King has had some rough patches during his run, but this was a strong beginning to the arc that will largely come to define readers' opinion of his overall work. This was exactly the kind of start King needed to get fans excited about the City of Bane and it definitely delivered. Read Full Review

Bane has brought a new status quo to the city of Gotham! But where is the Batman now? Read Full Review

The story is top notch. King takes elements from his entire run and puts them in everywhere. We get Gotham Girl, Pyg, you name it. We also get Catwoman. And it's completely awesome. The art by Daniel and Gerads is top notch. This is more than I could ever have hoped for. And it's just started. Read Full Review

Tony S Daniel and Mitch Gerads bring their A game to this issue and their talent is unmistakable. Daniel has a mastery of detail and it comes through not only in how great the characters look, but in all the small details you cant help admiring in the backgrounds. Gerads delivers some beautiful noir styled gritty art filled with style and tension. Read Full Review

The first part of City of Bane is an otherworldly experience that expertly sets up what is sure to be the biggest, craziest, and most emotionally-charged arc of Kings Batman saga to date. Read Full Review

As Tom King's Batman enters its final arc, this mind-bending and often frustrating run kicks off its biggest arc yet, City of Bane, with a double-sized anniversary spectacular, Batman #75, that raises way more questions than it answers and delivers one punch after another. Read Full Review

Armed with big deal stakes, dynamite visuals, and a portentous voice, Batman #75 is a thrilling jumping-on point for those who may have moved on from Gotham. Read Full Review

From Psycho-Pirate to Gotham Girl, Tom Kings entire run on Batman has led to City of Bane and the first issue of the arc absolutely delivers. Succeeding where The Dark Knight Rises failed, Batman #75 shows a compelling vision of Gotham in a world where Bruce Wayne has been broken. Whether as a standalone issue or part of the Tom King compendium, Batman #75 is an engaging look into a Gotham gone mad, and uncategorically worth a read. Read Full Review

If King and company can make their finale as strong as this arc's introduction, "City of Bane" will prove to be a hell of a send-off to one of the most ambitious Batman runs in history. Read Full Review

A solid issue that quickly sets up the world and stakes that Bruce is going to have to overcome. Im looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Go buy it. Read Full Review

Tom King, Tony S. Daniel and Mitch Gerads gave "City of Bane" the hot start that was expected from all the build up to this major event. Throughout Batman #75 the creative team set a strong tone to what a Gotham City under the control of Bane and other villains would be like. In the process there are several characters that King has been working on that are given strong forward progress. Read Full Review

With Batman away, Gotham City has descended into darkness, and, with Bane standing at the helm, there's no telling if the Dark Knight will rise and reclaim his city. Read Full Review

After reading this issue I can say that (assuming that King can resist the urge to ruin the pacing by spreading the story out until it is thinner than a wet poppadom) City of Bane looks like it will be a very fun, very wild ride indeed. Read Full Review

"Batman" #75 is quick to establish the scope and stake of 'City of Bane,' and it serves the purpose of ranking up excitement as any opening issue should. Read Full Review

Batman makes a big turnaround in this issue as we leave most of the convoluted, hanging plot points behind and instead just focus on what is happening in Gotham. Seeing familiar faces in new positions was really cool to see and while this issue suffers from the mistakes of this book's past, the things that we get are so much fun and so interesting that I found myself not caring about the problems this book still has. Read Full Review

Batman #75 has some flaws, despite an overall strong opening chapter. An overly-used plot, plus some iffy art by Daniels drags down the quality. But, the strength in concept and amusing tone makes “City of Bane” a fine start. Read Full Review

For many, Tom King's Batman run has been hit and miss. You could say that this is more true than not, especially as a recent issue of Batman was basically a recap of the run to date. Perhaps fearing the backlash of Heroes in Crisis, the structure of the last few issues of this book has returned to a start, middle and end format that I credit editor Jame S.Rich for, giving each arc a feeling of resolution, regardless of the larger story. Read Full Review

The introduction of City of Bane is sufficiently insane and dangerous, but the sudden shift in status quo makes it feel like a house of cards more than an actual conflict for Batman to defeat. Read Full Review

