Batman just had the most epic multiverse moment in DC history

When I came to the side of Batman #135, which features Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 film, I was like, “Ah, they’re doing one of this.” You know, one of those Multiverse Sizzle Reels.

It seems like they’re all over the place in superhero adaptations by the CWs these days Crisis on Infinite Earths to HBO Max TitansAnd Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness To Spider-Man: No Way Home. Let’s face it: Expect at least one multiverse shake this summer The Lightning. They may not literally be sizzling rolls, but they have this effect – a look at an infinite multiverse that’s really just there for the coolness factor. Reactions range from “Look at all the actors they’ve rehired!” to “These guys look like guys I remember, but different! Wow!” We won’t be giving out real ones Time

With these characters, they’re only here to tickle the nostalgia of an informed audience. The multiverse as hype.

The early Multiverse montages felt new and surprising, but like any trend, it’s kind of become a bit of a routine branding exercise. But in Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jimenez and Mikel Janín Batman #135, the earth-shattering one actually tells the story. The book’s multiverse sizzle reel will tickle your nostalgia and get your pulse racing. Then it also strengthens a battered and bent Batman at the climax of an arc, underscoring that deep down, every universe’s Batman is here to help.

And then it does something only a comic book montage of Batman movies, video games, and Elseworlds stories can do: question the reason why so many damn Batman adaptations kill the Joker.

What else is happening on the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of books our comics editor has enjoyed over the past week. It’s part society pages about the lives of superheroes, part recommended reading, and part look at this cool art. There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the last issue, read this.)

When picking up with Batman #135, Batman races through the multiverse chasing a man named Halliday who discovered that in other timelines he became a fearless, untouchable killer named the Joker. Of course, he went insane with frustrated ambition, made comic science, and now he’s crashing through world after world while his presence charges that universe’s Joker, or—if the Joker is dead there—brings him to a sinister life.

I’m not going to spoil all of the Batmans that appear in it Batman #135 but suffice it to say it really does feel like the creative team is working to leverage whatever only works in comics. In comics, you can move between the visual media of art, live action, video game renderings, and animation with a seamlessness unavailable for these other formats. And artists Hawthorne, Jimenez, and Janín do just that, with poster-worthy art that’s instantly identifiable as specific video games, television shows, films, animated works, and a plethora of the great Batman epics of comic book history.

Zdarsky is keeping it all tied with his choice of which Batmans to focus on; which Batmans do most to help our Batman and most to voice the issues of the issue. His choices seem to cater precisely to three generations of Batman readers: people of the right age to see Bruce Wayne as a father figure Batman beyondfrom The dark knight returnsand by Adam West Batman. It is these Batmans who look at Our Batman and immediately help him.

The Old Bruces advise him on how crime didn’t stop on their worlds when their Jokers died. And when Batman finally corners Halliday in a fragment of existence created by his possessed mind (a floating hunk of Gotham City slowly being devoured by skyscraper-sized redlips), it’s Adam West’s Batman’s borrowed utility belt, complete with that shabby old tin of shark repellent that saves the day.

It’s a perfect Batman comic.

The superhero identities of Freddy Freeman and Mary Bromfield float and laugh at the superhero identity of a drenched Billy Batson standing on a seashore.

Be still my beating heart. Will we finally get a real name to call Billy Batson when he’s in his superhero form?

Mother Righteous tells Legion all about how his powers will help her

X-Men books don’t waste time swinging from the book sins of evil even and in the Fall of X Case. I could maybe use a breather. But I have to say that I’m very fond of Mother Righteous, a mysterious villain who was only recently revealed to be a clone variant of Mister Sinister and who’s hellbent on beating him at his own game… but with magic instead of science.

And I’m not mad at all that it’s taken me this far to realize that her name is itself a play on his.

Peacemaker talks to his parole officer, who looks a lot like Taika Waititi. His parole officer happily hopes Peacemaker isn't lying about why it was okay for him to break his parole because

I had a very hard time picking just one joke Peacemaker Strives! #1 because this book gave me a good old belly laugh at least three times. It is very good, please read it. (Is it just me too, or is Steve Pugh drawing this parole officer to look just like Taika Waititi?)