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More like we're reading a writer who is tired of the whole song and dance. There is nothing joyful or interesting about this run on Batman. Lots of clever and self-referential writing though. Issue 55 was full of nods to King's friends and critics.
The KGBeast isn't working alone. As the Cold War between Batman and the Russian killer heats up, Batman's nose for mystery gets to twitching when he suspects there's more to the KGBeast's attacks than initially thought. Not only does this tie back to the court case Bruce Wayne sat on involving Mr. Freeze, there's another villainous Gotham ghoul in play-but whom?
Beasts of Burden was a solid 3 issue arc that shows the human side of Batman, hurting due to a villains heartless act on one of his own (practically) children. Tom Kings conclusion mixing the folklore element was a fantastic touch, making it easy to see why his run on the publication is continually celebrated. Im looking forward to see how far down the rabbit hole – or pit – we will go to truly solve this mystery of violence in the following issues. Read Full Review
BATMAN #57 is a tale of few words that manages to reach beyond its pages and reverberate into ourselves. Read Full Review
Tony S Daniel's art is gorgeous. I loved every panel and camera angle in this issue. There are shots of Batman in the snow that make it seem like a living shadow is moving across the snow. Daniel adds some great details in the close ups and those moments flow perfectly with the action. Read Full Review
I enjoyed this book and I must say that this was one of the best issues I've read this far. Just the fact that there's more to the story let's you know that this is just the start of a long road of revenge for Batman. KGBeast mentions being hired by someone, so now Batman knows that this was more than just revenge. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next issue of Batman! Read Full Review
Light on the dialogue it may be, but what a visual spectacle! Read Full Review
Tony Daniel's art is amazing. He's at the top of his game too. The fight scene he draws is fluid and wonderful. He's constantly improving. This is another strong issue in a highly successful run. Thumbs up all around to this creative team. Read Full Review
King doesn't pack a lot of dialogue in this fight until its conclusion, which is where he connects the subtle message between the two stories. The final two pages tease that King's Batman is tired of being on the defensive and in his feelings and is ready to get back to his former status of excellence. Looks like we're in for a very interesting ride over the next few issues. Read Full Review
Taken as a whole, "Beasts of Burden" is a major success. The story is dramatic without being ridiculous, explodes with action without being a dull endless battle sequence, it has pathos"both for the hero and the villain, and it invites us as the reader to question our desires for vengeance as well as what we would choose to do in this situation ourselves. Read Full Review
Overall, this issue wraps up a brief, but important arc in theBatman mythos that continues to send us deeper into the psychology of a character who's been with us for more than 80 years.King's already left his mark on Batman, but he's continuing to make it even more long-lasting. Read Full Review
I do hope that I am wrong on the near murder of the KGBeast and Batmans confusion. Read Full Review
'Batman' #57, by Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Mark Buckingham, Andrew Pepoy, Tom Morey and Clayton Cowles is brutal, shocking and violent, yet elegantly told.A definite must read Read Full Review
Some stories are fairy tales. Some stories are nightmares. This story incorporates elements of both and the results are explosive. Read Full Review
And overall, King has given us a skillful, suspenseful series of issues that have set up an overarching mystery " one which, at this point we can only assume, is setting up to an even bigger showdown than the ones we've witnessed already in his run. Which means, once again, King has succeeded in making the release date of the next issue one that can't come soon enough. Read Full Review
Another light issue of Batman beating up a guy, crossed with an old fable that probably went over my head. But that's on me. Read Full Review
Batman #57 delivered an effective end to the "Beast of Burden" story arc. Tom King did a great job making the fight between Batman and KGBeast absolutely brutal. How the fight ended created a lot of intrigue around the direction King plans to take Batman. If it wasn't for a questionable story decision Batman #57 would've been an even better issue than it turned out to be. Read Full Review
Hopefully, soon we will have more meat and fewer potatoes with these coming issues from King, the whole thing feels like he now cares about this new crisis. When Batman audiences were told these hundred issues would be the change Batman needs. So far, we've been given a 25+ issue tease of a relationship that never actually went how it was foreshadowed, 3 issue of amazingly critical and self-aware writing of the Batman that hasn't ever really been seen, and this would some up the past six months. I can't help but feel lied to. The only change that has been shown even remotely feel like a diary entry from King himself, in which the consequences of such haven't come to fruition. Disingenuous I'd say. I need some more from my Batman guys. Read Full Review
