Another issue trying to retroactively show that there was always a story here when it is obvious that King was too lazy to do anything of the sort and needed these last dozen or so issues to cover his own tracks. We were supposed to get the answers to Thomas Wayne, but I guess it's the questions that King didn't understand, namely, how was there a Flashpoint timeline for him to come from and why wasn't he dead there? Having the Button story happen isn't the explanation, that is just the first time we asked the same question. Plus, pushing this idea that Batman knew what happened in the Gift with Booster Gold is just wrong and it's the second time it's been brought up as a key point in the story. Batman didn't go with Booster and thus never saw what happened in that alt-Gotham!!! Also, we go through round 3 of "whose plan was it anyway" and I want out! Thank god we have only one issue left because this run is full of lazy, uninspired writing that doesn't hold up under any sort of look and it the fact this HACK has won Eisners just makes that award lesser. In conclusion, Tom King is just an awful writer, an even worse storyteller (which has to be why he keeps putting others' literature and poems in his stories), and a 100% hack who has barely written one story in 84 issues and even stolen one on the way more

Ugh, you know I have to get a pesky wisdom tooth extracted today and I think that will be at least 5 times better than this issue. His "explanations" aren't explanations. This is just shitty. "Thomas Wayne is an asshole because... he's always been an asshole." My mind is blown. We knew that Thomas Wayne was an asshole, we didn't need most of this. And again, what happened with Booster? He told Batman a story about a spooky alternate timeline, like Batman hasn't seen countless of those. And Bane is in a coma?? Getting shot in the head isn't something you typically survive, but I guess in the DC universe, brains are stronger than bullets. That's just so fucking typical. Have some balls, go all out. At least then this shit wouldn't feel so goddamn pointless, on top of being bloated and stupid. I don't have it in me anymore... One more issue and then we're mostly free... Here's hoping Batman/Catwoman continues getting pushed back. more

King fans after this issue: The book was kind of rushed and sloppy in execution; not a great penultimate issue either. It also has some plot-holes and raises more questions than before.

Also King fans after this issue: 10/10 rating

I don't care anymore. This book is an embarrassment to the comic industry. I feel bad for anyone who enjoys this book.

You can say what you will about taste being subjective, but Tom King is nothing more than a stain on the legacy of Batman that urgently needs to be removed. more

Another issue that only needed to be 3 pages long instead of 20. That's King, folks. Jesus Christ.

whoever wrote this need a helmet on they head

This isnt as bad as the last few issues, but still bad.

We are finally getting an explanation for why & how Thomas can even be in this timeline. I don’t read Flash, but I don’t think Reverse Flash is powerful enough to bring people from already erased timelines back to the canon ( if so, he should bring Pre52 Darkseid& Desaad back to me), so this feels like a deus ex machina.

It also pisses me off, that Thomas is still thinking he& Bruce are the same kind of Batman. Thomas is nothing more than a psychotic mass murderer asshole, so why doesnt Bruce point this out? This isnt his father, his father died. All of this should be emphasized more. Dialogue is missing, but thats because all of this is way too late. Thomas motivations shouid have been made clear, when he fought Bruce in the desert, not 1 issue before the final one. Kings concept is a mess.

I don’t think the idea of Bruce having to fight an alternative & corrupted version of his father is a bad idea, but King just can’t write this story due to bad dialogue & concept. Also this Catwoman love story is just annoying and lame.

At least Bane isn’t dead, I just wish the same would go for Alfred.

Also will a writer ever address the trauma Bruce just suffered? He lost Alfred& had to face a twisted version of his father. That’s a real sick story, I would probably like, if it was written way better.

I wish Bruce would kill Thomas in the final issue, that’s the only time, where I would forgive him breaking his no killing rule. Hope Thomas is put there where he belongs: into oblivion.


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Eh. Just eh.

Reverse flashbacks might sound very artistic and deep. It actually makes it a bit more jarring, especially since I don't remember Flashpoint so well. So if someone wants to enjoy this issue more, you need to read Thomas bits backwards.

