Well done sir. In two lines, you summed up the issue quite well. Again, as I wrote in my review, it's tough to hate this issue, but King's tone throughout his run makes it hard to shift dour Batman to funny Batman. I get why he did it, and even think it's a good idea, but you have to lay the groundwork, and King just hasn't.

thank you. and i agree. none of the shifts in tone feel earned or make any sense. this series is just a random mess with absolutely no direction.

Yeah it was quite a mess. On the other hand it shows how lowly Bruce seems to think of Selina& Lois due to how disrespectful they acted towards Superman.

King just keeps trying to ruin these characters. why is editorial ok with this?

My man! We got some peeps that like to talk comics on here who need to join us on our slack!!!!

Lol exactly! Some seem very passionate about it also!

Come join Walt and I if your interested! All comic fans welcome!

Have you read Heroes in Crisis #1 that’s an easy 1/10, while most of the title is also on the lower end of the scale. Superman/Action Comics currently are easily below a 5 currently. Nightwing I’d go negative on if I could. That said this arc has been abysmal, nothing has really happened for months. Only the crossover which interrupted it had developments take place. Regardless it’s close to half a year of nothing. To say this issue is the best one in it is saying something.

I am reading HiC and it’s also going no where. I don’t mind Superman or action comics TBH. Nightwing is bad, TT is bad, I would say I love Wonder Twins right now, JL is hit or miss depending on if it’s too crazy and I can’t understand if, GL is ok, young Justice is ok too... but nothing is really great. This issue certainly wasn’t the best and TBH I was all in on TK at first but then it started going down hill before the wedding an after that he lost me. Now, I don’t even know what I’m reading.

I think TK just wakes up a writes something quick and calls it a day

Basically lol

The nightmare part is Batman is unhappy the entire dream, while everyone around him is living it up. Superman is constantly trying to get something out of Batman in this issue and he keeps shutting him out. At the end Superman realizes and accuses Batman of being unhappy at the possibility of no longer being BM. Also, the Superman robot thing is a joke and I feel like if you take it seriously, well... why? They're totally wasted, Selina even points out that Lois will only have herself to blame.

Also when will it end? Did you miss the final page? I don't check solicits but I assumed that meant this was the final dream.

You do have a point about there being a lack of progress since the wedding issue though. I think there is a point to the madness. We are seeing Batman at his absolute lowest and we are seeing a lot of hints that maybe he wasn't really understanding why he was getting married? Nobody knows for sure how this title will end up, but I think everyone should approach it as a 100 issue story and realize we are in the 3rd act where everything goes to shit, and that it may have a redemption final arc.

Or it could go up in flames. I don't know for sure, I am just a fan of some of Tom King's other work so I have hope that he knows what he is doing long term.

5 to 6 issues about a dream/ nightmare is redundant and unnecessary. We got the point. The Superman strip party with robots was done for shock and aw and was done without taste imo. I get that it’s a dream but it’s out of character for Superman Lois and Selena.

One issue would have been enough. And, we don’t need a 100 issue story drawn out. This entire 100 issue story could take 50 issues max, probably less but he’s stretching this out. No one should be on a book for 100 issues. No one. His style may be good for some but you must admit that it’s getting stale and redundant. New blood is needed

New spicy, new angle... 100 issues is over 4 years double shipped. If it was monthly it would be 8 years...... 8 YEARS!!!!!

I’d give 100 issues to Doug Moench or Chuck Dixon& Alan Grant, but King isn’t a good enough writer to pull this off. Problem with his entire run is, that I don’t buy it for a second, that breaking up with his girlfriend would break Bruce like that. King is overestimating Bruces relationships to women& is forgetting, that being Batman& protecting Gotham is what he’s obsessed with. His entire Batman run is mediocre at best& I can’t thibk of one single arc, that I loved. As for Knightmare I‘ve read

so many better Fear gas illusion stories, that really explored the characters. Also the fear gas explanation seems kind of random, especially because Scarecrow isn’t even part of the story.

And I’d probably shoot myself if we got 8 years with Tom King Batman 😂

hahahaha!!! don't do that Darkseid24 !!! xD

Lol don’t worry 😂

I know can you imagine.... 8 years!!!!! Holy cow! Darkseid24 I loved those a writers and creators you named but 100 straight issues of the same character.... I don’t think I could do it. I can’t think of anything in which I don’t need a break from for a bit.