We do get moments of Bruce Wayne, far away, searching for something… and finding someone, on his first steps to returning and reclaiming the city from Bane. Worth a look. Read Full Review

Batman #75 may confuse readers at first, but once they realize what's going on, they may very well be fully on board to see what happens next. Tom King starts this arc off in a unique way and Tony Daniel, with Mitch Gerads, do a solid job in the art department. Despite a few flubs in dialogue, Batman 75 is a pretty good issue that makes me excited for the next issue. Read Full Review

BATMAN #75 is a good opening to the arc. It sets an appropriately bleak tone for this point in the broader narrative with well-paced storytelling and excellent artwork. Read Full Review

Tonally, the first 50 issues ofBatman and the following 25 are very different. The former was a build-up to a specific moment"the wedding that wasn't"and every moment felt like a necessary step forward. The latter has been full of ambitious, mind-bending twists and turns that leave the reader searching for solid ground. With 10 issues left, the hope is that King and co. will find a balance between the two, if not a return to the grounded realism of the first 50 issues, as this series is brought to a close. Read Full Review

Batman #75 offers a glimpse of a city in turmoil, but the scope of this issue is too small. Read Full Review

Not even the one "shock" reveal is enough to lift this from what feels like a major low. Read Full Review

I don't care for Batman #75 at all, and I have many reasons why I don't. In fact, many of these reasons stem from a trend with Tom King. A trend of trying too hard to defy expectations rather than simply tell a good story. A trend of not properly setting up, working, or telling a narrative fully and completely. A trend of illogical character developments. And a trend of Tom King recreating characters as himself. At some point, I just want a well-written story, without gimmicks, without shock value, with honestly depicted characters, and without needing to skirt around crucial plot points. I don't think I'm asking too much in that respect, but I don't think we're ever going to get that with Tom King's Batman. Read Full Review

This was amazing. I didn't expect the City of Bane to literally be a working city ruled by Bane. It was simultaneously striking, alien, and hilarious to see all the villains doing what they do in this issue.

Also the way y'know who shows up again? Perfect.

This is GREAT

Awesome!

I love when Tony draws Batman, some people just don't like it or some people just hate it, but I like tony style and the Mitch art is awesome 10/10. The story starts strong I think big things are coming, the dialogues are good, and this issue feels like a Batman story but you know, it is a twisted Batman story. (10/10).Overall, I guess if you don't like this Batman maybe you don't find anything in this issue to change your opinion or maybe not, but beyond that I think that this will be a fun and crazy adventure.

Great!

WOW.

So. Much. Happening. Can’t wait for the next one

"All can be doubted. All but Bane."

Here we are, City of Bane has begun and it's a blast. After breaking the Bat in the last 25 issues, the Venom-infused giant made his move on Gotham.
This issue is divided in 3 parts :
First, we have a glimpse of the New Gotham City under Bane's reign. We see Riddler and Jocker doing detective work and it's incredibly cool to see how King handles the new dynamic of the City. Then we saw Comissioner Strange calling for Batman and his Robin. Thomas Wayne and Gotham Girl are really well used and we have an explanation on why the other members of Bat-family are not around, and even if it might not satisfy everyone, it was pretty much on point. But, the biggest revelation was on how Bane was controlling every other villain : simple and efficient, using psycho-pirate wich is coherent with the story.
Secondly, we see the broken bat wandering in the moutains. Weak and defeated, he get beaten by two thugs and then get reunited with the one he met on a boat. Not much to said beside we, for once, really see how much bruce has been broken.
Then we have a long discussion between Bane and the Apex predator. He explain what he did to the city and why he did that way and he was perfectly on point. We also get a tour of all the key players in this city and it was amazing.

To conclude, it was a great issue. Tony S. Daniel give everything ( but i really don't like his Joker ) but the real stars are Tomey Meurey with his amazing colors and Mitch Gerards who blew my mind on every panel. Tom King delivers a very good introduction to his last arc and I can't wait to see what's next more

What an epic start to this arc.

In this issue, we get to see Gotham under the control of Bane. Joker and Riddler taking on a homicide call, Hugo Strange is the commissioner and Batman is Thomas. Everything is different now and not only it is fun to read, but it also sets up the story amazingly well.