So, we finally got a Thomas backstory. In a penultimate issue of King's run. There wasn't any better place to put this? Like, after "Fall and the Fallen"? (I am ashamed I remember the names of King's arcs) Put this really needed to happen before City of Bane.

"Present Day" arc doesn't go anywhere. Summary is again so misleading. In other news, water; wet.

What is in this, isn't actually that bad IMO. I don't hate it. I hate the idea of this, I dislike City of Bane, but this, as an issue, is fine. Okay. If you don't mind the reverse flashbacks. Does this explain Thomas' actions? Well... Eh. Sort of. I guess. He is broken. I like that Selina existed in Flashpoint but Martha killed her. I like a lot of things. King clearly had a vision for Flashpoint Batman, and focused more on him, than Bruce. I guess it takes talent to have 33 issues (from 50-83) to swift focus from Bruce to Thomas and still have Thomas a big question mark.

Why didn't King write Flashpoint Batman? And left his Batman run to someone else?

Also, a big error happens in this. Art is good, yes, but Flash is colored as Reverse-Flash in the only panel he appears. Sigh.

Overall, if you have any interest in King's run, this issue is okay. If you don't dislike City of Bane, this issue is okay. If you dislike both, this issue is pointless. A single "okay-at-best" -issue won't fix any problems Kings run has.

So, a 3/10, better luck next time? more

I can't wait for this run to be over and Tynion takes over.

Batman has become a parody of a book. I'm very suspicious of the perfect reviews it gets from some reviewers.

Tom King's horrible run on Batman continues. I can't wait for him to be off of this book.

Man, what can we really say about this book? Thomas promises to his dead parents that he will spend the rest of his life warring against anything that might cause Bruce pain. Except for him apparently. He can completely fuck Bruce's life up and that's all okay. Bruce also doesn't see what Thomas sees in the Joker, whatever the fuck that is, we don't know because it's also not explained. Thomas also magically knows about the whole Booster thing despite the fact that he wasn't there and should have no frame of reference for it. Reverse Flash somehow traveled to Flashpoint and kept Thomas alive? No explanation how he did that. Also, Thomas now decided to kill the Flashpoint world not to save Bruce and the real world but because he hates everything. Not the explanation I remember at the end of Flashpoint but ok, King does whatever the fuck he wants anyway. Thomas had a relationship (father/daughter?) with his worlds Selina where Thomas, inexplicably, asks Selina if she thinks it's possible to be Batman and be happy. Talk about forced. Thomas killed all the villains on his world but decided to team up with them on this Earth. That makes sense, right? The reverse order of this comic makes an already bad comic even more painful to read. I'm sorry, but at this point if you like this comic then Tom King could come right out and say he wants to shit in you Wheaties's and you'd still praise him because you're nothing more than a King fanboy/girl. There is nothing remotely good or redeeming about this book be it this issue or the entire damn run. This shows a lack of understanding of the characters as well as just normal human interaction. If you haven't wasted your money on this issue yet, don't. You'll be happier and $4 richer. The art was...okay? That's the most positive thing I can say about this comic. more

I don't know what linear story telling did to King as a child, but it must be terrible. Because King just refuses to tell a story in linear order.

Apparently Thomas Wayne's whole motivation is that he fell in love with the Selina Kyle of his world and he wants Bruce to, in some sort of weird psycho-sexual transference thing, seal the deal.

Apparently Martha Joker killed Selina and Thomas Bats doesn't want Bruce to miss out. Again, we get huge amounts of decompression. The Bruce Thomas confrontation amounts to one punch then we cut to non--linear flashbacks that don't really amount to anything.

We see how Thomas came to Bruce's world, but the labored backstory was overly complicated. All it amounts to is "Father Knows Best." I remained unconvinced.

Just be over story. It's SOOO SSSLLOOWWW. Everything hits with the impact of week-old bread, stale and moldy. Do things so the story stays fresh. Any baker knows that.

