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Batman: The Cult #3
Batman: The Cult #3
While Batman escapes the sewers with the help of Robin, Deacon Blackfire's army force the National Guard to withdraw and the Governor to suggest evacuating Gotham City.
50 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2013
6 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Jim Starlin
1,338 books444 followersJames P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine.
In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).
When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (
In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.
In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).
When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (
In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 31, 2025
Batman: The Cult Book 3 takes everything that’s been building and turns the tension up to eleven. Gotham is completely lost, Bruce is mentally and physically shattered, and Deacon Blackfire’s grip feels absolute. The sense of dread is overwhelming—in the best way.
Jim Starlin leans hard into the psychological horror, showing us a Batman who’s been pushed beyond his limits and still isn’t done falling. Bernie Wrightson’s art continues to shine, capturing the chaos and despair with haunting detail.
This chapter doesn’t pull any punches. It’s bleak, intense, and gripping from start to finish. The stakes feel higher than ever, and it’s hard to see how Bruce comes back from this. A dark, powerful entry that keeps you hooked.
Jim Starlin leans hard into the psychological horror, showing us a Batman who’s been pushed beyond his limits and still isn’t done falling. Bernie Wrightson’s art continues to shine, capturing the chaos and despair with haunting detail.
This chapter doesn’t pull any punches. It’s bleak, intense, and gripping from start to finish. The stakes feel higher than ever, and it’s hard to see how Bruce comes back from this. A dark, powerful entry that keeps you hooked.
January 13, 2025
Jason Todd is single handedly carrying. He went undercover to find Batman in the sewers completely without reinforcements and swam after him to save him. It was he that brought back Batman from the brink of madness. This is why Batman needs a Robin. In a very literal way (from their brightly colored costumes to their comedic additions), they are the redemption to his fall from grace. They prevent him from being consumed by his mission.
May 29, 2024
2024 - Year of The Bat (366 Days of Batman)
Day 150: 2.5⭐️ I should be enjoying this more than I am. I normally love Starlin’s writing and have always been a fan of Wrightson’s art. Maybe it’s just the two of them together. Assassination from a sewer grate? The shooter wouldn’t have enough control over the rifle to use it unless he was shooting straight up, not at ground level. Deacon Blackfire should have been a more interesting villain.
Day 150: 2.5⭐️ I should be enjoying this more than I am. I normally love Starlin’s writing and have always been a fan of Wrightson’s art. Maybe it’s just the two of them together. Assassination from a sewer grate? The shooter wouldn’t have enough control over the rifle to use it unless he was shooting straight up, not at ground level. Deacon Blackfire should have been a more interesting villain.
March 15, 2025
4.5/5 Stars
October 7, 2025
And I really thought things couldn’t get any worse. The title of this chapter is “escape,” but I didn’t realize we were going full no man’s land years before that even actually unfolded. Deacon Blackfire actually got batman to stand up and walk away from the poker table, that’s insane. As we jump into this issue the streets of Gotham are a mess, as anything Blackfire says goes. The deputy mayor makes a comment about standing with the police? Blackfire responds with a kill order, and it barely takes a day for the deputies head to be thrown out of a sewer grate. Even then the city is still divided, with some saying this is total chaos and the other half saying this has been a long time coming and Blackfire has cleaned up the city. But the message of Blackfire does not stop at Gotham’s borders, there has been an influx of drifters from all over the state called to Blackfire’s message and bound for Gotham to join up. All the while Gordon and one of the other investigators, I really didn’t get a name for, shake their heads over the mountain of police files on Blackfire. The main problem is that they make no sense, he looks like he should be in his 40s but these files date back to the 20s and all the fingerprints matchup. But what they need now is a man on the inside of the organization, and the other investigator seems to have made up his mind that he will be the one to do it. Sitting in his luxury sewer apartment, Blackfire shares a drink with Jake and seems to collaborate all of the events in the police files, even confirming a stretch in prison back in the forties. Through all these years he has gained the experience and tried a few different avenues to get what he wants, total control, and now he has finally found the proper outlet to get it: religion.
