BATMAN OF TWO WORLDS #1 (DC COMICS)
Scott Snyder and Matt Fraction are out here flexing as they give us a clash of styles- finesse and brute force- between two of our favorite Bat Boys.
It’s BATMAN DAY so Let’s talk BATMAN OF TWO WORLDS #1 (DC COMICS). Two Stories for one huge day:
“Short Cuts” - Writer: Matt Fraction | Artist: Javi Fernández | Colorist: Tomeu Morey | Letters: Clayton Cowles w/ Javi Fernández
“Cut Short” - Writer: Scott Snyder | Artist: Nick Derington | Colorist: Frank Martin | Letterer: Tom Napolitano
BATMAN OF TWO WORLDS #1 (DC COMICS)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
No, it’s not a crossover. Let’s get that out of the way.
The buzz around this issue stemmed from the idea that Matt Fraction, the current writer of the mainline Batman series, and Scott Snyder, the architect of the Absolute Universe, were teaming up to write a one-shot crossover for Batman Day 2026.
As incredible as that sounds, I’m glad it didn’t happen.
Instead, we get two creators at the top of their games, flexing their writerly muscles to give us two Batman stories that highlight the contrast in how each gets their respective jobs done. One, built on years of experience and willing collaboration. The other, through youthful stubbornness and brute force.
LET’S TALK SOME COURT OF OWLS!
“Short Cuts” by Matt Fraction and Javi Fernández finds Bruce in pursuit of two thieves who have stolen high-grade stealth tech. The story is framed by the narration of a lowly, bitter security guard whom the thieves paid a million dollars to leave the door open.
“Cut Short” by Scott Snyder and Nick Derington glides between Bruce’s work as a civil engineer and his time as Batman, foiling a bank robbery that turns out to be an inside job.
Fraction and Fernández give us a sleek, bright sheen against Gotham’s darkness and a Bruce who can’t help but look so damn cool doing what he does. Snyder and Derington seek to examine Bruce and how even a tiny crack in your foundation will induce shakiness in your being.
Fernández and Derington are doing great work here, as their styles are similar to their counterparts, Jorge Jimenez and Nick Dragotta, respectively. It makes the latter two’s absences almost unnoticeable, but this is not a knock on the former. There’s still enough of their flair to make this their own without losing what makes Jimenez’s and Dragotta’s works so special.
In “Cut Short,” Pennyworth mentions how the old way, the old rules, should let go, or at least, move over to let Bruce build something new. Fraction’s current Batman run, though, proves there’s still room for the old rules, especially when it yields efficiency and finesse. But goddammit, I do love a more brutal Bruce.
FINAL GRADE: 8
Batman: Of Two Worlds is a flex for this entire creative team. Matt Fraction and Scott Snyder have crafted stories starring two Bat Boys who couldn’t be more different in style and tone. But their ethos, their indomitable will, and all-around badassery are intact, and we are much better off with both of them in our lives.
What y’all think? Am I trippin’? Let me know your thoughts on BATMAN OF TWO WORLDS #1 (DC COMICS) in the comments below. Thanks for reading.