On the other side of the story, we got Bruce, on a quest to find someone who is revealed at the end of the issue and has me super excited to see where this is going.

Art, as usual for this series was amazing. Both Daniel and Gerad just draw some beautiful stuff. Not much else to say, it's damn good.

Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better start for this arc. Can't wait to see how this will end.

Finally, King gets his game back, just in time to finish his run on Batman. While there were many bumps, this issue was a great start to a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion on Batman that looks to be very interesting. I loved the art in this as usual, one of the consistent good parts of this entire run. The story is interesting, loved seeing Thomas and Alfred have a conversation that is sure to be surreal for the latter. Meanwhile, it sets up intrigue for Bruce in the next issue, as well as the Batman/Catwoman miniseries King is gonna write. Overall, good solid start for the end.

A good start

Now we’re talking. Finally have me hooked on how this is going to play out

I'm still not a fan of villains working together like in the War of Jokes and Riddles. Especially the Joker, that King clearly doesn't understand and can't write. I'm curious about this storyline, but the best parts of the run are a far cry.

I like that Bane has Psycho Pirate turning the other villains into his police force. That's kind of fun. And I'm glad Selina is finally back. But I'm still disappointed in a lot of the story. All the pages of Bruce climbing the mountain in the snow while the reader is being told a stupid useless story of a farmer was just wasted space that could have been used for real story telling. Same with Gotham Girl rattling on endlessly about nothing. All that unnecessary dialogue makes me as a reader feel cheated on once again of getting a story told to us. And being told a story is after all the reason we buy the book to begin with. Also the conversation between Lex and Bane would have been more enjoyable had it been made clear from the start who was talking, It also would have made the exchange more understandable in terms of what was being said. I for one had to read it twice to be sure I understood what was being said. But who knows maybe that's just me.

I am not and never will be a fan of the character of Bane. Truthfully I've always thought of him more as a joke and just not all that interesting of a character. So originally I was so dreading the whole City of Bane story arc but that changed after the last few issues. In fact I was so so excited to get this issue after the build up from the last few issues. I was expecting a great story. While it delivered on some of what I was hoping for it still fell short in many ways. Unlike many readers I've liked Tom Kings run for the most part. I just wish he would work more on the telling of the story and leave out all the endless useless babble that wastes space and drags the stories down. Hence the rating I gave the issue. Kings run is over in 10 issues. I should think he would be putting more effort into telling the story since his run has been shorted. But the story still feels like it's just crawling along. And he is still wasting valuable space on filler junk. I don't know maybe if the reader hadn't been told from the beginning that his run was all part of a larger story line it wouldn't feel like it's going nowhere at a snails pace. I think had the reader been left to see each part of the story as just a story arc that peoples view of the run might have been more favorable. But again that could be just me. I wonder though.....??? more

"Maybe"

This was actually, surprisingly, entertaining. Odd.

First things first though. Gotham Girl's dialogue was just awful. It was painful to read. And if I'm going to have read the bit about boat or street one more time... I'm gonna lose it.

Now positives. There's a couple of them, actually. Odd.
The artwork was good, especially Mitch Gerads' part. The page where Gotham Girl makes her entrance was pretty good too.

And I can't deny it. What Bane did with Gotham City is just so cool. Brainwash villains into submission, keep the Justice League away by threatening to hurt innocents and defeat Batman by finally bringing "peace" to the city.

Yeah, it's cool.

I don’t think this issue is that bad. Tony S Daniel‘s art is awesome& I wish he drew the entire issue. I was never a fan of Mitch Gerard‘s art. It feels too rushed.
As for the plot we are getting a glimpse of how Bane‘s city looks like ( which is basically Arkham War 2.0., but with less fun)& at least many villains made an appearance. There are some funny ideas like Hugo Strange as the Commissioner or Joker& Riddler as cops. Those are quite random though& Scarecrow’s& Joker’s team up during Knightfall was way more fun. King also writes a weird& unfun Joker. Speaking of Scarecrow. Of course there's as good as every villain in this issue except Scarecrow ( can’t blame him though). But what annoys me, that King gives a loser like Psycho Pirate such a big role in this. King overpowers him and makes him control every other villain. If it was that easy Psycho Pirate ( a shame I even have to mention a D villain like him) would have controlled Gotham years ago. I however find it positive, that Thomas didn’t kill villains like Two Face, who didnt want to play along considering his Flashpoint days. I hope that stays this way. It better does!
As for Bruce he’s somewhere in the mountains& meets Catwoman ( if she was just an illusion, it would make sense, but since this is King I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her for real). That’s one thing, what ruins this issue for me, because I’m quite annoyed by this Batcat crap King is forcing on us.

