A slightly anticlimactic ending for my taste. I think it reflects, for better and for worse, every stage of Tom King with this superhero. In general I enjoyed the whole story, seen as a set, which in the end became repetitive, that is not disputed, best of all, the great artists who collaborated with King.

I always felt like DCEASED was released a decade too late. If it came out during The Walking Dead craze, it may have been a zeitgeist classic, encapsulating everything about the zombie fad. In 2020, though, I feel fatigued, bored of this theme, since ultimately it always boils down to characters looking for a safe place that soon turns out to be unsafe, rinse and repeat, accompanied with random major deaths not really adding much to the story or developing other, surviving, characters.
I certainly hope DC will put DCEASED to rest for a while. Let it rest for a while and return when, or if, zombie apocalypse becomes fresher and more creative than it is now. Global pandemic causing downfall of volatile corporatist capitalism may be a hot subject, so I've heard. more

Off to a pretty great start. Funny enough even though Tom King is known for deconstruction of a character, this is the closest thing to silver age Adam Strange since his solo series in the 90s' changed his appearance and totally retcons his supporting cast's motives for the worse.

The name of his daughter is wrong, it is supposed to be Aleea, but that can just as easily be blamed on the editor. Small con.

It feels much different than I expected. It didn't wow me quite as much as Mister Miracle's first issue, but it is definitely a different feeling TK title. Love the art from both artists. Some fantastic visuals. more

yeah. i think i'm officially done supporting this title.
the art was really nice. REALLY nice!!!
but i just have no more interest in this story, or where DC is headed with Batman in general.
barely anything happens in this issue. lots and lots of talking. there's even a real hum dinger at the end of the issue. but i just don't care anymore.
perhaps i may wait for this to come to trade, but the way it looks i honestly doubt i'd care to even pick that up. why waste the money to add something to the pile, that i have no intention to ever try to read again?

i have to concede to Darkseid24. you were right.
Tomasi just didn't have it in him to keep the quality of this comic where it was when it first started.
even if the quality did hold, looking back the first arc wasn't really as good as all that.
honestly. we were just thrilled to have a better story than the trash we were currently getting from the main Batman series from whatshisface. and now that lousy old whatshisface is finally thrown the hell off Batman (THANK GOD) the quality of the main Batman is better. but even that story doesn't really do a whole lot for me either.
i'm going to just take a break from Batman for a while. just pick up some reprints.
the just reprinted a nice hardcover collection of Batman & Ra's Al Ghul stories. we'll order that and enjoy some stories when DC was actually innovative and inspired. more

Tynion's run is gaining momentum every month. Contrary to Tom King, he wants to tell an actual story, and does exactly that, one issue at a time. And what did he serve us this time? Plenty of action from two different points of view - Batman's as well as Catwoman's. I like it, as well as how Deathstroke and Harley are used as sort of contrasting figures for each of the two protagonists, allowing them to expose some plot in more natural way. I like it, and I hope high hopes for what's to come, because I'm familiar with Tynion's team building style he used in Detective Comics and Jutice League Dark. He knows how to execute his ideas and make them surprising, out of the box.
Definitely recommend this issue - if you dropped Batman comics due to King's awful writing, fear no more - here's something that may capture your attention again. more

i've been having a hard time investing in this story.

the shift in artists is also a bit distracting.

After a pretty bland issue, we get an issue full of action and excitement.

The issue starts with The Joker explaining to a bartender what happened in the last issue, like a recap, except that this time it was from his point of view and it was written like it was a joke, it was pretty great. Tynion really knows how to write The Joker.

The rest of the issue is split-up into two parts: Batman fighting with Deathstroke and Catwoman escaping from The Riddler's hideout with Harley Quinn.

The fight between Batman and Deathstroke was, just as you'd expect, awesome. I think Tynion nailed Batman's dialogue in this issue (including the inner monologue). Also, the way it ended was exciting. I mean, Batman teaming-up with Deathstroke to fight The Riddler and his tricks sounds cool as hell to me.

On the other side, we have Catwoman and Harley Quinn, trying to escape after getting ambushed by the Designer. It was cool and I enjoyed the dynamics between Catwoman and Harley and the way it ended was great.

So overall, a pretty damn good issue. more

Wow, what a way to start the series.

The first issue already deals with heavy themes like Facts vs Fiction that are super interesting in my opinion. Also, just like Mister Miracle, this issue creates a feeling of discomfort, making you question everything that you see which fits perfectly with what King is trying to do with this series. Combine all of this with Gerads and Shaner's absolutely beautiful art and you got yourself a hell of a first issue to start the series with. I'm so goddamn excited to see how this one will turn out. more

I'm not gonna lie, the arc is growing on me so far. From a mediocre beginning, it evolves and grows, unraveling the bigger backstory underneath. While sure, this issue may have not pushed the main plot forward very much, it expands the concept of what it means to be a villain in Gotham City. I genuinely like how Tynion explains the evolution of the characters throughout the decades, how the idyllic Silver Age ended, replaced with something darker, more dangerous and realistic. And as far as you ask me, that's today's comic generation's general theme - connecting the legacy Ages, embracing them all together, creating a unified entirety out of different artistic periods, or movements. This comic, alongside many more out there on the shelves, encapulate that thought, and I appreciate it. more

i really love the art. A LOT, actually!
but i just do not care where the story is headed. it doesn't grab me at all.

i'm mostly checked out of this all by now.
seeing this through out of morbid curiosity more than anything.