Also, over all, I think the other side of the coin would be this: have him finish the story under his own title for Batman but leave this book. Maybe “Batman: Breaking the Bat” and people could buy it on their own not on the main title. That way, your not taking down a flagship book with your own long winded tale

This way he can go nuts and do what he wants their with his own King Contuity and everyone that cares about King can read it and everyone that doesn’t can stick to the main title. Plus, I wonder how sales would be? If you want to see if it’s all King or if it’s also the title or the book that drives sales, this I how we could truly tell

8 years would be terrible. King is mediocre, but I still hope, that Batman run will be great one day again. I think no writer should get so many issues. 50 should be the highest& if it works they can do more. King should have stopped with 50 as originally planned. Good idea. His run would be better if it was an Elseworld

Not even else world as much. If he wants it in continuity.... sure... I can turn my head to it and just say “it’s king it doesn’t really matter anyway” realistically, no one else is writing his crap in their stories and he’s not doing it either. He beats to his own tambourine where he is the only one of value and he is the most important thing going on. Nothin else is weaved into his story. I can overlook the book then because it’s not a flagship book.

This happened with Hitch and JL. It was a shame that he didn’t follow ANYTHING that was happening around him and he did his own thing. Destroyed JL and it took Snyder to fix the book and make it important. Sure, Snyder isn’t my fav, but JL is sooooooooo much better than it was with Hitch even if Snyder goes down these over the top, confusing plot twists. It’s still better. Someone big will have to fix this.....

Kings stories affect the DC universe. Dick is Ric thanks to him. Wally might be a killer thanks to him& others are dead. Thanks to him Catwoman can beat 3 Flashes& can slow beat Bane with one kick. It’s canon unfortunately. So I think as an Elseworld I could deal more with it. Especially when it comes to the wedding. I still hate the idea. I like JL. A little bit exaggerated like most of Snyders story, but it’s enjoyable up until now.

I kind of meant the other way around as in HE doesn’t account for anyone else and what THEY are doing. Oh I know about Ric, but that will go back because it’s just DUMB and Wally won’t be a killer by the end of this. The last thing we need is another bad guy speedster especially if it’s Wally West. There are too many of them. King will throw in some sort of curve ball that he plans at the last minute to fix everything. Maybe it’s all a simulation in Boosers head or Wally’s head

And what we’ve been reading is Batman going over the video logs and all that dumb stuff... something stupid like that. The ol switch a too in the end. O how clever king is (said with sarcasm). My problem is that DC is just sending out writers to write whatever they want. Do they not have retreats anymore? Can they not work together and weave the stories together? Are these writers not coworkers and friends? The stories should melt together, especially detective and Batman. I

It’s two totally different Batmen. As well as JL Batman. They’re all different and no one talks about Batman’s marriage other than King. But yes, Catwoman defeating flashes, and who knows what other crap King is spinning. It’s getting worse and worse...

Now I get what you mean& I agree. I liked the Ric story, but I think since it was Kings idea& other writers had to change their story just because of him he should have adressed the recovery of Dick more. I mean Dick gets shot, Bruce almost kills KGBeast, then there is a time jump to Dick being able to walk again. As for Wally he shouldn’t be a killer, but it’s a good idea to address how multiverse crisis affects the human mind. I’ve never bought it, that sone heroes had memories of 2 lives

after Rebirth without getting crazy. But yeah Detective Comics Batman feels normal, Kings Batman just weird. Apparently DC wants to turn Oracle into a villain too& Female Furies writer will take over Batgirl. Hope we don’t get some forced fake feminists ideas in Batgirl.

Where did you hear that? Not that your wrong I’m just curious. I hope oracle doesn’t become a villain... a geeeeeeez

We have so many villains as is... just use one that we haven’t seen for awhile. Better yet, trade sims villains and have a flash villain in Gotham for a bit. Something like that. But no need to create new ones from good guys

It’s in July Solicitations. However it’s not Barbara, it’s Oracle as an AI or something like that. I also hate the idea. They should just use the regular Batman villains. They are the best. Or they could team up with some others. I miss stories like Torment.

Love torment

Ric is a shitheel. Current Nightwing is utter and complete garbage, just like Superman and Action Comics. Unfortunately were stuck with bendis because they’re trying to bank off his name, but Nightwing would be better served ending the book until they can get someone who can do the character justice.