Or I could be wrong. more

9/10 for the EXCELLENT art. -9/10 for the writing.
I don't blame Tom King though. I get it now. He got pulled off his book and he is taking the piss at DC. But he is alienating his fans. We get a recap of things we know. That's all. A recap. And a small twist that changes nothing. Both the solicit and the cover have absolutely nothing to do with the plot.

Not gonna lie, whatever this was, good isn't it.

Using the word "earlier" for every panel makes it feel incredibly messy, and as we're talking about a character from an entirely different Earth it muddles it even further. I'd say there would have to be a better way to indicate where and when things happened but simply "earlier" is not it.

While I can't recall the Flashpoint story, I am fairly sure there are inconsistencies or retcons present here.

How the story develops seems to be for the most part unconnected with Doomsday Clock as people believed, so that's another concept thrown out the window.

It's disappointing that while it presents the motivations of Thomas Wayne it does so in a poor fashion and shows little else.

This was not good. more

if this issue wasn't so delayed, i'd have been more enthusiastic.

yes. i know that this series was going to be a big set-up for IDW TMNT #100, but i would have hoped for more resolution for this mini. i would have liked more questions answered, rather than just asking more. the art was beautiful, but some of the pages and panels were much too busy. it was distracting and hard to read. <br/>
IDW has never been very clear as to the distinction of Oroku Saki, Takeshi Tatsuo and The Dragon Lord. they are one in th same spirit, yet have their own unique identities, that have conflict with one another. But back when Hamato Yoshi and his sons were reincarnated, they are just the same identities and personalities that they were in their previous life.

i'd like to say that i'm more pumped for TMNT issue 100, but i'm just not.
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Another Grayson futures end or Pax Americana like issue. I don't like it.

I see no reedeeming qualities here. Not one. Everything in this issue is just bad - writing is awful, dialogues, the very little there is, are even worse, which is nothing new in this series, art is bad, story is pretty much nonexistent. Aside from maybe two pages, every panel is a retrospective of Thomas' life, but it... sucks. It lacks any real depth and emotional weigth for us to truly care about it. 84 issues, that's how many opportunities King had to explore the character, to set up his motivations, slowly, step by step, foreshadow some things, explain others, creating even more questions in the process. But no. This is what we got instead - a piece of meaningless filler, because there's no other term to honestly call it, which neither pushes the story to its end, nor offers satisactory flashbacks to give us some insight into what, how and why. If Miller's horrendous All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder was euthanized, I see no reason why King's run wasn't. I mean, it was cut short by 15 issues, so let's be thankful for that, but 85 issues is still way too much, considering the writer didn't tell us anything of value since 2016.
This trash ain't even worth torrenting at this point. more

King is really asking a lot by giving us so little story progression each issue

Tom King HAS to be making this S**T up as he goes!!!

the bozo probably had NO idea what he wanted to to for this run, NO PLAN...

just a lot of pretentious hot air!!!

F**K YOU, Tom King!!!
take this miserable pathetic excuse of a Batman run, and stick it right up your A**!!!!!

THE GOOD:

-Great issue. Maybe my favorite Dawn of X book yet, if I'm being honest.

-Really like this art. Never heard of Cassara before, but he's doing great here.

-That was a solid opening! It grabbed my attention nicely.

-I like the way the characters are written here. I'm not a Ben Percy fan but so far he seems to be doing well with this series. Maybe he's found a writing style that works for him, or he just likes writing these characters better than the other heroes he's written.

-This issue did a nice job tying in with Marauders, the other best Dawn of X book. I think with a world like this, a tight continuity really helps, especially considering how different each of the series are.

-I liked that this used the graphics sparingly. The one that is used honestly doesn't even feel like it should be.

-This issue built up to its finale wonderfully. I love how we know what's coming even though the characters don't.

-That was an explosive and incredible ending.

