Note: I received access to read this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Batman the imposter is an interesting take on Batman but ends with a whimper and takes some risks that don't pay off. It examines his relationship with the police but could have gone much further for a more interesting story. The artwork is good but sometimes gets in the way of itself.

‘Batman The Imposter’ by Matson Tomlin with illustrations by Andrea Sorrentino is a graphic novel about the Dark Knight set in a world from the most recent Batman movie .

When a beat up Batman shows up on the doorstep of his psychotherapist’s house, we learn they have a relationship, although not necessarily friendly. She helps patch him up as long as he shows up by dawn. If he doesn't, she calls the cops on him. This is a Batman without Alfred. This is also a young Batman who gets beat up a lot. He has bigger problems on his hands because there's also a Batman that is murdering people. Batman has to solve this crime with very little help and prove why he wants to be the Batman.

I liked the version of Batman in the latest film, so I liked a story kind of set in that universe. He's grittier and rougher around the edges but everything that makes him Batman is still there. The art is pretty cool too. I really like the style of it with lots of shadows. This is a recommended read.

Batman: The Imposter
by Mattson Tomlin
Pub Date: 22 Feb 2022
Great read. Batman is a classic. Can't go wrong.

ARC From Netgalley.
"The Imposter" almost feels like a companion piece to the new "The Batman" movie. It's early in Batman's career, he's young, whole makeup on the face deal....I enjoyed it. The story is pretty straight forward: there is someone out there killing criminals dressed up like Batman, and it's up to the real Batman to take him down. No extra crazy (though normal for him) Bat Villains, just a straightforward detective and action story. The gritty art isn't what I would prefer, but it works really well with the story.
Nice one-shot. Recommend.

Bruce Wayne has only been Batman for about a year, but in that time has created some powerful enemies. Batman must clear his name when a second Batman begins killing criminals.

The scans of the review copy were really blurry. Some of the pages were impossible to read.

The story was good, but I did not like the portrayal of Alfred in this story. It made him seem like he didn't care about Bruce at all.

I really liked how the pages were zoomed in images with the panels on top.

The colors had a water color feel to them which was really pretty.

Creative Team:
Writer: Mattson Tomlin
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Steve Wands

Idk, I'm not really feeling this one. It seems to be an alternate universe thing maybe? I'm admittedly not up on all the Batman stuff, but not having Alfred just feels wrong. Certain aspects of the story seem cool at first - Batman's got zip lines all over Gotham instead of using a grappling hook, he's got motorcycles stashed everywhere for quick getaways - but then I thought about it, and that's too risky, wires can be cut (and are getting cut), hidden motorcycles found (which they are). The Imposter's identity is no surprise when we learn it, there's a romance aspect that is unnecessary and goes nowhere, and the story just felt bland, I kept waiting for the "I need to know what happens next!" thing to kick in, and it just... didn't. This was murky and dark in muddy way, and I just didn't really care about it. Can't even find my whelm, much less be under it. But I did like the therapist part of the storyline, so there's that.

#BatmanTheImposter #NetGalley

The best I can describe Mattson Tomlin and Andrea Sorrentino’s Batman: The Imposter is like the DC Black Label equivalent of Batman: Earth One. Tomlin’s gritty young alt-Batman battles a new threat (a welcome rarity in these Batman recreations), but a bevy of familiar names go by in the background, a la Earth One, any one of which could be fodder for what one hopes will be the inevitable sequel.

The concept of this Batman book was interesting. A therapist who treated Bruce Wayne after the death of his parents, finds a battered Batman on her balcony. After taking him into her place, she realizes that Batman is Bruce Wayne and when he wakes up forces him to either come to counseling sessions or she will call the cops to send him to Arkham. Meanwhile, there is an imposter dressing up like Batman and killing ex-cons. So Bruce Wayne is trying to work through his trauma while Batman and the police (separately) try to find the imposter.