Elsewhere batman wakes up screaming, still having trouble telling reality from the drugs, but the good thing is he now had Robin to ground him. Unfortunately they are also surrounded by all of Blackfire’s victims and now need to find their way out and figure out a plan along the way. As they creep through the sewers they end up coming across the really tall totem that batman bore witness to and finally broke…except it’s small, the drugs and suggestion just made him see what Blackfire wanted him to see. As they descend further they come across a glowing red chamber, as they peak inside they get a glimpse into Blackfire’s secret to eternal youth: blood. Not sure if he took a page out of brother blood’s book, but this dude bathed in blood to stay young. But as batman and Robin tried to slip away, Robin knocked his foot against a can and altered Deacon to their presence. Soon the entire facility was up in arms and chasing after them, and batman is still on no condition to fight. They tried smoke bombs and Robin even blew up a part of the tunnel system, but the hordes kept coming for them. Soon enough they found themselves back to back and surrounded, and Robin is not one to go down without a fight. But it becomes very clear very fast that he doesn’t stand a chance and batman is still weak. But as he sees Robin fighting and flailing and begging for help, his blood begins to boil as if batman has found a new reason to fight and he suddenly leaps forward, throwing everyone back, as he proceeds to take down each and every one of them before the exhaustion finally caught up and Robin had to help him back to his feet.
But as batman and Robin are fighting the city is falling right into the hands of the deacon. Commissioner Gordon gave a press conference on the situation and announced the fact that he asked the governor for help in declaring martial law. While giving the speed a sniper from the sewer system took a shot and hit Gordon! This promoted the governor to completely take over and send in the national guard to restore order. But this doesn’t seem to slow down the deacon to any of this forces hiding in plain sight. While WGOT’s editor was giving a news briefing on their stance on Blackfire’s reign, and their absolute condemnation of it, a team below the building spliced into the transmission wires. While broadcasting they had a man on the inside walk over and blow the editors brains out on TV, before cutting the feed to a message from Deacon Blackfire claiming the city has called into chaos from a criminal conspiracy (ahem) and the current administration has proved inadequate in dealing with it, as such they have “no choice” but to take over the government and maintain order. The nation guard set to move in and take out the underworlders immediately. They setup high powered lights and setup a handful of entry points to descend into the sewers armed. All the while the underworlders watched and waited. As each and every team went into the sewers they found no conflict, until their lights were cut and the underworlders hiding leapt out and slaughtered each and every team at the same time. Following this the governor had no choice but to declare Gotham a disaster area and call for everyone to evacuate. Not only can they not guarantee the safety of the civilians, but after snipers from the sewers continued to take out the national guard…the guards themselves pulled out of the city to maintain a position at it’s borders. As everyone left the city, the time finally came that the underworlders pulled back the sewer grates and climbed into a city that is now utterly theirs. But it’s not just the underworlders, 50% of the city agreed with the deacon and decided to stay as well. Batman and Robin find this out when they finally get to the surface to find the streets nearly empty, they went inside the closest bar to find a phone, where they had to take out a few underworlders to secure it, and then called Alfred for a lift out of there. Batman was able to watch the news report and get the most current update on the situation and how bad it is. As Alfred came to pick them up and they drove out of the city batman announced his plan…they aren’t coming back, they lost and the city belongs to Deacon Blackfire. Even Alfred has a look of shock on his face. No shot in hell this is truly the end.