This issue also still faces many problems& plotholes. There are still questions King refuses to answer:

-Why& how is Flashpoint Batman even in the canon timeline?
-Bane‘s plan is still dumb& unbelievable especially because Bruce went through worse than a breakup.
-If Thomas brings Ventriloquist into the batcave wouldnt he know Bruce’s real identity?
- As if the JL or the batfamily wouldn’t do anything against Bane.
- Wasn’t it stated, that Gotham Girl is going to die, if she used her powers once more?

This issue also suffers from Kings typical problem the bad dialogue. Especially the way Gotham Girl talked was bad. Why is it so hard for King to write a decent dialogue?

This issue also ties in Years of the Villains& that’s where it makes zero sense. In JL Bruce is Batman& there is no problem with Gotham mentioned. I also doubt he would hang out with the others, if Gotham just fell into anarchy. Kings story doesn’t fit with the big event at all& I also have the feeling, that many villains will be wasted once again here. Another reason, why King‘s story is nowhere near as great as Knightfall, since the villains had great stories during Knightfall& werent wasted. more

Neat idea, sometimes let down by the writing.

What fresh hell is this?

What relationship does this have to #74? Two Batmen entered, one left. Now one is in the Batcave, the other is wandering around the Himalayas again...while Catwoman just happens to be there. It's as if #74 (and the "home on the range" issue) didn't matter. Were they a dream?

I get King's scene setting with Bane running Gotham, but there is zero reaction from rest of universe. Would one not think that a single spandex hero would be concerned about the happenings in Gotham?

Truthfully, I can actually get behind the basic premise of Bane running Gotham using Psycho Pirate to keep everyone in line, but it literally has zero connection to the preceding arc. That's just bad writing.

And of course we have to endure Tom King Story Hour.

At least the artist had fun with his reimagined GCPD.

5.0/10 on the merits of the single issue taken in a vacuum, 3.0/10 in context of prior issues. more

Dropped.

I’m not wasting my money on a book with terrible dialogue and half baked ideas, incomplete story telling and changing character motivations. I’d rather spend my money on an indie book. I wish I picked up Kelly sue’s aquman when she started and dropped this then.

There are some cool ideas here, but also so many Tom King tropes. I don't like these tropes so it really hurts this book. I feel like his dialogue is just getting more and more ridiculous and Bendis-like. I feel like this issue ignores a lot of what came before just for the sake of having "cool" moments. Some of which could be explained, easily, but I don't think they will be. This run is built on moments, not cohesive storytelling. I feel like that is a problem many newer, aspiring writers have. I certainly do. I don't know how long King has been writing, but it seems he does as well. You want the big moments, because those are exciting and interesting to write, but you need the in between moments. Those are what make your story truly work. I feel like that's a big part of why I don't really care about anything that happens in this issue. This wasn't the worst issue, but I can't say I'm excited for the next one. I'm just left with a feeling of apathy. more

You know, I love elseworlds. They aren't restricted by strict continuity rules of the main DC universe. What stops Superman's capsule from landing in CCCP? Or Joker going sane and becoming a politician, backed by one Harley and fought by another? Or Flash going back in time to save his mom, creating a dystopian world where Atlanteans and Amazons went to war with each other, and that war lead the world to the brink of absolute destruction?
King flirted with elseworlds before, just to mention the dystopian Gotham Booster Gold saw in this run. This time he introduced us to yet another weird "bad" continuity, simultaneously adding random parts with Bruce and Gotham Girl. What story he's trying to tell us exactly, I don't know. Not only because the comic is super convoluted, but because it probably is constructed this way, so we don't know what's going on til the very end.

