I'm really excited to see where King takes this book next issue. I'm digging the psychological thriller vibe of it. The darkness of it. Don't get me wrong, Batman's usually pretty dark and brooding, but it's nice to get a little bit of his human side too. To remind us that he's just a man under that cape and cowl. Read Full Review

Batman has consistently vied for best Rebirth title honors. With this storyline constantly delivering, this is the one DC book you have to read this week if you can only grab one. Read Full Review

How this arc will progress will hopefully be really strong, as it’s had such a strong beginning. Most people really want Tom King’s Batman to be so stong and it’s had a really shaky start but hopefully it will just continue strong. Read Full Review

ConclusionIll keep it simple here. Just go out and pick up Batman. The title has been great for years, and Tom King and his revolving door of great artists are keeping that tradition alive. I will be in Gotham next month, and the month after that. Read Full Review

The ride that King is taking us on I am Bane picked up on Batman #17. The tension that has been building up for the better part of two issues, was finally broken. This then is building towards the inevitable confrontations between Bane and Batman. This is a must read story arc! Read Full Review

If you're the kind of person who's too impatient to wait for the action to start, I Am Bane is perfect for you. Bane doesn't take any breaks to strategize. If he's going to go to war, he's going to bring the fight to whoever's unfortunate enough to be in his crosshairs. Read Full Review

This is everything you hope for in a Batman story: A monstrous dark villain, methodically planning Batman's demise, with everything hanging in the balance. Tom King and David Finch, through some trial and error, have really found their stride. Which adds to the lure of this issue, and the remaining issues of the "I am Bane" story arc. Read Full Review

Still, this comicis probably one of the best issues in King'sBatman run, due to its suspenseful writing and appropriately gritty art. It is shaping up to be on of the best Bane-centric storylines sinceKnightfall. Read Full Review

The art remains fantastic throughout the book and really sells the menacing tone of this book. Read Full Review

Tom King and David Finch return to up the stakes in this second part of "I am Bane"  While the story really is all setup, it sets up some pretty awesome things and leads to another crazy cliffhanger.  The art is fantastic throughout and two weeks suddenly feels like way to long to get the next issue. Read Full Review

For an issue that featured surprisingly little Batman himself, #17 was all at once exciting and eventful but remains mysterious with plenty of proverbial meat on the bone for the next issue. Read Full Review

King skips the puns and the comedy for this issue and gets straight to business with some rather dark storytelling. In this issue Bane making his first moves on Batman. While Batman is making his moves to secure Claire aka Gotham Girl with Psycho Pirate so she can be cured. It plays out like a chess match between Batman and Bane. This is the setup for what is to come and it just flies by as you read it, leaving you wanting more. Read Full Review

At times the "Rebirth" era of Batman has felt more like an odd Legend of the Dark Knight-like freakout instead of the main Bat solo title, but Batman #17 has finally struck a nicely entertaining balance between the two. Tom King may not take the most direct route with his plots, but always finds a new angle for superhero storytelling stocked with strong evocative characters. David Finch, Danny Miki, and Jordie Bellaire provide another strong showing after their return to the title, but #17 shows another side to Finch that I hope continues throughout this arc. Though it may not be the easiest title to get into at times Batman #17 puts the series back into the win column with a stylishly tense installment. Read Full Review

Overall, King does a great job furthering the plot as the I Am Bane arc continues to unfold, and it ends with our first look at the menacing, masked man from Santa Prisca, himself, setting the stage for what promises to be an explosive next issue. Read Full Review

DC knows exactly what they're doing. Rebirth has been a remarkable success and it's due to the wonderful creative teams they've put together. While Batman #17 may not hit the highs of previous issues, King and company continue to prove themselves worthy successors to their legendary predecessors. Bane may have been one-dimensional in the New 52 but here he serves as a worthy antagonist to our Dark Knight. While the story didn't progress much, the character work develops the confrontation between hero and villain into a can't-miss event. "I Am Suicide" may have ended with a somewhat disappointing and quiet conclusion, but "I Am Bane" looks to be the clash of titans we've been anticipating since issue 1. Read Full Review

"I Am Bane" is quickly shaping up to be one of the best stories to feature the titular villain. The "less is more" approach pays off handsomely when it comes to both Bane himself and Tom King's exploration of the Batman/Superman friendship. This issue is dramatic, suspenseful, and full of gorgeously detailed artwork. What more could a Bat-fan ask for? Read Full Review

This just felt like a nice old-school throwback issue to me. There's just plenty of stuff to like. It's fun and enjoyable, but at the same time it has this pervasive ominousness. Read Full Review

Batman #17 takes elements of a story we know well—the vicious circle trapping Batman and Bane—and examines it through a different lens that gives us a novel view. Read Full Review

matched creative team hits all the right beats in the middle chapter of what is shaping up to be an unforgettable arc. Read Full Review

Over the course of the past two issues Tom King has created something special in Batman and hopefully now the showdown between the Dark Knight and Bane wont be a disappointment. Ideally, it will be more competitive than the fight where Bane broke Batmans back. Regardless of how things turn out, if youre a fan of Bane and youre not reading this book, you really should remedy that as soon as possible. Read Full Review

Batman#17 is technically another “setup” issue to the inevitable mano a manorematch between Batman and Bane. However,Tom King, David Finch, Danny Miki, and Jordie Bellaire makes their upcoming battle even more frightening as some of Batman's best allies are taken off the board in a swift way reminiscent of Bane unleashing the Dark Knight's rogue's gallery in “Knightfall” before breaking his back when he was utterly broken down. Bane and King both play the long game, and the next issue should be filled with big moves to competent for the utter catastrophe that is Batman's supporting cast in this issue. Read Full Review

