broke, he’s working with Wayne Enterprises again and made it out of Absolute Power without too much damage. Now that things are back to normal for Bruce Wayne, it’s time for Chip Zdarsky to find a new way to break The Bat. He does so by bringing in some of his most clever villains and creating someone new.
The Court of Owls gets Riddler and one of Bruce’s higher-ups in Wayne Enterprises to bring down Bruce Wayne. They started by having the Mayor of Gotham City Christopher Nakano killed (probably so they could put one of their people in charge). Then the CEO of Wayne Enterprises Rowan Birkemoe tells Bruce that he has a long-lost brother and he’s coming for half of Bruce Wayne’s shares.
In more news, a new villain came to Gotham City named Commander Star. He’s an American Flag costumed villain who’s more violent than Batman (that says a lot) and seems willing to kill. To make things worse, he’s happy to work with supervillain and commissioner of Gotham Police, Vandal Savage.
Nightwing steps down
- Comic book: Titans
- Writer: John Layman
- Artist: Pete Woods
One of Nightwing’s greatest qualities is self-awareness. In this case, he knows his life as Dick Grayson takes away from him being a leader of the Titans. He says he could have prevented a lot of Amanda Waller’s plans (Titans: Beast World and Absolute Power) if he wasn’t distracted. Instead of being stubborn and staying in charge, Nightwing steps down and puts Donna Troy in charge. A decision that may have saved them from a powered-up Clock King.
Absolute Batman begins
- Comic book: Absolute Batman No. 1
- Writer: Scott Snyder
- Artist: Nick Dragotta
Absolute Batman No. 1 was one of the most anticipated comic books of the year and it didn’t disappoint. We learn that Alfred Pennyworth is a world-traveling killer, Black Mask is crazier than we’ve seen, and Bruce Wayne lived without his father but had his mother. The latter leads to a Batman who's more involved in the advancement of Gotham than his counterpart.
If you’re wondering about Joker, he’s a billionaire who travels the world killing the best people in the world and never laughs (the name Joker is supposed to be Ironic). Among his victims is the League of Shadows.
Issue No. 2 of Absolute Batman should get into more of what else is going on in Gotham City. Stay tuned to Caped Crusades to find out what that is.
Is there other Batman news that should be on this list? What Bat Family comic books are you reading? We want to hear from you. You can email us at entertainment@fansided.com.