I'm conflicted on this one, because it's so... random and disorganized. If anything, this should have been a part of the (failed) Knightmares arc, since it really feels like a fever dream.
So, what's next? I guess Batman impregnates Selina, and gets killed by Gotham Girl, since these two plot points remain unresolved. Other than that, I have no clue. I just want King to finish his run and step down. Just go away and make some space for a new writer who hopefully understands Batman as a character. more

I do not understand how people are giving this (and other books) 10/10. That is a perfect score. You are saying this book is perfect and there were no faults. Yet these people give 10s almost every book they review. It is a joke!!

This book was the usual Tom King nonsense. No build up, big wow moments that are supposed to make you think its good, pretentious dialogue, the usual random, usually, stolen stories that have nothing to do with anything, and characters that act nothing like the characters they are supposed to be.

I can not wait to enjoy Batman again when King is gone.

THE GOOD:

-Hey! Mitch Gerads is here! I didn't know that! Tony Daniel's art was good, but in my opinion Gerads' was superior in its atmosphere, truly capturing the "apocalyptic" Gotham this issue is trying to sell. Plus he is not only a fantastic penciller, but a damn good color artist.

-This wasn't as bad as the last few issues.

THE BAD:

-There is no way on this planet that Tom: King of Filler deserves a an extra sized $4.99 issue.

-This comic is supposed to be about the villains taking over Gotham, which is a fun concept, yet it's kind of ruined by the villains having absolutely no personality whatsoever.

-Wow. I wasn't expecting this comic to give me so many flashbacks to my freshman year of high school. There was that reference to the Trojan War, which I learned a lot about in English. Then that story with the farmer and the horse and his son, which I remember my math teacher telling me for whatever reason. Not sure why I'm talking so much about this, not that anyone cares. And before all the commenters start telling me I'm a terrible reviewer or whatever, the reason this is in the bad section is because Tom King needs to stop using fables and whatnot in place of actual story.

-Ugh. More Gotham Girl.

-I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS THE BOAT OR THE GODDAMN STREET! AND STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME CARE!

-At least the other Luthor pages in the Villain of the Week "tie-ins" were just that. One page. Yet Tom King had to devote a whole 8-page backup story to a conversation between Luthor and Bane. more

+ Like • Comments (7)

• Likes (3)

• DarePool53
• myconius
• Darkseid24

Show all comments

myconius - Jul 19, 2019

"it was on a boat" .. "it was on the street" .. "it was on a boat" .. "it was on the street" ........ I KNOW ... IT WAS ON THE TOILET!!! ... (FLUSHHHHHHHH gurgle gurgle gurle glug glug)

ohhaimark - Jul 19, 2019

Hahahahaha!

Batman Jones - Jul 19, 2019

King said today that the boat/street thing was going to be resolved in #80. Later the same evening he won the Eisner for best writer. :P

Batman Jones - Jul 19, 2019

You know I love you, ohhaimark. Just having a little fun.

myconius - Jul 20, 2019

what DC Stuff just said!

Darkseid24 - Jul 20, 2019

I’d rather finally want to know, why& how Thomas can even be here. And guess the Eisner is the Oscars 😂

Sign in to comment

Oh brother. King's Gotham is just silly. It's up is down wrong is right, evil is good. And that's just silly. We learn that Thomas Wayne is Batman and uses Gotham Girl to enforce things. Hugo Strange is the commissioner and Joker and Riddler are cops. Psycho Pirate "cures" the insane and we see him do that with Two-Face.

Meanwhile we see a traveler walk in the snowy mountains being getting narration RIPPED OFF from the Tom Hanks movie "Charlie Wilson's War." It's a mess. We still get King's pet love of Batman insisting He and Selina met on a boat, and Selina saying they met on the streets.

Does Thomas Wayne have the ability to separate Gotham from the rest of the Justice League. In the old days when kids would stay off my lawn, team-ups were a thing, but each DC title was really its own little world. And that worked because of the social contract between writers and readers.

