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/55.jpg "Batman #55")
a dozen red roses please.
Batman #55
| Writer | Tom King |
| Artist | Tony Daniel |
| Cover Price | $3.99 |
The KGBeast lives! The Russian super-assassin is back-but under whose orders? Does he have a specific mission, or is this simply some leftover Cold War mayhem? Nyet, comrade-it has to do with Bruce Wayne's recent court case involving Mr. Freeze. Something is rotten in Gotham, and you can still smell it, even if it's on ice!
CRITIC REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
Infinite Earths - J.D. Jr.
Sep 19, 2018A dramatic set piece brimming with excellent chemistry, and the return of a classic DC Comics foe! Read Full Review
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10
ComicBook.com - Nicole Drum
Sep 19, 2018If you've been reading Tom King's Batman, then you've likely figured out that it's the issues that are the quietest in terms of action and major events that end up packing the biggest punch, and that holds true for Batman #55. Read Full Review
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10
On Comics Ground - Travis Tucker
Sep 20, 2018Tom King is consistent in rattling cages, the way he sets us up for the emotional dumps that you will inevitably experience reading this issue is almost not fair. He's breaking the rules of comics so to speak, and that's a very good thing if done correctly. It's clear that Bruce is not yet finished with his hardships for as long as King has the reigns on his story. In tandem with the almost pastel gothic style of the art, we are delivered are a very hard punch to the heart. Frankly, I'm not sure how to even rate this properly without seeing the repercussions. At least a 20 for impact as it is now. Read Full Review
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10
DC Comics News - Steven Brown
Sep 21, 2018Overall I thought Batman #55 was a great read. It has plenty of action, and a great story to back it up. The ending of the book is what really grabs you though and I can't wait to read the next issue! Read Full Review
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10
Comic Crusaders - Shawn Warner
Sep 24, 2018Overall this is one of Tom King's most emotionally charged and high stakes stories. King has upped the ante again and I can't wait to see what happens when he cashes his chips in. So much hangs in the balance after this one folks, Gotham City won't be the same. 5/5 Read Full Review
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9.6
Forces Of Geek - Lenny Schwartz
Sep 19, 2018It's as good as the first time when the Beast appeared in the 80's. And that's some high praise indeed. Read Full Review
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9.5
Lyles Movie Files - Jeffrey Lyles
Sep 19, 2018Batman has gone through some very emotional moments and King isn't done putting him through the ringer yet in another stunning and gut punch issue that's only impacted by some unavoidable spoilers. Read Full Review
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9.5
Batman-News - Elena Carrillo
Sep 19, 2018Now Batman has lost something of great and irreplaceable value to him. Now Batman can justify his self-doubt and pain and rage. The repercussions of this book will no doubt trickle throughout the Bat-titles, so you better strap yourselves in. Tom King has written something daring. Now all we can do is hope that editorial lets him follow through with it in an interesting and genuinely impactful way. Read Full Review
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9.4
Black Nerd Problems - Keith Reid-Cleveland
Sep 19, 2018Now, back to my first statement in this review. Things happen. I won't spoil them here, but brace yourselves. Read Full Review
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9.0
The Brazen Bull - Charlie Chipman
Sep 19, 2018Packed tight with tension and intensity,Batman (2016-) #55 builds to an epic conclusion that'll leave readers picking their jaws off of the floor or, at the very least, excited and eager for Issue #56. Read Full Review
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9.0
The Super Powered Fancast - Deron Generally
Sep 19, 2018The juxtaposition between the Batman/Nighwing story and the mystery man was well paced and kept me guessing what was going to happen right up until the end. Read Full Review
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9.0
Bounding Into Comics - Matt Johnson
Sep 19, 2018This is yet again a solid issue of Batman. It's fun and light with a twist at the end that you might see coming, but you might not. All through the lighthearted Batman/Nightwing bits you start to feel dread creep in as it's clear that the KGBeast is not only up to something pretty bad, but nobody has any idea he's even in the country until it's far too late. Read Full Review
