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Batman: Urban Legends #7 delivers four fun, inventive stories set in four distinct future worlds featuring unique and compelling iterations of Batman.
For obvious reasons, most fans associate Batman with his secret identity Bruce Wayne — but DC’s anthology series Batman: Urban Legends has explored the various other heroes who donned the Dark Knight’s cape and cowl across timelines. Batman: Urban Legends #7 is the first issue in the series since the conclusion of Chip Zdarksy and Eddy Barrows’s Red Hood story, and it starts off the new era for the series with a bang — featuring stories from the world of Batman Beyond, Future State, Batman 666 and DC One Million.
All four stories in Batman: Urban Legends #7 explore the ways in which Batman’s proteges and descendants struggle to make their way in the world while living up to his prestigious reputation. “Wake” by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Max Dunbar, begins with the murder of Bruce Wayne at the hands of a mysterious assailant who tampered with the aging hero’s pacemaker. Wayne’s protege Terry McGinnis then heads out into Neo-Gotham in search of answers and vengeance. The second story in the anthology follows Damian Wayne as he struggles through a hellacious gauntlet of villains only to confront a shape-shifting monster in Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra’s “The Executive Game.” Guillaume Singelin writes and draws “Hunter or Hunted” which follows Batgirl Cass Cain as she battles the nefarious Magistrate soldiers of Gotham’s Future State. The final story, “The Batman With No Name,” by Kenny Porter and Baldemar Rivas, catches up with the nameless Batman who works as a warden on a futuristic prison planet as he attempts to stop a jailbreak.
“The Executive Game” is at once the simplest and most cryptic story in the anthology. Tim Seeley constructs a fairly straightforward set of obstacles for Damian Wayne to overcome, which leads to some beautifully rendered action sequences by Juan Ferreyra. Ferreyra’s choreography communicates the brutality of the Batman 666 universe. His colors are simultaneously visceral and dreamy which foreshadows the shifting nature of reality that Seeley plays with throughout the story’s dramatic conclusion — leaving the hero and the audience with tons of questions.
Batman: Urban Legends #7’s most visually engaging story is Guillaume Singelin’s “Hunter or Hunted.” Singelin’s manga-inspired character designs and layouts make for a thrilling chase through a dystopian Gotham. Even in the short, fast-paced story, Singelin manages to go to great lengths to depict Future State’s gloomy, industrial landscape. The story clearly prioritizes action over character development, but Cass is as charming as ever as Batgirl and her brief interaction with Batman is a charming glimpse into their dynamic in which they’ve carved out time for kindness even in the nonstop madness of their world.
Each story in Batman: Urban Legends #7 is a brilliantly drawn, well-plotted burst of action. Long-time Bat-fans will appreciate all manner of references to previous stories. But new and old readers alike will be left wanting more of each of these intense iterations of Gotham City. The four distinct visual styles as well as the four different Dark Knights prove just how versatile Batman can be. He is, after all, the stuff of legends.
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