The format of this ARC on the NetGalley app was often hard to read. I had to skip over multiple 2-page spreads because they were barely readable, so I hope I didn't miss anything important.

Another interesting aspect of the story was that Commissioner Gordon had been kicked out of the force due to a big scandal that included him working with Batman.

The overall story wasn't bad, it didn't really hook me and I don't think I'll be buying it for my library.

One thing really bothered me though as a plot point. There are flashbacks to therapy sessions from after the Waynes were killed. During one of these flashback sessions Alford Pennyworth, Bruce's loyal father-figure, protector, and butler, is panicking about the out-of-control young Bruce Wayne and asking her to medicate the kid or help him figure out what to do with him.

In the whole Batman universe, a constant is Alford Pennyworth's support of Bruce Wayne. It really took me out of the story. I don't know if this book is based in the universe of the new 'The Batman' movie or what, but I really wasn't a fan of these few panels.

This seems to be tied to the recent Bat-Pat movie. There may be more details to enjoy for those who have watched, but having seen the movie isn't necessary to understand The Imposter.

The focus of the story here is not so much about telling a new type of Batman tale as it is about casting the themes of the character and world in a different light. From the beginning, Tomlin's Batman is morally grey, a tortured soul constantly at war with his own darkest impulses, isolated from everyone who once supported him. This isolation leaves some familiar faces to exist only in flashbacks while one of Bruce's only allies is the psychologist debating whether she should have him committed.

As the Batman struggles with himself and the place he desires to hold in his city, an imposter crashes onto the scene, wearing Batman's face and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Batman's already fragile situation strains to a breaking point and he and those caught up in his orbit must decide where their lines are, and what they're willing to sacrifice in search of what is right.

Tomlin's writing is brought to life with the glory that is Andrea Sorrentino's art. With creative paneling, and dramatic scenes, Sorrentino (along with Bellaire and Wands) wield the graphic form in remarkable ways, as action sequences move into character moments, highlighting key details while also conveying the sweeping scale of the story.

All together, it's not the most remarkable Batman story ever put on the page, but there is some freshness in this iteration of the character, supported every step of the way by art that is a delight to experience with every turn of the page.

I had a hard time putting this graphic novel down. Right away something terrible happens, and everyone thinks Batman is behind it. Bruce Wayne has a few chats with an old family friend which help give him some much needed clarity. Yet solving this case will not be easy and it might just cost the Dark Knight everything. As this story comes to a close things in Gotham will never be the same.

Mattson Tomlin and Andrea Sorrentino offer up a new take on a younger and inexperienced Dark Knight. Tomlin co-wrote the script for Matt Reeves THE BATMAN and a lot of that same DNA from the film is present here. Despite it being an entirely separate story. Both follow a younger Bruce Wayne that’s been Batman for a couple of years and both portray Batman as a nearly mythic figure. That’s about where the similarities end because THE IMPOSTER is entirely its own story that is self contained.

Batman in this book is alone. This is a version that didn’t have Alfred, Commissioner Gordon (who was run out of GCPD), doesn’t have limitless money from Wayne Enterprises, and doesn’t moonlight as a billionaire playboy during the day (much like the film). Bruce Wayne is obsessed with being Batman and when another person dons the cowl and begins to execute criminals in the name of the Bat, he’ll stop at nothing to stop them.

Easily the best part of this book is Andrea Sorrentino’s gorgeous artwork. He has a lot of great art in other books like GREEN ARROW & GIDEON FALLS (both with frequent collaborator Jeff Lemire) and his artwork here in this three issue miniseries stands up with the best of it. Aside from his brilliant and rightfully gothic style, Sorrentino got very creative with how he shaped his panels. Often making them reflect things in the book. Like a two page spread that’s shaped like the Bat symbol, or a page that’s shaped like an upside down police badge. Subtle choices like that elevate this book beyond being a timed release with the film.