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9.0
Comic Book Revolution - Kevin Lainez
Sep 20, 2018Batman #55 was an excellent chapter in Tom King's ongoing run on this series. Throughout the issue King balances having fun of writing Batman and Nightwing working together as the Dynamic Duo alongside with building up tension with what KGBeast was planning. All that tension perfectly built to the final pages of Batman #55 that will have fans talking for a long time. That build up and final payoff makes Batman #55 a must read for any DC Comics fan. Read Full Review
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9.0
Comic Book Bin - Herv St-Louis
Sep 23, 2018Tony S. Daniel returns to the world of Batman to show us how he is one of the best Batman artists that can draw him in midair jumping from rooftops. He is the right pick for this story also featuring Nightwing. Normally, I would not be a fan of Daniels work not because it is bad, but the Jim Lee style is not favourite. Yet for this tale, capturing the innocence of Nightwing and the limited action afforded by Kings script, Daniel excels. Read Full Review
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8.5
IGN - Jesse Schedeen
Sep 19, 2018Batman #55 offers a winning blend of light and dark elements, though the jury is still out on the cliffhanger. Read Full Review
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8.3
Comicsverse - Maite Molina
Sep 19, 2018BATMAN #55 is an energetic, haunting issue that continuously builds tension until it detonates in the issue's horrifying, final pages. Read Full Review
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8.3
Comic Watch - Bethany W Pope
Sep 28, 2018King and Daniel construct a comic book that is as intricate as the inner workings of a clock while still packing the pages with plenty of spirit, heart, and fun. It's everything you want in a Batman book. Read Full Review
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8.0
AIPT - Russ Whiting
Sep 19, 2018Still (and I'm starting to sound like a broken record here), this is yet another issue where King has managed to write a stirring, emotionally impactful story that has us dying to find out what happens next. I'm reminded of the Iron Maiden lyric, "For the Devil sends the Beast with wrath." King has done just that. (Does that make him the devil to our Bat-God?) Read Full Review
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8.0
Geek Dad - Ray Goldfield
Sep 19, 2018Batman #55 is a high-quality comic where not much happens, all leading up to a shocking moment that's been spoiled six ways from Sunday weeks before the issue comes out. Read Full Review
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8.0
Impulse Gamer - Jeremy Carr
Sep 21, 2018The art in this issue has been leaps and bounds better than what weve seen out of this series as of late. The Cold Days arc just wasnt my cup of tea, no offense to those who enjoy Weeks work. This issue just really drew me in and I enjoyed every page. I was pleasantly surprised by this issue, though King has let me down before. He can be brilliant or just downright awful. I refuse to let myself get too excited yet, but I can take this issue as King on his good days. So Im giving this issue 4 stars out of 5. Its a good start to getting back on track to some actual Batman story telling. Read Full Review
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8.0
Big Comic Page - Dave MacPhail
Sep 21, 2018I cant recommend this series enough right now. I have no idea how the events of this issue will impact the status quo of the other Bat family books but it would feel strange for it not to touch every single one of them in some way. By now many of you will already know what I am talking about thanks to spoilers being dropped by a few news sites, but for those who have managed to avoid them to this point, prepare to be heartbroken! Read Full Review
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8.0
Henchman-4-Hire - Sean Ian Mills
Sep 22, 2018A solid issue gets the job done " and then some " in setting up the next big, expansive storyline. Read Full Review
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7.0
Comic Book Corps - Jason Saba
Sep 19, 2018It could be postulated that reviews of his comics easily morph from being a review of the content inside the comic to a review of the content that is possibly inside Tom King's head.Is this what King has wanted all along? Only he can definitively answer that question. Read Full Review
