Batman '89: Echoes

Batman '89 #7-12

by Sam Hamm, Joe Quiñones (illustrator)

This is your chance to dive into the follow-up to the Batman ’89 graphic novel, which continues the enthralling adventures of the Dark Knight from Tim Burton’s classic movie Batman. Featuring issues #1-6 of Batman ’89: Echoes, this is a must-read for all Batman fans!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Superheroes

152 pages, Hardcover

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Sam Hamm is an American screenwriter, perhaps best known for writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman and an unused screenplay for the sequel. As a result of his work, he was invited to write for the Batman comic. The result was Batman: Blind Justice, which introduced Bruce Wayne's mentor, Henri Ducard, who later appeared in Batman Begins. Hamm's other screen credits include Never Cry Wolf and Monkeybone. He also wrote unused drafts for Planet of the Apes and Watchmen adaptations.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come...

(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included issues can be found here:
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #1
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #2
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #3
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #4
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #5
- Batman '89: Echoes (2023-2025) #6

[Nathan Bissett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first two issues as they came out and just read all 6 now, so the release issues didn't affect the story in the way it has for a lot of people, but that's only because I gave up on it being released reliably.

There are a lot of great ideas presented in the first 3 issues which are just not followed through on, at least not well

The end of whole story just HAPPENS and then you turn the page and it's over. Babs is Batgirl for 5 frames? Why does He show up in the final issue? This should have just been Scarecrow and Harley, 8 issues could have probably done the job to make the ending make sense.

If a third series is greenlit, I hope that it's a different creative team, because this is such a rich universe for storytelling that they just shit the bed with. Even if it is a new team, I'll likely wait until the trade is released.

[Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a lot of fun ideas, but the final chapter especially feels rushed and as if it is missing several pages. Much of the conclusion lacks linking events, and it feels like the entire narrative here is just a bid to set up future installments. Scarecrow's presence is unfortunately short-lived despite the setup, which could be a reference to Nolan's Batman Begins, but in a bad way. This story seems fine enough, but it needed a lot more room to breathe and it probably should have been expanded into two sets of six issues rather than one. It just has too much going on that has to be crammed into the space they allotted for themselves and so it seems very half-baked.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun, and the art was fantastic.

I hope they keep making these, surely they must have one or two story arcs left in the clip.

[Thezachespinoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

following up the success of Batman '89 (the comic, not the original movie) is hard thing to do. however, when you consider that this book would've replaced the hideous Batman & Robin movie with George Clooney, then you can understand the themes within the movie. Michael Keaton would've been an aging star (ancient for action stars, mind you) and the Batman Franchise would've need a fresh set of characters, and a richer world to explore, should the studio want to expand into its Hallmark IP. all this to say, this book should've been the movie we never got, and quite frankly, Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones' storyboard is wonderfully and cinematically displayed in yet another gripping mystery. I hope I love to see the day this movie is fully realized

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is dreadful … only for those who are curious if Sam Hamm can derail a Batman story on the level of Frank Miller.

The initial “Batman ‘89” run was a unique idea — returning to the Tim Burton universe, giving that storyline a new life and sending Schumacher films to the dustbin.

At least the Schumacher movies are fun.

“Echoes” is a near-incomprehensible story, something with Harley Quinn and Jonathan Crane mixed up in the death of Hugo Strange and … Firefly for some reason. With Bruce Wayne posing as the latter. Catwoman shows up. And Ra’s al Ghul.

It’s all a joyless mess.

[Dennis Kenter · Rating 2 out of 5]

bloated and unnecessary. not enough time with any one character. why are there four villains? batman’s motivations are unclear and convoluted. art is good, but not nearly as fun as the first volume.

[Justin Biondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one I don’t

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An absolute mess plot wise and, like its predecessor, so far tonally from the Burton films it supposedly carries on the story of that it should've really just been its own thing. Absolutely baffling ending as well, its so rushed considering the final issue took like a year to come out (although in fairness I waited until everything was out to read so wasn't neccesarily waiting on just the conclusion)

[Darik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do respect what this book was going for, but it feels like a middle chapter rather than a self-contained story.

A very OVERSTUFFED middle chapter.

I appreciate that writer Sam Hamm was trying to get away from the typical trappings of the genre and tell an interesting psychological thriller story here, with Bruce robbed of his gadgets and mystique going undercover in Arkham Asylum as a patient. I also appreciate Hamm's very writerly intention to tie together the origins and M.O.s of a bunch of Batman's rogues gallery into a single thread: the asylum and its experiments with pharmacology and "persona therapy".

Ironically, however, in trying to make the hoards of distinctive Gotham supervillains more narratively neat, Hamm has to weave an ABSURDLY complicated web of plot, which involves Wayne R&D funding amnesia drugs, Dr. Hugo Strange dying offscreen, Catwoman taking therapy sessions with Dr. Harleen Quinzel, and-- of all possible twists-- RA'S AL GHUL engineering the whole scheme with Strange for his own ends. It's all so very messy.

Still, it can be a fun read, and it's got some interesting ideas at play! Turning Harley Quinn into a fame-seeking television pop psychologist nicknamed "Dr. Q" is a masterstroke (even if her subplot is almost entirely divorced from the rest of the story). And for all the Batman villains and supporting characters Hamm crams into the story, artist Joe Quinones has a delightful, period-appropriate casting choice for his artwork... giving us a Barbara Gordon who's clearly Winona Rider, Dt. Bullock as played by Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Jonathan Crane, Madonna as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Martin Short as a proto-Riddler, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Blockbuster, and even Ricardo Montalban as Ra's al Ghul. It's just a shame Winston Drake/Robin doesn't look more like Marlon Wayans...

The ending is extremely abrupt and it doesn't quite work as a self-contained narrative-- clearly teasing at least one more adventure to come-- but I dig what it's going for, and I wouldn't mind seeing at least one more of these to wrap up the narrative. As long as it doesn't suffer the same kinds of delays THIS book had...

[Victor Orozco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have heard of DC Comics' graphic novel continuations of various shows from Batman '66, Superman '78, and Wonder Woman '77. I haven't read any of them, but when I looked at the cover of the previous story, particularly with The Flash (2023) coming out, I was curious as to what kind of world it would have been like had Tim Burton made another Batman movie. I enjoyed it and was more than eager to read more of it.

Bruce Wayne / Batman had triumphed in taking on the threat of Harvey Dent / Two-Face and in the years that have followed several things have changed in Gotham, new allies but also new enemies as Bruce goes undercover to unravel the mysterious deaths of criminals overcome by great fear, all the while a woman with a fixation on the Joker becomes entralled to the criminal element why using the works of a psychologist at Arkham Asylum to bring a new reign of terror on Gotham. But Batman returns, and he isn't alone.

I have to say that I was more disappointed than content reading this, as it's pretty clear that Sam Hamm went from the writing he made in Batman and Batman Returns, to the abandoned ideas that were set up and were later adopted by Joel Schumacher, with clear references to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Make no mistake, I still love the image of Michael Keaton as Batman, and I love how they faithfully depict Barbara Gordon. But I don't like Duke Winston as Robin/Nightwing. The epicness of the films doesn't come to life as it did in the previous story. Some characters are poorly developed or just don't work at all. I wanted and expected more out of this story.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The second book in the "Batman '89" series that continues following the characters from the film and "Batman Returns" starring Michael Keaton.

The fact that the original screenwriter Sam Hamm wrote these two books brings a level of authenticity to the story in the sense that he gets these characters and is in a good position to understand where they might be following those films.

I enjoyed this, but it wasn't as good as the previous book since that had an interesting take on Two Face and racial issues in general.

I'm also not a huge fan of the stories where Bruce stops being Batman, but I do like that "Robin" has an army of helpers out in the streets.

