Quick Facts
- Story Arc: Blood & Money (#7-12)
- Writer: Matt Fraction
- Artist: Jorge Jiménez
- Colorist: Tomeu Morey
- Release date: July 1, 2026
Summary
This issue picks up Ojo’s storyline from #5.
The Shadow Board, a shady group connected to Wayne Enterprises, is arguing amongst themselves about killing Bruce Wayne. The assassin they originally hired, Ojo, never finished the job.
One of the board members, a guy named Mr. Blake, meets Ojo on a rooftop to tell her the news himself. Since she couldn’t get it done, the contract is being opened up to any assassin willing to kill Bruce.
The Ojo believes in professionalism. Don’t cancel a contract. She slices Blake in half and makes it clear she plans to kill every assassin who gets in her way of killing Bruce. Batman later watches from a distance as the police go over Blake’s body and the crime scene.
Meanwhile, over at the Iceberg Lounge, Penguin is meeting with Gotham’s other gangsters, trying to get them to rise up against the Minotaur. He’s still got a stranglehold on the city’s organized crime.
Back at Wayne Experimental Sciences, Bruce tries to explain to Dr. Zeller why Damian called Bruce “father” dressed up as Robin. He explained, generally, he has a complicated relationship with Damian’s mother. She hid Damian from him until he was 10 and raised Damian using the culture in “her world”. He ended the conversation saying he didn’t want Annika to close her project. It wasn’t disclosed why she wanted to stop her project but it is assumed she was shaken up about Ojo trying to kill her.
Ojo sets a trap, and Batman walks right into it, leading to a fight sequence in the streets of Gotham between Batman and Ojo. At the same time, Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock are getting pressure from regular Gotham citizens who are tired of watching the GCPD failing to do their job.
Remember: the Bat-family is currently working without their usual bunkers and without Oracle’s support. Every fight right now carries a little more risk than it normally would.
During the fight, Batman tells Ojo that Annika is protected. The problem: he fought Ojo in issue #5 as Bruce, not Batman. Annika is confused, asking “Who?”.
While they are fighting, officers arrive and tell Batman to let her go. He explained if he does, she will kill again. They open fire on them but Batman and Ojo were able to escape.
Later, Bruce is hanging out with Damian at home when the doorbell rings. Meaning, the person got through all of their security. When they open the door, it is a woman claiming to be Alfred’s great-niece Verity Pennyworth, Bruce’s new MajorDomo.
Notable Moments
- Mr. Blake tells Ojo her contract is being opened to other assassins. She kills him.
- Penguin rallies Gotham’s criminal underworld against the Minotaur at the Iceberg Lounge.
- A big street fight between Batman and the Ojo, after she sets a trap for him.
- Batman mistakenly tells Ojo that Annika is protected. Will she piece together that Bruce Wayne is Batman?
- Gordon and Bullock start feeling real pressure from ordinary citizens fed up with the GCPD.
My Thoughts
It’s nice they picked up Ojo’s storyline from issue #5. However… Damian calling Batman “father” in issue #5 plus Batman warning Ojo about Annika in this issue = two women that should piece together that Bruce and Batman are the same person. One of them being quite deadly.
Interesting that both slip ups happened one issue prior to the end of a story arc.
Bruce did an okay job trying to explain to Annika how Damian was raised. He couldn’t tell her the truth: he was trained to be an assassin. The art on that page is excellent.