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7.0
Dark Knight News - Eric Lee
Sep 20, 2018King and Daniel do a fine job setting up the next stage for Batman. The issue was light and breezy with a shock ending. However, the tedious banter and ill-fit art style does bring down the enjoyment a little. Read Full Review
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7.0
Multiversity Comics - Gustavo S. Lodi
Sep 24, 2018An excellently written piece, that loses opportunity points on how it could be visually built, but more than makes up for it for the virtue of its narrative. "Batman" #55 is another must-have on King's run. Read Full Review
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6.0
The Batman Universe - Ian Miller
Sep 19, 2018The hole dug for Batman only gets deeper, as the next phase of Tom King's Batman story gets underway. Read Full Review
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5.9
Weird Science - Jim Werner
Sep 19, 2018Tom King continues his run with an issue that is full of fan service moments that can be fun but don't lend themselves to telling any type of overall story. I'm sure that I will be told that it's all part of the 100+ issue plan, but I need more meat and cheese to keep me going now. It does end in a huge moment, but depending on where you lie on what you are looking for from DC since Rebirth started, you will either love or hate it. My gut reaction is that I hate it, but I am willing to wait and see if it can lead to more interesting stories down the line. Besides that, this issue had great art, some fun moments, but an equal amount of frustration and missed opportunities. Read Full Review
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4.0
Newsarama - Pierce Lydon
Sep 24, 2018King's been able to do some interesting things with a close adherence to structure in the past, but forcing it into every issue just doesn't work. It's the kind of thing that you don't want to have come across as gimmicky, and unfortunately, it's getting to that territory. Read Full Review
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3.7
Sequential Planet - Matt Herman
Sep 22, 2018Hollow dialogue and unnecessary character developments make this issue a disappointment for both Batman and Nightwing fans. Read Full Review
USER REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
A great issue with tons of awesome moments and a shocking ending that keeps you wanting more.
+ Like • Comment• Likes (4) -
10
I'm a sucker for good artwork .... so I had to give this book a 10
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10
This is a fantastic issue!!! First off the art is gorgeous! The book was entertaining and funny until the shocking ending!
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9.5
An excellently written comic with a shocking ending that perfectly characterized Nightwing & Batman's relationship. Unfortunately this ending is going to lead to some pretty disappointing Nightwing stories, but that shouldn't take away from this issue of "Batman"
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9.0
Fantastic art! and that ending really caught me off guard. Now I want more.
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9.0
Fantastic. I had this spoiled for me incorrectly like 3 months in advance, the way it was executed was so much more sobering than I was expecting. I also liked the reference to his critics, I am sure that will make them happy. It was such a profoundly repetitive and pretentious moment, I must say.
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8.5
Suspenseful, yet funny. Breezy, yet startling. Daniels (though his figures continue to be so thin) works the 9-panel grids very nicely.
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8.5
Not the best story of the run, but it's still better than 90% of what's being published. Daniel's art is great.
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8.5
Great suspense throughout the whole issue. Don't know what to expect next.
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8.0
I've been out of Batman for a while, but wanting to get back in. I read this last night, yeah the jokes were corny, but I really didn't think that was the point. The jokes, the fight with the mummies, all was a distraction while we watched KGBeast prepare. I think it was clear what was going to happen, but I was still surprised/shocked by the last page. Thats a good thing. The art was mostly good except for a couple scenes that looked like they where the characters looked like they were copy/pasted onto a generic "Gotham" background. In all, I was entertained by the book, even if Batman was too gloomy. I'd like to see how things progress.