In terms of the art, it's great. Both Batman and Alfred look like Michael Keaton and Michael Gough for the most part, and I think I recognised a few "actors" playing characters here. I'm pretty sure one of the inmates was Martin Short, Tommy Lister was one of the guards, Oded Fehr looks straight out of The Mummy, Arnold Schwazenegger seems to be Blockbuster, and Eugene Levy makes an appearance. I think Ricardo Montalban is supposed to be one of the characters too but wasn't sure.

I wasn't 100% sure on Harley Quinn, though she definitely has Madonna like qualities, and Scarecrow I couldn't tell, though occasionally he looks a little like Jeff Goldblum.

Overall it's an interesting experiment and I'm curious to see where it goes.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was better, especially when I grew a brain and realized the characters were based on actors who might have played the roles. It was more obvious in this one because there were more new characters, but in the first one it didn't occur to me beyond Billy Dee Williams. if they'd been able to make a Tim Burton Batman with Madonna as Harley Quinn, teen me would have lost my marbles, so all that character casting was fun, especially random queer Harvey Firestein.

The plot was, again, a little confusing, esp toward the end. This story made Catwoman completely useless beyond not wanting to lose her therapist and still couldn't manage that empty hollow darkness inside her as well as Batman Returns. Everything is still very comic-y, lacking the style and mood of Burton.

I enjoyed Harley Quinn, even if she wasn't fully developed. It was very much Madonna in that role, and she at least had some fabulous outfits and exciting moments. The Jeff Goldblum Scarecrow would have been good, and he was pretty entertaining in this. I would have also loved Winona Ryders Barbara Gordon, but her development into Batgirl felt a little flat.

I guess aside from the big tone/style mistep, the main flaw is that Sam Hamm isn't that creative. He knows the lore, but there's not much emotional stakes or departure from the tried and true; he's a little dull. But this one was definitely an improvement over the first one.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading the 2nd graphic novel of "Batman 89" "Echoes", which continues the story of what would've been the 3rd Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie that was never made. This takes place a few years later in the mid 90s, around the time "Batman & Robin" came out and features so many characters not just from those movies but other Batman comic characters like Harley Quinn, The Scarecrow, and The Riddler. Really liked how they drew these new characters with 80s actors Burton might've cast. Also great to see how Barbara Gordon became Batgirl and Drake Winston going from Robin to Nightwing. Did notice it had differences from the novels that been recently released too "Batman: Resurrection" and "Batman: Revolution" with different versions of the same characters but set in the same world, so it was a bit confusing how it connected as those books do fit in with the first graphic novel. Still was a fun read and not sure if they're going to continue it but wouldn't mind more either like this or the regular novels.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another miniseries that took TOO LONG to release...

Issue #1 released November 2023
Issue #6 (as of this review) is scheduled to come out May of 2025

-----that's a year and a half of total wait time

So, this review will be of the first 5 issues...and I officially throw in the towel on this series. If there's drama behind the scenes in DC, I hope they take care of it. Either the writer, the artist, or both need to get released from their contracts.

They decided to add even more celebrities to this sequel series... that never really ends. We have Madonna as Harleen Quinzel. There's Martin Short as the Edward Nigma (Riddler). Harvey Fierstein cameos ...as an ACN TV producer. Jeff Goldblum even pops up as Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow).

It's a continuation of the Batman 89' series, but did we really need it AND did we need to wait that long?
====
Bonus: This is an extremely sanitized Burton-verse. Meh.

[RunningRed NightBringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave it two stars because the art is really pretty good.

Didn't give it five because the story was a muddled mess.

A shame cause I thought the first volume was really good and examined the characters in depth.

Sam decided to follow the path of the 90s films and dump as many villains as he could into the story, either overtly (eg Harley Quinn or Scarecrow) or obscured until their identity is revealed in the speed-run ending.
None of them are well developed and none of them are interesting.