Bruce Wayne in this book is complicated. He has to participate in mandatory therapy sessions and that serves as a way to flesh out this version of the character. And see just how different he his in comparison with other interpretations of the character. Additionally his relationship with Detective Wong was compelling with how they both bonded and connected over the loss of their parents. Especially how that influenced them to be on opposite sides of the law.

Where the story fell flat was the mystery regarding “The Imposter.” The fake Batman was barely in the book and when the truth is revealed, their motivations are a bit convoluted and it’s hard to understand the purpose of their plan. That aspect of the book seemed to be held back by the series only being three issues instead of a traditional four or six issue length. For a book that’s titled BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER it would’ve been nice to have them in the book more and fleshed out as a three dimensional villain.

In short, BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER serves as a great chaser to anyone that has seen the excellent 2022 Batman film and wants a little more of that gritty, young Batman flavor. The art is incredible and a lot of the beats with Batman out of the costume, as Bruce Wayne land well.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

Batman: The Imposter
by Mattson Tomlin


This was a weird out-of-continuity elseworlds-style Batman story. Batman is more clearly neurodivergent in this comic, Dr. Leslie Thompkins is much younger and a tries to provide Batman with therapy, and there is a noticeable lack of costume villains. The story and the art are clearly aiming for a more high brow experience, but it just felt rather tired and dull, like the author didn’t really want to write a Batman story unless he could put his stamp on it. And the “innovative “ art style was much better executed in the original run of Batwoman for example. This is skippable.

Good art, and an interesting story arc. Batman pays the price for being a hero, physical, emotional and mental.

This was another Anti-Batman story that was just okay. The first half of the book was interesting. It reads like it could be turned into a movie but the second half is rushed. You can figure out who the fake Batman halfway through the book. There are many threads in the book that are unnecessary and are left to dangle by the end of the story. The art is fine but if the story was better that might have made the whole thing better. There are better versions of this story available so this one just gets added the list of Anti-Batman stories.

If there is one thing that DC excels at in the comic book and movie realm, it’s creating interesting variations of their characters. Each iteration of Batman on film has been successful because of the tweaks and adjustments. It’s the film makers version of Batman rather than the definitive version of the character. You may be wondering why I’ve brought up the Batman/DC movies on a comic book review, well because they share many similarities with what DC has always done in the comics. Look at Frank Miller’s numerous Batman titles and just in recent years the Black Label has become a haunt of different versions of Batman.

Truly DC excels when they abandoned the shared universe. My two cents on the matter is that if they were to give up on the shared universe in their comics the way they have in the movies, they would see the same level of success. Does anyone care when Superman stops by to see Batman anymore? It wasn’t thrilling on the big screen and really no one says it can’t happen. If DC were smart, they would pump out a hundred versions of characters and see what entices readers and then expand and keep the successful ones. You can still have your other characters stop by, but you don’t have to worry about if this lines up with another storyline that people may or may not be reading. Don’t believe me? How many volumes of White Knight have there been? How many seasons of Harley Quinn on HBO? DC has primed the audience without even realizing it.

My other reasoning for this is that younger audiences rarely go back and digest everything before it. Intrigue them for six issues and get them to dabble with other books over and over again. New readers don’t give a shit that Batman once had his back broken by Bane and then all that was erased in a total missed opportunity of a reboot. Mentioning it will send them to Wikipedia, not their local comic shop. They just want something like Batman: The Imposter that’s easy to digest with familiar elements.

Part of me really didn’t care that I was reading another take on Batman that still felt strangely like an origin story without being one. The part of me that kept reading told that part to shut up and just enjoy this very grounded Batman story. Given that it was written by a Hollywood creator, it’s not surprising that it has TV mini-series feel and pacing to it. It might have been too similar to Nolan’s Batman in which he takes a lot of pointless damage, this Batman is a knife sponge just soaking up every knife on the page. He’s a shit fighter too which was at odds with his narration which seemed to present Batman as intelligent and well-trained. He gets stabbed a lot though. Without counting I would say at least 7 or 8 times. You were probably expecting double digits, but I’ve never been stabbed 7 or 8 times in my life so that feels like a lot.