Batman #57 delivers a disappointing and needlessly bleak conclusion to the Dark Knight's clash with KGBeast. Read Full Review
Overall, the final chapter to“Beasts of Burdens” was underwhelming. The use of parallel storytelling and great art can only carry the comic so far. The build-up was lacking and the climax was a tad generic. What is worse, King's interpretation of Batman fails to emotionally engage, making the whole adventure feel empty and shallow. Read Full Review
An intriguing thematic exploration, this rather thin plot closes out the brutal Beasts of Burden arc. Read Full Review
It's a deeply disturbing issue, yes, but not one that passes the smell test. Read Full Review
Batman's rumble in Russia is entertaining but not quite as epic as the build-up. Read Full Review
With the main story art the only thing to hang your hat on, it doesn't really bode well for the issue's final score, so the less said the better. Read Full Review
The issue is visually beautiful -- a largely wordless fight between Batman and the man who shot Nightwing -- but it lacks substance. Read Full Review
This feels like a misfire of an arc that would've worked better had Batman and the Beast's violence had consumed the issue for its full length. Read Full Review
A public domain folktale shoved into an extended fight scene that ends with Batman doing something he should never do! This issue was infuriating beyond the lack of a story and while I'm sure some will praise it, I found it appalling. Read Full Review
If this run gets any worse than 'Beasts of Burden,' DC may as well just cancelBatmanaltogether and letDetective Comicsbe the main title for Batman. Read Full Review
A couple of months ago Tom King made a Tweet about how he plots out his action sequences. It was extremely simple and didn't really provide any direction for the artist. Seeing Batman and the KGBeast doing battle in the snow with practically no dialogue and a few grunts made me think of that tweet and chuckle a bit.
Batman #57 concludes the KGBeast story arc with Batman tracking the villain to his father's home moments after he commits patricide. The comic is an amazing read even though there isn't a ton of dialogue in the issue. Just two men fighting it out in the harshest of conditions.
This isn't to say that there isn't much story here. The action is ramped up and interspersed with the brutality is an illustrate more
"I'M THE WORLD GREATEST DETECTIVE. I'LL FIND OUT WHO HIRED YOU. AND I WILL BREAK THEM TOO. YOU CAN GET YOUR OWN DAMN HELP"
Pretty great conclusion. Art by Tony Daniel was fantastic as usual and I liked how the fairytale connected to the story at the end. It makes me excited for what's coming next.
This is how I think the fairytale connected to the story:
Fox (Batman) goes to the church to pray for god and on the way there he meets other animals. Fox seems to be very nice and friendly. After the fairytale takes a dark turn (when they fall to the pit) Fox ends up doing fucked up things in order to survive. Batman (wounded), like fox, realizes that he might have to do "fucked up things" and leave KGBeast out there (w more
What an action-packed issue. It's been a great mini-arc, hoping to see more of KGBeast sometime soon.
I don't know if seeing all the negative reaction lowered my expectations or not, but I thought this was awesome. I loved the gorey folktale visuals overlapping the fight between Batman and KGBeast, and his reaction at the end really shows we are seeing a Batman who is tired of the whole song and dance.
Don't fuck with Batman's batfam.
Still can’t understand all the 10’s. Low threshold for being impressed I guess. Art was really good and the story is not terrible. Long time Batman fans seem to hate it for various reasons. Being a newcomer to Batman and not having all the baggage, I think it’s ok. Fun read.
"Come along, gossip"
Well, that took a turn. Dark and twisted one. And I mean the children story. No surprise that Anatoli grew up to be who he is (was?).
As for his battle with the Dark Knight. Pretty straightforward brawl. No dialogue, no narration, just two angry dudes beating the snot out of each other and trying not to die in the process. I like it. It was pretty entertaining and good looking fight.
Much of that can be attributed to Tony Daniel's art. The fight looks dynamic and intense, and every shot of Batman's broken cowl is great, especially the one where he walks away.
Art in the folktale is pretty good too. Starts innocently at first and that just... Dark and twisted.
Yeah, good issue. more
Some nice fight scenes and the fairy tale art was nice change-of-pace. But I will join the crowds and say that the arc could have been completed in one issue. King's primary objective in his comics is to manipulate time and therefore, the reader experience. He's allowed to not do it perfectly once!