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7.5
THE GOOD: -This issue gets recognition for just being such a massive improvement over the previous issue. Whereas issue 54 felt like a pointless filler, this issue takes its concepts and uses them originally and sets up a great new status quo for Nightwing. -Tony S. Daniel's art is excellent. He captures the characters well and portrays a variety of scenes with different feels and moods, expressing his wide talent. -This issue proves that Tom King can be a great writer. This issue has an excellent juxtaposition that works really well. There are a few kinks to work out with the minutia of the writing, but I'll be kind and not ding the score for that. THE BAD: -I still dislike Nightwing's character. He's a poor combination of a more
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7.5
So after doing a deep dive into Batman and Nightwing's relationship in the last issue, Batman #55 starts off with a night on the town with our dynamic duo. The events of the issue are pretty mundane but beautifully rendered by Tony S. Daniel and Tomeu Morey. The A Story builds off of the last issue. We get more character development and insight into the relationship between these two men. Batman is stoic as ever while Nightwing is constantly trolling Bruce to get a reaction. Occasionally the mask slips and we get the impression that Bruce has fun with Dick around but it's more of a subtext than anything that is ever outright stated The other subplot involves the KGBeast making his way through Gotham and setting up shop and getti more
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6.5
"He's just repeating himself 'cause he thinks that's profound" - is Tom King talking about himself? But first things first. The issue alternates between two stories. The first one follows the mysterious Mr. Zimmerman and the second one follows the Dynamic Duo on a patrol. As for Zimmerman part, I have no complaints. We follow him as he is preparing for something, till the very end, it is not clear to what exactly. And when we finally find out... well, I'm still kinda speechless. Nevertheless, it's good. As for the Dynamic Duo part. It's not great. The banter between Nightwing and Batman is pretty week. Dick is trying really, really hard to channel his inner Spider-Man and Bruce acts like a robotic parrot that can only repeat thin more
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6.5
The best issue since #49, but still far from the quality Tom King's first few arcs had. It's overall decent, and surely feels like a huge improvement compared to post wedding comics, but don't hold your breath yet, expecting full recovery. Worth picking up for the cliffhanger and art, though.
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6.5
Eh. This all just seems so forced. The art is fairly good, although a few angles during the fight scenes stretched the characters in weird ways. The dialogue was C quality for most of the book, but it did improve near the end. Tom King subtly snuck in a few self-referential bits of commentary on his run into the background crowd noise. Eh. On one hand, the grunting Batman is tiresome, but on the other hand it is definitely in his character to be a man of few words when on a mission. Mostly I just don't see where this is going. I think it is a desperate move whenever writers resort to killing, maiming, or mind-wiping characters for shock value. One positive for Tom King's writing though: he is excellent at framing the story about the story. more
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6.0
Last issue loses It's magic.
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6.0
is Zdarsky writing Nightwing now? urgh... from a base of 6, this gets a rating of: 6. +1 because: the art was definitely above average. -1 because there was too much stupid humor.
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5.0
The art was great. but that's really the only plus here. DC needs to get Tom King off of Batman (and any of their hi profile books). He really isn't good and would be better suited to Scooby Doo or one of those titles.
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4.5
What to say? I get what King is trying to do. I just don't think he did it well. We see Batman and Nightwing fight some mummy monsters. All during this Nightwing talks and talks and talks. He said Batman never liked his puns and then comes up with more puns. Again, I get why. King is trying to show us that Richard is trying to cheer Bruce up. Good idea. The problem is with the execution. It's all surface and cute. We don't actually get a serious conversation. Your mileage may vary, but Richard came off as a dick. (See what I did there?) Basically, it was just clumsy. The second part of the story is KGBeast entering Gotham, buying a sniper rifle and setting up a sniper's blind. The book end with KGBeast shooting Nightwing i more
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4.0
The art is the only good thing about this comic. King AGAIN proves he doesn't know a character in the Batfamily. Shocker.
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3.0
He makes a meta reference to readers' opinion on his stilted script with self-perceived humor 'cause he thinks that'll deflect legitimate criticism and warrant his repetition ad nauseam. --Let's see if a later issue will include a line similar to the one above to fill the space that should be used to tell a good story, and thus create an oh-so-clever meta-ception.
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3.0
UHG! i thought this was the same Tom King that wrote the hit series 'Grayson'. what happened??? did he completely forget how to write the character? Nightwing's jokes were SO bad in this! such painful dialog!!! i was actually almost happy when he got *SPOILER WITHHELD* ! ...also, Nightwing getting *SPOILER WITHHELD* in the *SPOILER WITHHELD* was very predictable. not much comic here. textbook decompression.
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2.5
creatively bankrupt Someone put Johns back in charge before every hero ends up some depressed ptsd addled pitiful self hating wispy frond of seaweed amnesiac with a weeping head wound. Such fun to read, and all set to the soundtrack of stupid old sitcom jokes.
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2025 In Review:
