At the end of Batman #127, Superman arrives just moments before Batman's Failsafe robot finishes Bruce Wayne for good. Now, Batman #128 picks up where the previous issue leaves off, and Clark Kent's perfectly-timed rescue doesn't go as planned.
In a new preview released by DC for Batman #128, written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Jorge Jimenez, colored by Tomeu Morey, and lettered by Clayton Cowles, Superman attempts to fight Failsafe while Batman pontificates on how poorly the battle will go. The robot was created by Batman of Zur-En-Arrh to stop Bruce in the event he ever goes too far and kills someone. And Batman of Zur-En-Arrh was created by Bruce in case he ever lost control of his own mind.
So of course, Failsafe is also equipped to fight every single one of Bruce's allies, including the entire Justice League.
That obviously includes Superman, whose biggest weakness is kryptonite. The preview pages below show Failsafe extending two kryptonite sabers and strategically pushing Clark into space, so he can turn around and finish Batman off. When Supes dives back in, he's stabbed by a third piece of kryptonite, leaving both Clark and Bruce in states of near-dying.
Green Arrow arrives right after Superman is stabbed, in much the same way that he arrives in Justice League #75 - and fails to rescue the team from Pariah. Then Martian Manhunter shows up, indicating that a stream of heroes may be on the way to rescue Batman.
But with Failsafe at full power and both Batman and Superman down for the count, we can't help but wonder how quickly Failsafe will take out all of their teammates and allies. It feels like a more personal version of the Justice League dying, where the blood isn't on Pariah's hands, but Bruce Wayne's.
And that has to hurt more than anything, especially after Failsafe nearly wiped out the entire Bat family in Batman #126...
Batman #128 will be available October 4.
What's next for Batman? Check out all the new Batman comics, graphic novels, and collections from DC in 2022 (and 2023).