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The other thing to note about Batman: The Imposter, is that unlike most Batman stories this is more of Bruce Wayne’s story than Batman’s story. Which isn’t a bad thing. The neglect and piss poor attempts at building Bruce Wayne as a separate character from Batman, has frankly been poor at best in recent years. The character has to be thrown into another series and given a love interest to get any kind of development outside of the cowl. Imposter may not build the best Bruce Wayne ever, but for once it wasn’t a disappointment or a waste to see Bruce on the page. The downside being that when knife sponge Batman shows up, it is a bit of a disappointment.

To jump over to the art for a moment, the Bat-a-rangs and the subsequent throwing of the Bat-a-rangs was one of the most disappointing aspects of this comic. It was overly presented on the page, given a massive panel for this tiny looking Bat-a-rang that Batman could throw with just two fingers… and hit absolutely nothing. The first time seemed like a miss. The second time, I became cautious and the third time I began to feel that it was just filler on the page or that there was a massive disconnect between the script and the art. The panels are intense and dynamic, but I’m left wondering if at times it was at a detriment to the story. The two-page splashes in particular don’t seem to have any substance worth reading on them, instead it’s there solely for the art to shine, but without a purpose it feels like a giant page of filler. Sure, it’s beautiful, but the most striking pages say something to the story with or without words and this is just a clever panel layout with a bunch of stuff crammed on the page.

Much like the story, the art feels more grounded. It’s less fantastical and more hyper-realistic with its execution. Gotham feels like a believable city that people would in fact keep living in regardless of giant bats and other lunatics running the streets. One of our characters says it best, “I tried to leave Gotham once.” This line and the art that accompanied it gave the feeling that there’s nowhere else on earth like Gotham, that once it’s in your blood it’s there to stay. You don’t escape Gotham; you survive it for as long as you can. I’m projecting a bit there, but that’s what the story inspired in me upon reading.

There are three to four major elements going on within the story. There’s the mystery of the imposter killing criminals dressed as Batman. The question of whether the symbol of Batman can every be cleaned once it’s been tainted. The mental health of a man dressing as a bat instead of using his status and money to fix Gotham in another way and while these are all very meta internet conversations that people have brought up and joked about, there is one story thread that I found the most interesting and refreshing. For the first time that I know of, they give Bruce another person that understands his pain. Detective Blair Wong had her parents gunned down in front of her as a child as well and this creates an interesting connection for Bruce Wayne, not Batman. The entire relationship between Bruce and Blair is complex and yet simple to understand. It’s one of the most meaningful relationships that’s ever been given to the character and that’s saying a lot given how many members of the “Bat Family” there are.

I’m going to bounce back to my point about abandoning the shared continuity of the DCU because Blair Wong seems like a character, they’d instantly want to introduce to the normal DCU, but also a character that wouldn’t work in the least bit when slapped in with the rest of the Fam. A series in which we continue to explore the complexities of Bruce/Blair and Batman is something I would absolutely subscribe to as a reader.

That’s not to say that every character introduced in the story is creative and refreshing. The book takes the biggest dump ever on Alfred Pennyworth, making him come across like a heartless monster that’s just working for the weekend. Dr. Leslie Thompson tows the middle of being a great supporting character and also a broken record. At first, her veiled threats of turning Bruce over to the police creates a reason and a purpose for her in the story. It works as an outlet for Bruce Wayne to talk about Batman without fear of incarceration. It then seems to be the only thing she can say night after night. Even Bruce isn’t buying it and I think the acknowledgment that she was never going to turn him in from both parties, but still having him continue therapy would have said more about both. Bruce realizing on some level that he needs an outlet to talk about his life as Batman is more profound to the character and ultimately the story.

