Batman by Chip Zdarsky Omnibus, Vol. 1

Batman by Chip Zdarsky #1-2

by Chip Zdarsky, Josh Adams (Illustrator), Belén Ortega (Illustrator)

A bold new era begins as Batman faces his greatest fears, darkest futures, and deadliest rivals, all while Gotham burns around him.

Eisner Award-winning writer Chip Zdarsky launches an epic, character-defining run that pushes the Dark Knight to his breaking point and beyond. From the emergence of the terrifying Failsafe protocol to a bleak alternate Gotham with no Batman, Bruce Wayne is tested in body, mind, and soul. As the Gotham War erupts between Batman and Catwoman and Red Hood walks a dangerous line, alliances fracture, and the future of the city hangs in the balance. With artwork by superstar artists Jorge Jiménez, Mike Hawthorne, and more, this omnibus collects the explosive beginning of Zdarsky’s acclaimed tenure and redefines what it means to be the Bat.

Collects Batman #125-138, Catwoman #57-58, Batman: Urban Legends #1-6, Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Battle Lines #1, Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Scorched Earth #1, and Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood #1-2.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics

960 pages, Hardcover

Published April 28, 2026

About the author

Chip Zdarsky is a Canadian comic book artist and journalist. He was born Steve Murray but is known by his fan base as Chip Zdarsky, and occasionally Todd Diamond. He writes and illustrates an advice column called Extremely Bad Advice for the Canadian national newspaper National Post's The Ampersand, their pop culture section's online edition. He is also the creator of Prison Funnies and Monster Cops.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Alec Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, but not great. This collection features far too much original story for my liking. My frustration is that while I understand a writer’s impulse to tackle “their Batman origin” inevitably the origin ends up being either too world breaking or too similar to others. In general, too much of this collection feels like reheated nachos of other Batman runs. This probably hits a lot better if this is your first real interaction with a Batman run. For me, the multiverse story and “Red Mask” were the more interesting parts, but even then the comic ends with a universe-hopping montage that feels lifted from the terrible Flash movie (which also came out in 2023, so likely intentional). Not the best Batman story but not the worst, firmly middle of the pack.

[Cristopher Monteza]

Pretty fire, haven’t read comics since binge reading the entirety of Invincible during quarantine times!