Sure Superman or Flash could solve all of Batman's problems by helping capture villain of the week. But the book is a Batman one, so we assume Superman or the Flash are off in their books doing their thing and don't thing too hard about how it really would be logical for Batman to call for Super help all the time.

But in this new much more interconnected world of comics, all the other DC heroes are going to ignore the fact that Gotham is being run by villains who have multiple murders on their rap sheets. I don't care if Psycho Pirate made them sane, that's just a bridge too far.

Also having the Joker be "curable" by Psycho Pirate really diminishes the Joker. He is mysterious and unknowable. Having him have an actual mental illness is just . . . degrading to the character.

And stop having Bane boast about how he broke the Bat and there's no way the Bat will come back, yep the Bat is broken and I am putting my fingers in my ears and shouting LAH, LAH, LAH I can't hear yo.

The breaking of the Bat with Bane has already been done. You can buy the trades in your local book store. It's not like this arc has been forgotten. King you are just walking on ground that's been well tread on.

What bothers me is that King really does think this is original great stuff. He's ripping off previous arcs and Charlie Wilson's War and he thinks he's the greatest thing since Stan Lee.

Meanwhile things like actual plot, actual pacing and actual characterization suffer. The villains are cardboard, the secondary players are ignored and the romance between Bruce and Selina is told and not shown. AARRGGHH.

Or I could be wrong. more

What the hell did I just read? How long since the last issue? Why was Catwoman on the mountain? I get everyone is probably being controlled by Psycho Pirate but it’s still stupid. Nobody sounds right which I’m sure will be chalked up to being controlled but that only changes their emotions, not their entire personalities. What was with the stupid ass story of the man walking up the mountain? I guess Thomas just has utter contempt for his son and treats his old pal Alfred like shit as well. This was complete and utter bullshit. So standard King writing. I hate it with a fiery passion at this point. It never gets better because King can’t seem to write a coherent story. How anyone could claim this is a 10/10 perfect comic is beyond me. At what point do you realize you’re just a sycophantic fanboy? King cannot get off this soon enough. Hell, I hope he goes to write for Tv and leaves comics altogether. more

more random, all-over-the-place, decompressed, pseudo intellectual gibberish.

nothing was properly set up. we are just thrust into Gotham being run by villains with Flashpoint Batman in charge of Wayne Manor and the Bat-cave.

meanwhile Bruce is marching out in a snow blizzard in some undefined mountains. where? why? who knows? Bruce is asking for someone called 'The Memory of the Mountain', but gets his throat slashed and his head bashed with a crowbar by two nobody punks. then all the sudden Catwoman is there, just because.

Bane gives a speech about how the Justice League won't come in and stop his havoc on Gotham because he'll threaten innocents. yeah. i totally buy that . . . . NOT! and the reason Bane even wants Gotham? who knows?

this is just beyond pretentious and dumb.

at least the Tony Daniel portion of art was nice, and we no longer have to worry about this going on till issue 100. hopefully DC will renumber this series after #85. just start fresh. more

I can't say this enough....I can't wait for DC to get Tom King off of Batman!

THE ART IS FABULOUS.

I mean really, the art is good but this is the only score I can give to this issue because of the defect harms me so much.

I have never seen a batman story not logical as this and it seems the wtitter DO NOT has the ability to write a hero like batman. This superhero IS A DETECTIVE and I haven't seen deductive reasoning or direct inference for a lonnnnnnng time. A good story need to tell people the reason and results IN ONE PLOT, not just shipping his own cancer from the beginning to the end to all the readers who just want to see exellenct stories of a DETECTIVE, or not just writting sloppy, moody, sickly fables, fairy tales or conceit instead a brilliant man.

To be true, I don't need a comic writer to teach me philosophy， psychology， criminology or sociology, who is not professional at all. What I need is just wonderful stories. The whole story is far more to be called a "story", rather than a fanfiction on AO3 to express the writer's own mental illness. The failure on HIC and Batman series has already showed that this one is not capable for a superhero who has his own character established on issues already published for decades, and I will never spend my money and time wasting on this again.

Abobe all, the writer lack of literary attainments and all the depth he showed just a werid remix of NML, TDKR and other classic bat-comics. It will be good for batman to remove this writer from the team, and I will be back at that moment. more