Though Batman: The Imposter is an entertaining read overall, it’s slow to start and it nearly lost me in that start. I also couldn’t imagine reading it as a monthly series. It’s a better story read in one sitting. After reading Imposter as a trade, I would be more interesting now in reading a monthly series set in this world. That’s mostly due to the groundwork done in this story which is why I said it’s a feels like an origin story without truly being one.

While the name “Black Label” is catching and memorable, it also gives the impression of being dark and mature. Which Imposter is not; It doesn’t fit with the DCU and it’s obviously not for children, so it gets shuffled to the Black Label and hey if this is the type of stories to expect then I’m all for it. Black Label should and can be the place where the hundreds of versions can come to be developed and created and while this is a successful and interesting Batman story, it would be nice to see similar takes on other DC characters.

In the meantime, if you’re a fan of a more grounded and realistic Batman, that absorbs knife stabs, then Imposter is the read for you. If you’re more Batman than Bruce Wayne, then wait for something else to strike your fancy.

Loved the drawings and how the colors would change depending on mood and present time or flashbacks. Very enjoyable and fast read. Great story wasn't boring or stuck on one part for a long time.

Ok so this isn't really fair, but I'm going to give the best review I can. A lot of the pages didn't show up clearly (I don't know if it's the fault of the digitization process or if it's the Netgalley app, but I only got about 2/3 of the story).

But the story was really great. The art was excellent, in that scratchy, rough way that only Batman comics look good in. I'd love to see the comic in its entirety. It was really really good.

Thanks to Netgalley and DC Comics, as well as the writers, artists and crew that helped make it great. All opinions are my own.

How many alternate versions of Batman does the world really need?
At least this one more because Tomlin proves that you can take the same old elements and create whole new mythology that feels as fresh and captivating as if this were the original.
It's a dark tale that digs down into the nitty-gritty details of what it would actually take for Bruce Wayne to do what he does night after night as Batman, showing that his actions have consequences and those consequences can come back to cause havoc in Gotham.
I love the idea of forcing Wayne to have therapy with someone that knows him both as the child of trauma and the Dark Knight. This simple element adds a great way to analyze and dissect what's going on in his head (and his heart) while the plot gets darker and darker with the introduction of the title's imposter and little nuggets of possible future stories I'd love to read.
The art is in the dark, artistic style that's becoming signature with DC's Black Label. It fits the story to a T and displays Andrea Sorrentino's impressive mastery of panel arrangement. There are some truly creative spreads in this one. But the prize goes to Jordie Belaire's colors because it's the almost minimalist, yet saturated color palette that makes the emotions and adrenaline jump from page to page in excitement.
Overall, I urge naysayers doubting if there really needs to be a new Batman origin/early years story to give this one a chance because they will unquestionably walk away singing its praises.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and DC Comics for the early peek at the collected volume!

Batman The Imposter Review

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Batman: The Imposter starts off about a year into Batman’s crusade against crime in Gotham City. This is supposed to be a grittier, more realistic approach to the character. It did look and feel a little more raw. The artwork was definitely stark in places.
I enjoyed the approach this book took and would definitely read another Batman story by this author and artist team.

This story of Batman focuses on finding an imposter who is murdering criminals in Gotham to undermine the good that Batman has done throughout the city.

The story is a realistic and fresh take on Batman. It has a slight variant origin story and seem to tie into the upcoming movie The Batman. It has references sprinkled about that will make hardcore Batman lovers delighted but adds elements in the comic with new and interesting characters.

The artwork was captivating and gritty but there were spots that were very dark and the upside down panels can be hard to read if you are on an electronic device due to auto rotating. The black and white highlights helped to emphasize important areas. I am very interested in seeing this book in print to see how it comes through on page.

I enjoyed the unique take of his story and it has peaked my interest even more to seeing the upcoming movie.

I want to thank NetGalley, Mattson Tomlin and DC Entertainment, DC Comics for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.