This issue was very lackluster. While the fight scenes were brutal, it moved very slow. There was no excitement until Batman hit that devastating blow in the end. To make matters worse, there was no dialog between Batman and KGBeast until page 21. Unless the folktale was being read, the issue consisted of action sounds as dialog.
The folktale was the best part of this issue. "The Animals and the Pit" is a folktale that was read to Bruce and Anatoli by their Fathers when they were children. It follows 5 different animals that fall in a pit and must eat each other to survive another day. The tale ends with you wondering if Batman is the Pig or the Fox. At first I was thinking Batman was the Fox. The Fox outsmarted the Pig more
As much as I liked the first two parts, this is unnecessarily violent and grotesque. Also, why does this Batman act so recklessly? He almost got beaten to death...
As much as I like King's style, his choices just don't work in this arc. The fairy tale is cool but a little difficult imo to connect to the story. Not to mention how Batman almost says nothing thing the ENTIRE ISSUE. I get that fighting is loud and can sometimes take a while. But seriously, an entire issue where the dialogue is just grunts?!
Because of this, what could have been a potentially great final issue is hard to take seriously. It just doesn't serve the story right and is hideously anticlimactic.
What's more this has become a pattern with King. Is he just trying to be different (which can work wonders sometimes for his style) or is he just being lazy? Truth be told, I can't tell anymore and it makes more
dangerously closing to dropping Batman, AGAIN.. the second time since Tom King took over... I suppose his writing maybe just isn't for me.
from a base of 6, this gets a rating of: 6.
+1 because: the art was definitely above average.
-1 because: because he only had half an issue of story so we got to see a pig and fox cartoon
Perfect 10 for the art. Unfortunately this overall gets a 6 so take from that what you will.
horrible and repetitive, dialogue is a joke
but the worst was the end
that was just awful, is that Batman a hero or villain?
Why does Batman always go to these remote,inhospitable environs the hardest way - on horseback, trudging through icefields? Whats the point? Plus, what exactly was batmans plsn? He couldnt have carried Beast back to civilization, so either he was going to give hjim a bloody nose and leave him there - highly unsatisfying - or kill him. He was never going to bring him in by the book. So thst makes this premeditated murder.
This one wasn’t for me personally. I like a book with a lot of dialogue and this wasn’t it. I would have liked the fairytale to be scrapped and had more dialogue and story telling written. I did like Batman’s final few lines but this was a let down for me
Again, some of the best art in the business, but the story is pointless. Batman travelled across the globe to break KGBeast's neck. Wow, that is why I buy Batman twice a month. Add in a Russian folk tale to distract from the main story, and you get 10 pounds of awful with your 5 puns of clever. At this point, I'm hate reading this series. At least Daniel's art was fantastic to look at. I could read a whole issue of Batman trudging through snow and punching bad guys if Daniel drew every page.
Something's a little off if Tom King's sudden retelling of a fairy tale is more interesting than the Batman stuff. I guess I'm left asking: what was the point?
Out of character Batman.
I didn't get what the stoytime bit was about.
*Mild Spoiler*
I get the reference, it should have stayed in the 90s.
That's it? Folktales was creepy and interesting but I don't know how it connects to Bruce. Batman breaking KGBeast neck wasn't bad, because it was last resort, but that he left him in the snow, Like He's Multi Billioner, he couldn't waited for Alfred to extract him, and take KGBeast to super secret prison for interregation?
I don't find anything good about this comic, and that's a shame, because last few issue leading to it were an improvement, compared to abominations like Everyone Loves Ivy and The Wedding. It's so painfully mediocre and features hardly any text to read. I mean, not every comic has to - King usually relies on very minimalistic tone, and sometimes it works out great, like with I Am Suicide arc. But this... This seems like a step too far - Batman and KG Beast literally just growl and scream during their confrontation.
Don't recommend this comic, days when King's Batman was one of the top DC series are long gone, and I really don't understand why is he even trying to do a 100 issue mega run, when so much of it already is pure low qua more
Well, that was dissatisfying. Batman and KGBeast could've actually talked a little but instead Batman has to be a moron and alert KGBeast to his presence and get himself shot in the process. I legitimately liked the fairytale, although I'm not sure if Tom King made it up or not. Either way, good job on that. Unfortunately, the way the fairytale relates to the Batman/KGBeast story (which it does) is muddled and made stupid by Batman's dumb decisions, that he only makes because plot demands it. And I wouldn't liken the Fox to Batman, since Batman should put KGBeast's life before his own, like he does with everyone else. But I guess KGBeast doesn't have that Joker level insurance policy when it comes to killing Robins. Oh, and of course, Bruce more
There wasn’t really very much to this issue, and I was pretty disappointed with what was there.