This is a fine, very safe, very by-the-numbers issue. Sometimes that can work, if the characters are written very well, but here it doesn't really become anything better. I have almost nothing to say about this one. At least Tom King's run was rife with things to talk about. This comic, right here, exists and that's it. If you like Batman existing, you'll be pretty much okay with this.

So we finally got some answers to our questions and... it was pretty underwhelming. Very simple and safe way to keep the story going. I don't think this is bad, just not anything to be excited about. There's really not much to talk about here, I honestly expected more.

The twist at the end was pretty neat though.

the art was really nice.

i'm having a hard time caring about this anymore.

i just feel like i've wasted my money and ended up with needless clutter.

if i could do it all over again, i'd have not bothered jumping back on at #994.



. . . Regrets, I've had a few,
But then again . . too few to mention.
I Did . . . what I had to do
and saw it through . . . without exemption. more

a lot of this was a slog to get through.
i will say that at least the story had some beautiful art, and great action to make up for the slow parts. but overall, i just don't know if this is really something worthy of keeping in my already over-encumbered collection. not sure if this is anything i'll ever want to revisit.

the story that's being set up in the epilogue, it's been done too many times in recent years.

Joker Knows the identity of the Bat-family. Scott Snyder has actually done it twice in his Batman run. it's kind of played out by now.
oh well. here we go again . . . . . . AGAIN. more

Okay, I gotta admit, this story arc finally captured my attention. After a tiny, tiny bit underwhelming beginning, finally side arcs begin to connect and create a bigger picture. The issue didn't answer any questions, in fact only introduced more, but i wasn't its point. The point was to connect few dots, without progressing the plot much further. Build the tension, make the mystery feel deeper and more complex, which I for once welcome. It's not the kind of pointless filler Tom King's Batman has become infamous for, nor Bendis' slug-paced heavily overthought bore. It feels like omething that shouldn't be told quickly, and with this particular issue, it works.

The art for the most part is beautiful, detailed, vibrant and dynamic. It's joy to just browse the comic, and analyze up close how it was inked and colored. March did really good job bringing Tynion's story and characters to life. With one notable exception, whose mug is on my avatar. Yeah... her. Harley, while surpriingly not annoying character-wise, like she usually is since Dini stopped writing her, looks... weird. And by "weird" I don't mean she's a victim of a mass murdering lunatic clown who abused her for years. Positioning of her eyes, nose and mouth look jut plain odd, unnatural. I have no clue why she's the only one who looks like she's mentally disabled, while the rest of the characters is perfectly fine, but I guess that's the way it is. more

I really don't have much to say about this issue because not a lot happened but it was still entertaining.

Harley and Selina team up as Batman continues to search for answers and The Riddler is missing. Meanwhile, Joker is getting ready to execute his own plan with the help of Punchline.

So yeah, not a lot in terms of story progression but we still got some fun action scenes and the few new information bits we got are just enough to keep me interested in what's going on. Also, the art this time around was better than usual, so that's another plus.

Overall, it was enjoyable but I hope the pace will pick-up from now on because, so far, this is my biggest problem with this arc. more

Damn, that was intense.

This time around I don't have anything bad to say except that the art was a bit inconsistent. But even then, I still enjoyed it.

Anyways, this issue was pretty good and I liked a lot of things about it:

I liked how the scenes with Catwoman felt as they came out of a Horror movie.

Catwoman is apparently involved with The Joker, Riddler, and Pinguin which makes for an interesting twist.

The new "Portable Batmobile" gadget was one of the coolest gadgets I've seen in a Batman comic in a long time.

The dynamics between Batman and Lucius Fox are super entertaining.

The way Tynion is building up The Designer is fascinating. It's intense, mysterious and most importantly, Interesting. I honestly can't wait to see who he is and what his plan is.

So all in all, this week Tynion delivered an intense, mysterious, atmospheric and (mostly) beautiful issue that will keep you guessing and invested in what's going on. more

Prelude:
Tomasi had a good start with the last issue but as we move further and further away from Christmas, how does this stand up?

The Good:
Always like Bruce doing detective work.

Art was good.

The Bad:
Story was hurried and wrapped itself up way too fast.

The end got a bit boring.

