Batman #50 Recap/Review

Batman #50 Recap/Review – The Return…

Batman #50 Recap

It is time. He’s had a good rest, but the city is calling him. They need their Batman back. But he needs to give them everything he has. He needs to give people the Batman they deserve. One they’ve never seen before…

Jim Gordon is alive thanks to Julia Pennyworth, but he can barely stand. The city is in chaos, and the Powers’ mechs have been taken control of by Mr. Bloom. Some of Bloom’s lackeys find Julia and Gordon, and they attack. The two are unable to fight off the goons, but tonight… <CRASH> they aren’t alone.

“Hello, Jim. Who died and made you Batman? <SMOKE> <CLANG, ELECTRICITY, BOOM, CAREEN, SMASH> Welcome home, Batman.

The fight is won but a new threat emerges. The collider is being fed energy from every single one of Bloom’s seeds, and the resulting energy is building into a massive surge. It will wipe out the entire city if it is not stopped. Jim wants to help but Batman knows his friend is too injured, and heads out alone. Jim is frustrated, but wishes his old friend luck.

High above the city, Duke meets up with Darryl. Robin has finally learned what happened to his parents – they were infected by the Joker. It was too late to save them. But something is still bothering Duke, and the young man refuses to let things go. Suddenly, Darryl transforms, and smashes Duke into a window.

“Grow new sun… Grow! Feed until nothing can… what the… <SMASH> YOU?! …wow. I’m honored. The first unkillable weed. I like the new suit, by the way.”

“I’m partial to the new boots.” <SMASH>

“Ugh, sorry to leave so soon, but you’re waaaay out of your league…”

Meanwhile, Darryl explains everything. Long, long ago, the Riddler attacked Gotham. The city was ravaged, only saved by Batman. But the fear lingered in the hearts of the people. So Darryl had a vision – of saving Gotham by empowering its citizens. Darryl adopted the moniker Mr. Bloom in honor of Blossom Row. He developed the seeds and had his cousin Peter be his first test subject. It did not work out. So he abandoned the project, destroying everything.

But then it all happened again. Joker wrecked the city. Batman saved it, but was gone. Darryl new he had to try once more. He gathered a group of unidentified victims – the dying and the forgotten, all of whom were headed to the Potter’s field. He gave them seeds, but was careful. These seeds were improved, designed to only work on hosts that weren’t acting out of age or anger when they were hurt. These experiments weren’t going anywhere until suddenly <CRASH>

<REGULAR BLOOM> “Hello, doctor. I guess I’m your monster.”

Darryl doesn’t know who this new Bloom was. He doesn’t even know if they were a man or a woman. But it doesn’t matter. This new Bloom took everything. His mask, his work, all of it. But Darryl plans to take it all back. However, Duke disagrees with this sentiment, and knocks his attacker down.

As the city falls, Powers wants to do something, anything, to try and save it, when she is contacted by Jim Gordon. He has an idea to amplify the signal they used to destroy a batch of Bloom’s seeds earlier using a back up version of Rookie. But Bloom is onto Jim, and attacks the man before he can follow through with this. Before he can kill the Gordon, <BOOM; MUSIC>

The people in the city look on in shock. In their hearts, they know who their savior is. Batman orders Jim to find a way to stop Bloom’s star, while he handles the villain. And Gordon knows just what to do. Bloom begs Batman to understand, but Bruce won’t hear of it, and collapses a building on top of the villain. Angered, Bloom emerges, and attacks, dissolving half of Bruce’s mech with a deadly blast of acid. <GIANT BLOOM> “You know Batman, you should have crawled back up from the dirt. But don’t worry, I’m going to put you back there right now, so something new, something true, can rotting corps- <BOOM>

Duke arrives on the scene, eager to help out. The two struggle to keep Bloom in check as he overpowers the two heroes. Meanwhile, Gordon suits up in the new Rookie outfit for one final outing. He goes to get the Batmanium, remembering it is a super-conducter that would be able to amplify the seed-destroying signal across the city.

Batman and Robin continue their struggle against Bloom, but Duke is able to capture the villain through the blimp’s magnetic locks. Dragging Bloom up into the sky, Duke escapes from the blimp, only to nearly fall to his death. Luckily, Batman emerges from the mech and saves his ally. The sight of Batman and the ever growing Bloom star is enough to shake the citizens of Gotham. Across the city, they rip their seeds out, including Darryl. Bloom himself is pulled into the star, and becomes enveloped in the surge of energy, transforming into a monstrous state. Now it’s Gordon’s turn to act.

Jim Gordon being Batman was a mistake. It may have been the dumbest idea in the history of Gotham. But Jim was scared on being in a world without… him. So he tried to be a superhero. And that’s why he is here. Because this is Gotham, a city where brave new things are always being made. And now, like everyone else in the city, he remembers this. He activates the blocker, and Bloom screams in pain. And then… there is darkness.

In the aftermath of all of this, Gordon survives and is offered his old job as police commissioner, while Geri shuts down her Batman program. She has learned that the city needs heroes more than superheroes, and has begun investing in the police instead. As Gordon looks over his old badge, he asks for some time alone, and goes out to the fire escape. Batman appears and thanks Jim for keeping the city safe while he is gone. But Batman is back… and they have work to do.

Duke sits alone, crying over he parents who have no chance for recovery. But he is comforted by Bruce Wayne, who has an offer for the young man. Over in the rec center, Julie oversees repairs. She sees something outside, and goes to take a look. Bruce Wayne was here.

Batman #50 Recap

Hello and welcome to Comic Island! My name is Mr. Bloom, and this is a recap, and review, of Batman #50!

Well, boys and girls, I hope you enjoyed yourself today. This was truly an epic ending to my tale. Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs, and a lot of mechs seemed to show up out of nowhere in this comic, but on the whole, I had a great time, and I hope you did too.

With epic art and story telling, this was a real masterpiece. As every thread of this story converged into this one, massive final issue, I feel we got an ending truly worthy of our little garden. I like the new Batman suit, too, and the implication that little Duke Thomas is going to be the new Robin, the real Robin, and not some miscreant pretender, should be quite interesting indeed.

This marks the end of of the last major run of Snyder and Cappulo’s work on the core Batman series, too. What a way to go out! Yes, I’ve had my differences with this Jim Gordon Batman, but issue #50 was nothing but fun. And if you can’t see that, if you can’t enjoy this for what it is, well, maybe it’s you that belongs in the ground.

And as for poor, little, old me, don’t despair, dear viewers. Yes, I am gone, possibly for good. But remember, I planted my little seeds all over Gotham. This city is a garden, and I am it’s weed. And weeds always grow back.

Batman #50 Recap/Review