A shame cause the basic premise wasn't too bad.

Bruce pretends to be Firefly to get committed to Arkham and investigate the death of Hugo Strange. Harleen Quinzel is trying to become a media celebrity psychiatrist. Barbara Gordon, now a police captain, is investigating a series of mysterious Batman-related deaths.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure why this collection is so panned on Goodreads. It isn’t one of the best books I’ve ever read, but it was pretty good and I preferred it to the first collection of this series. Unlike the first series it isn’t such a politically driven story but instead it breaks open the whole series universe while staying very true to the Tim Burton style. The main plot line isn’t that bad either. I guess the drawback is at the end the story a lot of loose ends aren’t tied up or they are poorly tied up. But alternatively, I’m looking forward to three or four more of these given there are at least half a dozen criminals in here that are introduced by not fully developed. There’s a lot of room to go off of here with growth and imagination.

[Marty McSkywalker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bit of a dud after the first Batman 89 trade. boring, convoluted story, hardly any actual Batman, would make for a terribly boring film. The first Batman 89 story seemed to fit in the Batman 89 universe along with the novel Batman Resurrection by John Jackson Miller,but this one doesn't seem to anymore, evident especially with Gordon looking like the traditional thin mustachiod version and not Pat Hingle, and the artwork is sub par at best,looks cheap. On the plus side I did like the Batman undersuit I thought that looked cool.

[Jonathan Waugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping it would read better collected than in single issues, but it makes the final issues even worse this way.

This starts off pretty strong and then just becomes an absolute mess. So much just falls apart or happens off panel. Hamm learned nothing from the issues of the finale of the previous volume, and I will absolutely think twice about picking up another volume of this if they do one.

It’s a bummer here cause Joe Quinones’ art is fantastic and he’s having a blast casting 90’s actors here. After so much work getting this made, to have THIS be the end result is embarrassing.

[Daniel Clausen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to see Michael Keaton as Batman again, even if it was just in comic book form. There is certainly the beginnings of a good Batman movie here. There is a lot of intrigue, callbacks, and original Batman movie story beats. However, the story suffers from typical problems of sequels -- too many villains, too many subplots. Also, this time (much like some other Batman sequels), not enough Batman.

[BookWyrm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was beyond disappointing. The main problem with this book is that it spends most of its time with pages and pages of setup with very little payoff. B-man doesn’t appear until the end of the fourth chapter. And Barbara doesn’t put on her bat suit until the very last issue. Villains pop in and out with very little impact to the plot.
This book also relies too much on references that it never bothers to forge an identity of its own.

[Shajmil Sultan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off good, but tries to tell too many stories and wraps up abruptly with a baffling ending. The artwork and designs for the characters are amazing though, especially Harley Quinn. It's prevalent that something went wrong during the production of this series, you see it climb unique heights just to nose dive with a salad of substories.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

It trails so long behind the first installment that little is remembered, and the storyline is an overstuffed mishmash of too many characters, plot points stolen from the Nolan films, and to much material left abbreviated or completely unsupported in a six issue run.

[John]

What an absolute mess. Starts well with the Scarecrow and a unique take on Harley Quinn but spins its wheels for several issues and then ends with a terribly paced cameo filled rush to the end. Something definitely happened behind the scenes

[Who Watches · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worse than the first entry. An utterly uninteresting and scattered story, which hardly even resembles the Burton mythos in style save for cutting and pasting characters from the films into the comic. Nothing about this makes any sense or is fun to read. Pass on this.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Joshua Cacciatore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly kinda mid. A lot of cool ideas that were poorly executed

[Carl Archambault · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is soooo bad, not good AT ALL. It's a mess, too long to get to the point. Too much characters and I don't know what's going on.

Didnt finish it... stop after 3 issues.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first could of issues but by the end, it became a mess.

[Skum Back · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice to see what the movies couldve been:(