*we’re stuck with

@Dispatchdcu I love Torment too. @ RBL Ric will last at least until August, I assume until October or November. Somebody said King wants to keep Dick out of his City of Bane story, so it might be longer. However blame King. He forced Ric on Percy’s Nightwing run. Even so Knight Terrors was so much better than his dark web story. But you can’t blame him or Lobdell. They had to come up with a story in a short amount of time. I’m curious about Jurgens take on Ric. Court of Owls are boring though.

I don’t mind the Court of Owls. I enjoyed the concept when it was introduced by Snyder in new 52. I loved it. That said, it got out of hand even in the new 52. If done well, I could enjoy the court... but we shall see... I agree with the Forcing on Percy, which is why he left. And if you’re forced to write a character due to someone else’s book whose is effecting the character, it ain’t your fault. You do the best with what you got

He was forced to drop his storyline while it neared his planned climax for it in favor of some of the worst and most regressive “development” ever put to page. It’s clear to see how to a writer, this would not be great. His writing of the first issue of “ric, total shitheel” was because he wanted to leave the book on his terms. But that title is far from worth reading. I’d find it hard for anyone to turn that garbage fire into anything worth reading.

His writing for Ric in 50 wasnt „total shit“ at all, it was actually one of the best issues since ages, but I can see why Percy left. Love Knight terrors though& after rereading it Ric actually makes a lot of sense. People should pay more attention to the storyline instead of just hating on it for no reason. I’m curious what Jurgens is doing, Ric will stay for quite a while. And it’s nothing co pared to how DC ruins the New Gods. Ric is still Dick.

@RBL it seems you were right with, that King is sticking with that Knightmares was a fear gas illusion. That’s what preview says. Still hope he has a better explanation.

Same!!!!

Even as a Tom King Batman fan, 8 years of him on Batman would completely ruin Batman I feel. I am on board for his 100 issue story in isolation, but the world needs Batman. Classic Batman stories and classic villains. Tom King is not writing Batman as an icon to be looked up to and be inspired by, he is writing a very depressing and dry take on Batman that would never have widespread appeal.

Yeah. For me King is writing an average guy with average problems, who coincidentally dresses up like Batman. None of the characters are recognizable.

You know what I totally agree with that

@Br'er Lapin- "Tom King is not writing Batman as an icon to be looked up to and be inspired by, he is writing a very depressing and dry take on Batman" BEAUTIFULLY STATED! @Darkseid24- "King is writing an average guy with average problems who coincidentally dresses up like Batman" excellently state as well!

ric is total crap and irredeemable garbage. I mean it took 2 storylines and 3 writers for even most minute of progress to be made and it amounted to him not whining about needing a normal life. That shitheel is not Dick Grayson, he doesn’t even qualify as his shadow.

@RBL How is Ric so different from Dick?

I agree with both takes in Batman. But I don’t go to comics, especially Batman for depression. And I agree Batman is being written more normal with every day problems who dresses like a bat, BUT again that’s not who I want to read. I want to read him to escape. Batman is supposed to be smarter, tougher, faster, stronger, and more durable emotionally then I. That’s why I go to his book... to imagine, to hide from my problems and not be remembered of them. This take would make a fine comic...

But not Batman.. better yet, it would make a fine maxi stand alone/ elseworld but not in continuity

Dispatchdcu - excellent review, BTW. all these points you bring up are why i feel Tom King SHOULD NOT be writing superhero comics! ...they should just have him write another series of Sherrif of Babble On or something.

Agreed. He should at least do some research.

Thanks myconius appreciate it! And I agree he should be writing more Sherriff

you're most welcome!

It’s easily the best issue of this arc that has just been mediocre. If it were an issue taking place before 50 it would have been much better received.

The one with Pyg was still the only one, which was ok for me. This one was a mess.

Honestly I think Biff said it best, this story arc is about “as useful as a screen door on a battleship.”

You leaned positive, man. True neutral is 5. That said, fun issue, stand out within this arc in that there’s enjoyment to be found in it and despite being filler it’s not garbage.

Yeah, it's not fully neutral, because positives seem to outweight negatives - I would like the story if only it was a filler, not a part of Knightmares, I liked the first half's art - overall it was significantly better than issues preceeding it. But then again, it's ruined by being a dream belonging to a terrible story arc.

Yeah, I can’t say I did not enjoy the issue, would have been much better served occurring before issue #50

Yup. Instead, we've got 4 bad prelude comics made just to monetize on he upcoming wedding that ended up not even happening. Nightwing/Hush issue was okay, but the rest was so, so bad. This, or something equally lighthearted would've been so much better.

