Bruce Wayne: Not Super: The Bat-Catastrophe

by Stuart Gibbs, Berat Pekmezci (Illustrator), Wes Abbott (Letterer)

New York Times bestselling author Stuart Gibbs (Spy School) brings his signature wit and heart to the second installment of Bruce Wayne: Not Super - a laugh-out-loud, lesson-packed adventure perfect for middle grade readers who love heroes with humor.

When Jack Napier and his hulking sidekick Bane are recruited by Hugo Strange for a high-stakes heist at Gotham City Bank, Bruce will get a second chance to prove he has what it takes to defend the streets of Gotham. But Bruce gets more than he bargained for when he catches Selina helping Jack. Coming from a school full of heroes and villains, he should have known she would be more than she seems! And now Bruce will have to find a way to stop them all before they can accomplish their plan.

Genres: Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2026

Reviews

[Ben A]

When I read the first volume of Bruce Wayne: Not Super, I remarked that it would make a great series and three years later I got my wish with this second adventure. The Bat-Catastrophe moves the story along in great ways and is the perfect entry into these characters. I’m only hoping we don’t have to wait another three years for a third volume.

Special Thanks to DC Comics and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

[Julie Ditton]

Bruce Wayne is the only one attending a school for super powered teens who is not actually super. The irony is that he is the only one actually trying to fight crime. This fun graphic novel combines preteen school drama and super hero comic fun to delight both youngsters and the young at heart.

[Phillip Quinn]

I had a great time reading Bruce Wayne: Not Super: The Bat-Catastrophe book. It’s the second book in the Not Super series, and I honestly want a lot more of these stories.

Thank you Netgalley and DC Comics for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The book follows Bruce Wayne being at a middle school in Gotham. While being the rich kid at school rules, it doesn’t rule when you don’t have any powers when every other person at your school is Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Poison Ivy, Bane, etc. Oh wait! There’s one more person at the school without powers: Jack Napier (The Joker).

In this book, Bruce is active as “Batman”, even though people are really sure of which rodent he’s actually supposed to be! Knowing that his classmates who do have powers aren’t really going out of their way to be heroes like he wants to, Bruce takes matters into his own hands for better and for worse.

Jack Napier is planning a bank robbery with Bane to help their teacher, Hugo Strange. Can Batman foil the plot in time to prevent the robbery? Will Bruce’s classmates realize their hero potential? Hijinx ensue, and it all really came together well.

I really liked the art from Berat Pekmezci in this book like the first one. All of the characters are unique looking, and I’m never really worried about getting any of them confused. Pekmezci also does a great job of drawing the action in the book.

I hope we get a third book in the series!

[Relena_reads]

I've been reading a lot of the DC titles for contemporary middle grades readers and I think this one was the most successful so far.

While readers will benefit from a working knowledge of DC, this is a wholly original story where the heroes and villains are all reimagined as tweens/teens who would be welcome in a modern middle school. The conceit here of attempting to form factions of crime-fighters and villains at school allows for try-out montages that get us through multiple character introductions quickly.

This Bruce's willingness to tell everyone he's Batman is especially funny, as is Super-Man's immediate valorization.

The art here is bright and Middle Grades friendly, while also working in a classic enough palate that all characters are recognizable.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC and I look forward to more.

[Chad]

As long as you are OK with the many changes to the Batman myth, this middle school aged graphic novel is a ton of fun. This Bruce Wayne is trying to make it as Batman while in middle school. A middle school where all of the super-powered characters of DC also go to school. When Professor Hugo Strange prompts Jack Napier and Bane to rob a bank, Batman and Robin are on the case. The writing is irreverent and fun, perfect for kids and adults who like lighter toned comics.

[Itza]

adorable plot, great starter comic for young readers. i love the little running gag where everyone calls Batman a different animal.

loved the bat-sound enchancers panel, super cool color scheme and funny too! i died when alfred drove and dropped him off cause he doesn’t have a license yet

[Annemarie]

Silly, but fun. Young superheroes, everything going wrong, and humor that was a bit too childish for me personally, but probably works well for most of the target audience. I really liked Selina in this.

[Jennifer]

The second book in this series continues off where the first ended but in a way where you can jump in and start reading without really having to have read the back story. Sure, it would help to understand the school dynamics and how Bruce has become who he is and the like. But it's not 100% necessary which is good for these types of books where you're trying to encourage a younger reader to read who may be open to the book because it's the latest on the shelf or the one their friends have read.

Anyhow, the artwork is strong, and the storytelling is solid with some good character development and plot. Those two are not always easy in graphic novels and especially in graphic novels for the younger set where you can't make as many assumptions on emotional maturity, etc. The story digs into more of the Catwoman back story that is starting to evolve, but also puts us front and centre with some of the future villains of Gotham City. What I appreciate is that the villains are shown as kids just figuring things out who happen to be figuring things out with the wrong influences and the wrong drivers, so they could just as likely be the heroes of the story.

All in all, a strong second book for the series and well worth picking up especially if the first one was a hit.