"I won't kill you. But I don't have to save you."
-Batman killing someone.
When people say Batman doesn't kill, It's like we are not reading or watching the same thing. Issues like this just give fuel to the fire.
Another pointless issue with a bunch of filler and no real dialogue. The art is great and deserves a higher score but the story was just crap.
If we would review this comic just by it's art, a solid 9. Tony Daniel is a good artist.
And I think he is chosen to be artist every time King writes a terrible comic. This and Booster Gold-future-mess proves that.
Just two dudes fighting while a fairy-tale is being read in a flashback. And Batman leaves KGBeast dying. King, the last thing you wanna do is take inspiration from BvS.
Overall, terrible issue. Batman acts like he is in Dark Knight Returns, but this isn't a Frank Miller comic from 90s. And the most disappointing thing is that King can do better.
Once again, Tom King stinks it up and proves he should not be writing Batman. The Tony Daniel's art is the only thing good about this.
The art in the story is nice. King is a man of few words. Too bad words aren't a bad thing in a comic book.
The story picks up right where it left off. Batman goes to the cabin where KGBeast killed dad. Instead of doing something smart like throwing a flashbang stun grenade in the cabin to get an advantage over a villain that can go toe to toe with him, Batman says "Beast" outside the door of the cabin. Beast immediately shoots through the door, tags Batman with a bullet and comes out fighting.
They trade blows and the Beast has Batman on the ground and Batman takes out a grapple and fires it at Beast's head, breaking his neck. Beast is paralyzed and says help me and I will tell you who hired me. Batman says no, I'm t more
Tony Daniel did a great job... unfortunately can not say same for Tom King. Seriously this is the conclusion?! We get half the issue about a folktale that doesn't connect and other half Batman and Beast grunting and fighting. Stupidity to have people charge money for this issue.
So predicable, oh no my girlfriend and bro are out of my life, Alfrted is my last remaining connective tissue, now I ambiguously kill someone while spouting off hands down one of the most embarrassing attempts at a badass Batman line on the professional level.
ZZZzzzZzZZzzZZzZZZ.... LOL did he just say hes the worlds greatest detective out loud? Did he just say he has a body of hurt?
You can see why he limits Batman's dialog to robotic repetition; the guy is TERRIBLE, one of the worst in recent memory, at capturing a convincing voice for Batman.
AKA Tom King read Year Three and decided to regurgitate it back up for us with his own feckless take on the Dark Knight Depressive.
Yes Batman does brutally beat up his enemies, but he also always saves his villains, no matter what. Therefore it felt totally out of character for Bruce to leave KGBeast helpless in the cold. Batman isn't a murderer and this "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" mentality he seems to have borrowed from Batman Begins just doesn't fit him.
He also missed an opportunity to get this case solved just because of ego/ emotions. That also was out of character for him. His line "I am the Worlds greatest detective" didn't impress me, it rather felt like what a Batman fanboy would say, but not what Bruce would say.
The story with the animals was nice, but overall pointless. I expected more with this issue. This issue feels more
THE GOOD:
-That fairytale part was pretty great. Morbid and original. I dig it.
THE BAD:
-Tony Daniel's art was still a let-down for me. It felt way too rushed. Not necessarily bad art, just not good Tony S. Daniel art.
-Apparently King has abandoned dialogue altogether, and just thinks that as far as the actual story goes, just having the characters making a bunch of noises over an admittedly lackluster battle is okay. Good to know.
-Also these noises are somehow worse than the sound-effects from the 1966 Batman show. For example we have wonderful marvels of prose such as phrases like, "GKRK", "KHAA", and everyone's favorite, "GHXN." Because when I get punched in the face by a hook ha more
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!!!!! X'D
this is a joke, right?
this was supposed to be a joke?
why is DC trying to force Tom King on the Batman series for 100 issues?
the man didn’t even have 50 good issues in him, let alone 100.
DC really needs to find someone who actually understands Batman,
and knows how to tell a good Batman story.
otherwise we can all sit back and continue to watch King embarrass himself.
.5 is added for the good laugh. X'D
Nonsense.
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