Still nothing since a non-wedding... 18 issues later and no answers to anything 9 months!!!!! Seriously!!!!! No answers!!!!!

I expect a forced wedding in the end, that won’t do any of these characters justice.

It is pure marketing, I extend the league as much as I can, I market a new series (Catwoman) and I play with the answers and a year later I start to release them. I just hope they are convincing.

Yup. This, plus most likely King planning what will be the end goal of his run (Bat and Cat marrying) without actually planning what and how will properly lead to it.

Then I hope whoever is taking over makes a divorce story, where Selina gets half of Bruce’s money lol

beautifully stated, Nihilist.

Hahahaha that was well put, better written than the issue itself. That said, I feel you are being generous with your score.

I may as well be, RBL, but it really hurts me to give a Batman comic even lower score. It's like watching your favourite sports team losing because they absolutely suck, but even then you try to somewhat defend them. 4/10 possibly would be a more accurate rating, but I need to think it through and browse the comic again to be certain whether or not I should change it.

I understand that, I hate I am rating the current runs of Nightwing, Action Comics and Superman below 5’s but to me they are legimitately that bad. That said, this non-issue could be up there due to the artwork which was great but the writing is a decided 0/10 because as verbose as it was nothing was actually said and the overall story had nil progress.

how do any of these last few issues tie into one another. this series becomes more and more of an incoherent mess.

Well, I wouldn't give it 0/10 story-wise, personally, even if there's no story to begin with. At least it didn't insult me, like Batman Damned, or Heroes in Crisis. To me, it was just a shallow, meaningless filler, and as myconius said, the series is becoming more and more of an incoherent mess.

i'm thinking more and more that this 100+ issue Batman run is solely an editorial mandate that King had thrust upon him. IF that is the case he should at least do better than phoning in this jumbled mess of empty fillers.

my predictions for the course of the series .... next issue, Batman goes to the Dentist. he has a cavity. ....following issue, Batman & Alfred eat cucumber sandwiches. .....next issue, Batman punches Kite-Man. .....next issue, Batman rearranges his Bat-a-rang collection. .....next issue, Alfred teaches Batman how to Dougie. you know why? cuz all the girlies love 'em.

Oh, yes, a batarang organizing issue. I can already see it. "How did they get so disorganized?", "How do I organize them?".Preferebly with a legend serving as a parallel to it.

I’d actually find an issue devoted to the organization/functioning of the utility belt amusing. But as that seems like a sensible choice and something people would enjoy, I doubt it would happen.

King said this issue would fit with the last one in the end, so Ill wait. As for this one, it was ok, but nothing great either.

i'm still waiting for the follow-up to the cucumber sandwiches.

Well Pyg still wasn’t that bad portrayed here, but since it was just an illusion, it ruined him somehow

i just felt Pyg's appearance here was totally out of left field and ultimately pointless. especially since the series left off with Alfred all beat up in the bat-cave with Flashpoint Batman sneaking up on Bruce. this is now TWO whole issues wasted that should have furthered the plot. ..or whatever it is that Tom King is trying to pass off as a plot.

I know& agree, but I’ll wait until I fully judge it, because King said that after Flashpoint Batman there was this 7 issues Knightmare arc& that it would all make sense in the end. I didn’t hate this issue, it was ok, but nothing special.

Loved your review, don't know how I feel about the CIA comment.

i always felt that someone bragging publicly that they were in the CIA was just a bad idea. i mean IF you have knowledge of covert ops of any kind, wouldn't you want to keep that secret? it just seems like very immature behavior and very irresponsible. the guy's as subtle as a bullhorn.

It somehow makes King cooler. FBIwould have been cooler though. Think of X Files I mean.

i personally think it's been cooler of him to not boast and be more humble about it. plus if you really do know some deep dark secrets of the government you shouldn't make the wold aware that your heads full of all kinds of private information.

Yeah that’s kind of true, but maybe it’s just me, but I think it’s weird, that DC hires a former CIA agent, they aren’t authors.

Tom Clancy was not involved in espionage yet wrote almost solely about that. It can be done, ya dingus. Just having writer as your profession doesn’t mean you’ll be able to produce great comics.

You should have some talent& with the bad dialogue King often is writing I think I have a point. The way Dick sounded in Batman 55 made it unreadable for me.