THE BAD:

-I think this may have benefitted from a shorter page count. Kind of a nitpicky thing, but I noticed this didn't have nearly as much plot as the others. It was a lot of buildup, but I still think a regular sized issue would have sufficed. more

THE GOOD:

-I mostly liked this. It was serviceable.

-Right off the bat, the art is strikingly good. I know Reis won't even do all the issues in the first story arc, which is a shame considering how pleasing his style is.

-I like Sunspot. Sometimes he annoyed me, but overall I at least found him memorable.

-Corsair is an interesting and complex character.

-Okay, that ending got a chuckle out of me.

THE BAD:

-Sometimes the dialogue felt off. Maybe it's a byproduct of having two writers. I don't know.

-Can't say I really like the characters as much here. There were a couple exceptions, which are noted above, but most of them were bland and forgettable.

-This story is just kind of bland. I'm looking forward more to where it's going than where it went in this first issue. more

THE GOOD:

-This was a good issue and a nice start for the next part of the series.

-Amadeus and Bruce's conversation was really interesting and anchored the issue for me.

-The broadcasts were pretty good. They offered some interesting context and offered a unique look at the Hulk from a political standpoint. They also made me laugh a couple times.

-Very well-written, as per usual.

-Joe Bennett delivers his standardly great art.

-Nice to see Namor show up.

THE BAD:

-I don't know why, but I'm not at all interested or excited for Dario Agger. Maybe I'm sick of villains that make me laugh when I look at them. I don't know. more

THE GOOD:

-This was just so much fun. It's nice to read a comic that just wants to entertain you with a fun story every once in a while.

-Dead Eyes is just an incredibly likable main character. Gerry Duggan seems to excel at writing compelling characters.

-I love this art. It fits the writing perfectly.

-This issue still got emotional and it was short, but really powerful.

-This humor is great. I might have to check out Duggan's Deadpool. I'm not a big Deadpool fan, but I can see how he would be a good writer for the character.

-Wheels is a great character.

-That car action scene was just wonderfully well-done, fun, and excellently illustrated.

THE BAD:

-I don't know, it's just a lot of fun. It's hardly perfect, but I love it. more

THE GOOD:

-Another great issue of Die. One of the best current comics.

-This art is so pleasing. Also, the flashback art is really effective.

-I like the idea of the characters questioning the continuity of Die itself.

-Charlotte is such an interesting character. I love how even though we know her backstory, we still don't know who created her and whatnot.

-I like how the main characters are actually smart, and not in a showy, forced way.

-Wow, that end.

-I love how complex the characters are. They aren't good or bad. That line is super blurry and I love it.

-Poor Angela and Matt.

THE BAD:

-Maybe Bronte's story could've been shorter. I mean, once the creators of the lands of Die starting dying, it became obvious where the story was going, and it maybe could've been shortened. more

THE GOOD:

-Uhhhhh…..

THE BAD:

-This is just a terrible comic book. How anyone can enjoy it is beyond me.

-Becky Cloonan should stick to drawing… or maybe not. Anyways, the script was repulsively bad here.

-I do not like Cloonan's art. It maybe works with other series, and I guess it fits with the Cartoon Network script of this comic, but it does not work with Doom Patrol. At least it's better than the monstrosity that was Pitarra's artwork last issue. That makes me shudder just to think about.

-Good god, this kid is annoying. I think he's supposed to be based off Gerard Way, at least his looks. Yeah, that makes sense then.

-What a godawful, self-indulgent execution of an interesting concept.

-Cliff has gone from great, to obnoxious, to great again, to obnoxious again, and now he's just bland. Any emotion this issue tried to concoct was just dead.

-I'm legitimately taking points off for a character saying that "Doom Patrol is really good right now."

-Y'know, you could have had the ending be a solid, emotional piece about Clark having to accept his reality. I was even expecting it all to turn out to be a dream at first. I honestly would've preferred the dream to what we got instead. Just a "fuck it, let's throw in a happy ending." I can't wait until this goddamn train wreck finally gets cleaned up. more