Conclusion:
There isn't much to talk about. Stuff happens but it doesn't feel too important or that there's any danger. more

This issue is nothing special, but it’s not bad either. It’s the conclusion to the last one.
It’s always nice to see Batman doing some detective work, since many writers ignore this these days& thankfully the villain or rather Batman‘s opponents became a little more interesting than last issue.
I also liked, that Batman didn’t beat the monster by beating the hell out of it as he would sure do in other stories, but that it’s beaten more by coincidence. The snow in the background also gave the issue a nice winter feeling.
So overall an ok issue, but you won’t miss anything if you skip it. more

Is this a conclusion to anything, really? If yes, then it's one hell of an uderwhelming mess looking like it was heavily rushed, not bothering to explain a single thing to us. Where's mystery, tension, plot? This issue feels like Tomasi had second thoughts about this arc and just wanted to finish it ASAP, and write something else. Strongly disappointed with this one, it feels so empty and shallow, despite having so much potential. Scandinavian folklore is deep, vibrant and memorable, so it stuns me that this arc was the exact oppossite, not fitting any of these adjectives. Legends of Tomorrow used the same background to great, genuinely funny result on TV, Anthrax made a video to Blood Eagle Wings depicting the same method of torture shown here, with disgusting and ever so disturbing result (and the song is bloody awesome, let's face it), and I'm not even going to cover Skyrim, since duh, that's a pretty obvious example of how to build something out of Scandinavian lore. This issue, as well as the entire arc, is a failure, in comparison. more

it's official. this series has completely fallen of the "MUST READ" list.

this arc was mediocre at best and an easy skip. you won't be missing anything special.

Murphy continues his masterpiece. It always blows my mind up to see the series exceeding my wildest imaginations without becoming borderline fan-fiction, which often happens to products really trying to satisfy the fans. What also terrifies me, is how much I care about every character in White Knight. As I write this review, I feel in my hands I'm one step from shaking, that's how intense this comic made me feel. Just think - when Tom King killed Alfred of, I felt literally nothing, that's how disconnected I was with his run. Here, when Harley and Jack... I mean Joker, were in danger, I was invested, scared for both of them, hoping they're fine. How did Sean Murphy manage to make me fall in deep love with all the characters in merely 15 issues o far, I have no idea, but I'll be damned, I'm in love with this elseworld, and I value it much, much more than the main continuity. more

It's good to read a Batman comic which was written with a plan in mind, for once. Sure, the plot so far rings the familiar bell of Arkham Origins game, but I'm definitely interested in what's going to happen next, and what kind of role will Penguin, Riddler and Bullock all play.
Well, wait, I take it back, I'm not really that interested in Riddler, to be honest, poor guy doesn't have luck with writers, who seem to find new ways to make him weird and boring. From King's awful take on the character, through Johns' Earth 2 few years back, to this skin and bones creep reminding me of Jim Carrey's atrocious role in already atrocious Batman Forever. But puting him aside, the comic is overall good. Nothing groundbreaking or astonishing, just a solid blockbuter issue you can turn your mind off while reading. more

It was decent.

Let me start with what I liked:
The art was enjoyable.
The action scene at the end was cool.
The atmosphere.
The story is still interesting.

Now, my biggest problem with this issue is the pace. It was slow, maybe too slow. This issue had a lot of dialogue, yet we still don't know much about what's going on. So overall, in terms of story, we didn't get meaningful progress. Which is weird, because with that much dialogue you'd expect otherwise. I hope the next issue picks up the pace. more

This is where the book should stay. Spencer and Ottley as they established in the first year. Classic Spidey stories feel with new twists.

I enjoyed this issue of Batman for the most part. I didn't totally like the art. This artist tends to draw people a bit oddly. Their features lean more on the side of cartoon-ish rather then real life. But other then that I liked it. It touched on Alfred's loss without being to much in it. I enjoyed seeing Catwoman/Selena being a major player in Bruce's life still. It's a interesting twist in the story that this seems to going to be a plan she had a part in to bring Bruce/Batman down. In the past Batman has had some of his secret plans played out by villains. Both in his comics and a few times in the Justice League comics. This time it's going to be one of Selena's plans. I hope this is not going to lead to the down fall of them being together. I'm so so sick of that card being played out with them.

One thing that did confuse me though is that Selina is known to be Catwoman by the authorities and world which was why they were going to have that secret wedding to begin with. So no one would put Selina/Catwoman together with Bruce Wayne being Batman. Yet here she is openly showing ties to Bruce Wayne to the Mayor no less. So is she no longer a wanted criminal now? And is it now no longer known to the world that she is Catwoman? I wish it wasn't and also that Batman's identity was less known to so many people as well. Now it seems like just about all his villains know Bruce Wayne is Batman.

The one problem I had with the issue was this ridiculous idea that Bruce could make his city into a safe heaven where Batman is no longer needed. That is not a possibility on any level. What do you think if Wayne built enough buildings and what not that the criminals are going to take one look an say Gotham is to bright, new and shiny to mess with and just move out of the city never to bother it again?

Also I really would have like more of the fight with Deathstroke shown. more

This issue was definitely a return-to-from.

I'm glad we are done with the "2099" event. Now we can finally move to the main story. You know, the one that's actually interesting.

Anyways, this issue had some really nice moments (Peter and MJ's date) and some funny ones too (JJJ and Norah's talk). The ending, for the first time in a long time, has me excited to see what will happen and overall, I think this issue was fun and worth reading. more