At first there was hope, at least I fel like it. I Am Gotham and I Am Suicide were great, and then Mister Miracle was generally praised. It just feels like King burned out completely in recent year, year and a half. Batman went completely downhill with #50 causing an avalanche of hate, and Heroes in Crisis is utter trash. Don't know what happened, he's just unable to write well anymore.

DC has burned Tom King out. he rose far too quickly, and now he's peaked and is nose diving FAST! ...if DC editorial was smart (which they are NOT) they'd end his run at the original planned 100, and get a few co-writers in there to help him finish the run. he had a co-writer with Grayson, but even then he didn't actually finish the run. it was passed off to another team.

First Batman titles were ok& I was disappointed by Mr. Miracle in the end, but 100# are just too much for him& he has this 2week schedule, so I’m not surprised, that the quality isn’t that good. But overall he’s a mediocre talented writer.

DC's biggest problem is they enjoyed the success of Grant Morrison's incredibly long Batman run, and have been trying to replicate it ever since. they can't! they prolonged Snyder & Capullo run on Batman and that overstayed it's welcome. and now DC is running Tom King's Batman into the ground.

I didn’t like Morrison’s Batman run, but Doug Moench& Chuck Dixon did a great job with Batman in the 90ies. They deserve to write 100 issues, but I can’t see King managing that.

Morrison's Batman is definitely not for everyone. though i can understand why some are turned off from it. though i'm still baffled as to why anyone can praise Tom King's Batman as anything more than being mediocre at best. even his 'I AM...' stories were very cringe worthy. hell! i was cringing at issue #1.

Yeah I agree, maybe they see it from a different point of view. If it was an Elseworld it would be way better. King at least uses the villains. Doug Moench was one of my favorite writers. Wish he would return. Or Manning could write Batman.

my thoughts are that some folks just worship and praise anything he turns in, no matter what the level of quality. that can actually be said for just about any writer honestly.

That happens, inversely as well, but I think regardless of that people can agree that these past 2 issues have done nothing to advance the plot and are thusly pointless. Regardless of dialogue and presentation it did not do what a comic is meant to do which is tell a story.

textbook filler.

Yeah some fans do, but I’m not. Like Dan Jurgens for example. Hunters Prey was great, but Batman Beyond is so disappointing.

I have never believed in the whole “praising every work from x writer because I liked all his/her other stuff.” I am constantly disappointed by some of my favorite writers. In fact, before Batman I was a pretty big King fan. :)

Wasn’t disappointed by my favorite writers yet, but I expected more of Dan Jurgens. Yeah sorry to hear that, maybe Batman becomes better at some point. It’s just too much work King has I think.

i can't blindly praise. Grant Morrison, Peter Tomasi, Chuck Dixon, Frank Miller ... (OH! especially Frank Miller!) have all done stories that i don't care for.

With Chuck Dixon it’s weird. I like many of his stories, but his newest Babe story was underwhelming. Doug Moench never disappointed me so far.

but it's perfectly normal for a writer to have an "OFF" story that doesn't quite cut it. people are only human. can't reach perfection all of the time.

That’s true though.

that being said... i think King might be holding the comics record for the most consistent "OFF" Batman stories in a row.

Ive read stories where characters were way more out if character, so King is ok for me. Nothing great, nothing bad, just mediocre.

i find King's Batman to be a parody of the character. funnier than most comics that are actually trying to be humorous. unless that was his intent all along?

I mean, if you want to look at the gold standard for off character’s look at bendis writing event books and anyone iconic or long-storied. If you don’t want to look far, look at current state of Superman and pretty much everyone in the book and Lobdell’s Nightwing.

Comics from The 80- 2000+ were funny. Don’t think it’s that bad, I’ve read worse like Darkseid War or Rock of Ages both were awful in so many ways. Nightwing was great.

there's a big difference between intentional comedy versus trying to be taken seriously but coming off as a joke. ...case and point "save Martha".

With Martha I think many didn’t get it. The jokes are funny, but I didn’t think it was funny, when I first watched the movie, because I got what Batman was thinking.

I didn't find it funny either. I mean, it was clearly poorly written, after all who normally calls their mom by her name? The joke indeed may have been a bit funny at first, but after few days it got old. But as with anything normies touch, it has become painfully overused.

Some people do indeed, but it made sense for calling her Martha, since how else would Batman know if he saved the right woman? Besides it was to show, that Superman is human.

at least he called his mother "Martha" and not "Brick House". . . . . . she's a BRICK . . . HOUSE.

maybe he should have? ... The lady's stacked and that's a fact Ain't holding nothing back