Elsewhere batman wakes up screaming, still having trouble telling reality from the drugs, but the good thing is he now had Robin to ground him. Unfortunately they are also surrounded by all of Blackfire’s victims and now need to find their way out and figure out a plan along the way. As they creep through the sewers they end up coming across the really tall totem that batman bore witness to and finally broke…except it’s small, the drugs and suggestion just made him see what Blackfire wanted him to see. As they descend further they come across a glowing red chamber, as they peak inside they get a glimpse into Blackfire’s secret to eternal youth: blood. Not sure if he took a page out of brother blood’s book, but this dude bathed in blood to stay young. But as batman and Robin tried to slip away, Robin knocked his foot against a can and altered Deacon to their presence. Soon the entire facility was up in arms and chasing after them, and batman is still on no condition to fight. They tried smoke bombs and Robin even blew up a part of the tunnel system, but the hordes kept coming for them. Soon enough they found themselves back to back and surrounded, and Robin is not one to go down without a fight. But it becomes very clear very fast that he doesn’t stand a chance and batman is still weak. But as he sees Robin fighting and flailing and begging for help, his blood begins to boil as if batman has found a new reason to fight and he suddenly leaps forward, throwing everyone back, as he proceeds to take down each and every one of them before the exhaustion finally caught up and Robin had to help him back to his feet.
But as batman and Robin are fighting the city is falling right into the hands of the deacon. Commissioner Gordon gave a press conference on the situation and announced the fact that he asked the governor for help in declaring martial law. While giving the speed a sniper from the sewer system took a shot and hit Gordon! This promoted the governor to completely take over and send in the national guard to restore order. But this doesn’t seem to slow down the deacon to any of this forces hiding in plain sight. While WGOT’s editor was giving a news briefing on their stance on Blackfire’s reign, and their absolute condemnation of it, a team below the building spliced into the transmission wires. While broadcasting they had a man on the inside walk over and blow the editors brains out on TV, before cutting the feed to a message from Deacon Blackfire claiming the city has called into chaos from a criminal conspiracy (ahem) and the current administration has proved inadequate in dealing with it, as such they have “no choice” but to take over the government and maintain order. The nation guard set to move in and take out the underworlders immediately. They setup high powered lights and setup a handful of entry points to descend into the sewers armed. All the while the underworlders watched and waited. As each and every team went into the sewers they found no conflict, until their lights were cut and the underworlders hiding leapt out and slaughtered each and every team at the same time. Following this the governor had no choice but to declare Gotham a disaster area and call for everyone to evacuate. Not only can they not guarantee the safety of the civilians, but after snipers from the sewers continued to take out the national guard…the guards themselves pulled out of the city to maintain a position at it’s borders. As everyone left the city, the time finally came that the underworlders pulled back the sewer grates and climbed into a city that is now utterly theirs. But it’s not just the underworlders, 50% of the city agreed with the deacon and decided to stay as well. Batman and Robin find this out when they finally get to the surface to find the streets nearly empty, they went inside the closest bar to find a phone, where they had to take out a few underworlders to secure it, and then called Alfred for a lift out of there. Batman was able to watch the news report and get the most current update on the situation and how bad it is. As Alfred came to pick them up and they drove out of the city batman announced his plan…they aren’t coming back, they lost and the city belongs to Deacon Blackfire. Even Alfred has a look of shock on his face. No shot in hell this is truly the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2022
“Gotham has fallen.”
Are you a fan of literal blood baths and severed heads all wrapped in a Batman skin? Look no further!
This series is a macabre treat and things are looking bleak for our caped crusader in this volume.
Are you a fan of literal blood baths and severed heads all wrapped in a Batman skin? Look no further!
This series is a macabre treat and things are looking bleak for our caped crusader in this volume.
January 18, 2024
Batman is experiencing withdrawals while he and Robin try to leave the sewers.
Commissioner Gordon realises that Deacon Blackfire is not just anyone, having files on him dating back to 1921!
After the cult steals guns from a police armoury, Gordon has no choice but to declare martial law.
As he is making his speech, he is shot!
We learn the secret of how Blackfire has lived for so long.
As do Batman and Robin.
The pair try to sneak away but are caught.