Batman #17 is a good read. I enjoyed the entire issue from beginning to the end, and King satisfactorily answered the questions I had about Gotham Girl as well. I'm definitely looking forward to the confrontation between Bane and Batman, especially withthe situation Batman has now found himself in. David Finch's workgave usperfect shadows of the characters and their surroundings. Each page gave you a look as if you looking into the streets of Gotham yourself, and I hope he brings that same look to the next issue too! King leaves us on a cliffhanger where you already know that the next issue will be a fight between Batman and Bane! Can't wait! Read Full Review

Cerebral and darker than the blackest coffee, Batman #17 could've been straight from the mind of David Fincher. Read Full Review

Although the Dark Knight continues to make decisions that vex and the story has been somewhat haphazard and disjointed, now that King has moved the pieces around on the board to his liking and brought us to the inevitable Batman vs. Bane showdown, Batman has become too thrilling to put down for even a moment. Batman #18 can't come soon enough. Read Full Review

Tom King crafts an exciting tale that unfortunately tosses his new-found comedic streak aside in favor of the usual overly-philosophical monologues. Read Full Review

Despite some of Batman's decisions here, the comic does do a good job in presenting Bane as a legitimate threat. The need for Batman to have access to the Psycho-Pirate for a period of five days in order to fix what the villain did to Gotham Girl also presents an accelerated timetable for Bane. For fans. Read Full Review

If anything, this issue shows that perhaps Finch is not the artist for BATMAN. If this comic is to rise to the heights of THE VISION or SHERIFF OF BABYLON, an artist who really plays to King's strengths should be found. BATMAN is a good comic, flirting with inconsistent bouts of greatness and suffering an identity crisis between being a glossy superhero comic and a unique, authorial take on the Dark Knight Detective Read Full Review

Im committed to this story, of course. I have the highest of hopes. I just need to see some progress. I feel like the art and the story are disjointed. The level of clarity isnt what it needs to be. Maybe theres a communication issue between the parties. Maybe theres not. The end result is still a wonderfully cinematic, if flawed, story that Im not going to give up on. Read Full Review

As with the previous issue King's writing beautifully captures the dire tension that is the "war" to come between Batman and Bane. We see both Batman and Bane making their preparations for this battle and get that phenomenal tease of the action ahead in the final page. As always Finch's artwork amazes and really drive home what is at stake in Gotham. Much like belt buckle after thanks giving this story is about to burst open and I don't think I can wait 2 weeks... masterful stuff!

This is what I was waiting for! Tom King is unleashed: the story is getting very dark and the suspense is terrible. Also, I loved the All-Star Superman reference, and, in general, all the allusions to classics in this series!

I have really enjoyed the Bane story so far and like the idea of an angry and spiteful villain. I hope not every issue has to deal with something being taken away from Batman, but so far it has been done so in a story driven manner. David Finch's art is on point and I think the storytelling is very consistent for Tom King.

As inconsistent as Tom King's work has been in the previous arcs, "I Am Bane" seems to continue the streak of strong, if not perfect, issues. The story starts with Black Tiger being left to suffer after venom after-effects, leaving me wondering why Batman doesn't help him in some way, maybe using the Psycho-Pirate himself. Then we surprisingly get to hang out with Supes at the Fortressof Solitude, leaving me wondering why Batman doesn't solve his problem with his help, which is in fact better to not considered when reading Bat-verse comics. I know King uses the "my problem, my solution" trick, but it feels kinda forced, considered the situation, but I get that it would be a shame to miss the opportunity of a Batman/Bane solo showdown. The reason why Bats is there also leaves me wondering how can the Robins be alive at all, if not by the luckiest of chances: he saw them hanged just in time to save them. Alfred's bit was nothing but awesome, as he always is, and shows he's willing to do what it takes to get the job done: he's the most optimal of the Bat-family members. There's a lot more happening in this issue that I loved, so let's make a random list: Pirate talking about other worlds, the return of Bane's henchmen, the unexplicably awesome splash page of Bats on a roof, references to previous artists/writers who worked on Batman and Bane before in the names of locations, the ending! Such a dense issue, and King, notwithstanding his missteps in plot logic, does a great job to keep everything fine and well paced. Let's go ahead and have a big fight now! more

This is a strong issue leading up to Bane and Batman confronting each other. I am getting used to King's scripts on "Batman," where not everything is spelled out for us and some significant things happen between the panels. Bane is here, ominous, made more so by the limited page time he is actually getting in the book, appearing like a sinister overthought but rarely revealing himself. So, when he does appear, as in this issue, it seems the stakes are very high. After the so-so "I am Suicide" storyline, King has been nailing this series. And Finch's pencils look great.

Another great issue from King! Excited for the showdown between Batman and Bane.

finch is always great

SCORE: 8

Bane captured his 4 prisoners too easy. Psycho Pirate procedure to cure Gotham Girl is to inelegant. Superman would never hold people against their wills. Story pitch still has potential and the art is still marvelous.

I don't think that Tom King really undrestands Batman. He understands a world and a character but not in the same time.

Tom king is not a good batman story teller.. the batman dc rebirth title sells well because the story is about batman, but not because of the writer.. tom king cant write for shit.. lame dialogue and character build up..

Reads like bad fan fiction. Good Art.