Soon they are surrounded by Blackfire's army. Robin isn’t one to give up and begs Bats to help.
Batman is frozen until Robin is overwhelmed. He defeats a sewer full of people, which impresses his young partner.
The National Guard fails to stop the underworlder’s and the Governor implores the citizens of Gotham to evacuate.
As the underworlder’s are rejoicing on the streets, Batman and Robin are finally free of the sewers.
Robin goes to call Alfred while Bats watches the news.
50% of the populace did not evacuate, having no problems with Blackfire’s way of dealing with criminals.
Alfred arrives and Bats tells him to take them away from the city, they’ve lost. Gotham now belongs to Deacon Blackfire…
I really like that Batman doesn’t just bounce back after all he’s been through. He has been scarred in a way that he’s never been before and he no longer knows what to do.
Commissioner Gordon realises that Deacon Blackfire is not just anyone, having files on him dating back to 1921!
After the cult steals guns from a police armoury, Gordon has no choice but to declare martial law.
As he is making his speech, he is shot!
We learn the secret of how Blackfire has lived for so long.
As do Batman and Robin.
The pair try to sneak away but are caught.
Soon they are surrounded by Blackfire's army. Robin isn’t one to give up and begs Bats to help.
Batman is frozen until Robin is overwhelmed. He defeats a sewer full of people, which impresses his young partner.
The National Guard fails to stop the underworlder’s and the Governor implores the citizens of Gotham to evacuate.
As the underworlder’s are rejoicing on the streets, Batman and Robin are finally free of the sewers.
Robin goes to call Alfred while Bats watches the news.
50% of the populace did not evacuate, having no problems with Blackfire’s way of dealing with criminals.
Alfred arrives and Bats tells him to take them away from the city, they’ve lost. Gotham now belongs to Deacon Blackfire…
I really like that Batman doesn’t just bounce back after all he’s been through. He has been scarred in a way that he’s never been before and he no longer knows what to do.
July 15, 2024
I still adore the artwork, but the story itself is just fine with no real twists or turns that are grabbing me. It also seems to have a case of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS envy, trying to incorporate some topical messages of the time via warring news broadcasters, but where TDKR was prescient and important, this feels like they're just aping the structure because they liked it without having anything new to say that hasn't already been said in literally EVERY batman comic ever ("can murder be used to achieve order, maybe, but then were no better than the criminals we haul in... sigh.")
The cliffhanger at the end shows promise, an ending in which batman gives up on Gotham... Of course I know he won't but I want to see what drives him back.
The cliffhanger at the end shows promise, an ending in which batman gives up on Gotham... Of course I know he won't but I want to see what drives him back.
November 9, 2023
Wow- that’s one hell of a way to end THAT chapter of the story! That was nuts! I’m super excited to see how this ends! The action in this was crazy good and the violence and horror was really unexpected!
January 20, 2026
The story of Deacon Blackfire is a very interesting one, and his origin reads like the plot of a Twilight Zone episode. The conclusion to this issue seems slightly out of character for Batman, but we still have an issue to go. I'd recommend this issue if you want to read about a vulnerable Batman.
July 10, 2023
batman and horror go together so well. excellent snowballing of tension as things get set in motion
August 7, 2024
Was surprised to see Robin get involved here.
Read
January 6, 2025bruce needs to get his shit together
April 12, 2025
the real question is: where is the joker in all of this? he would NOT let that man do what he’s doing to his gotham
July 24, 2025
Jason slapping batman made me laugh out loud
September 9, 2025
Not the usual
I'm glad I stuck with this one. This third book is a bit better than the first two and it is certainly different seeing batman completely dejected and low confidence.
I'm glad I stuck with this one. This third book is a bit better than the first two and it is certainly different seeing batman completely dejected and low confidence.
December 19, 2025
Great series; I am getting a bit tired of the news reporter scenes. It’s a great tool for storytelling, but I feel like it’s being used a bit too much, if that makes sense.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews