No. Just no.

I had hoped that King's successor would build on the good stuff that King did. And to be fair, for all my criticisms of King, I must acknowledge he did some good things - especially his relationship with Catwoman.

But that's where this issue really falls apart. It turns out that Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin were part of some cabal with a secret agenda. (Apparently they killed and buried the Joker, a Joker?)

And the Penguin also bribed guards, builders and that's why he was able to get the assassins out of jail so quickly. You'd think that Batman might anticipate a move like that in a city where corruption is a real thing. You know be on the lookout for bribes and such.

Riddler mocks Selina about her not telling Batman about her evil deeds and Lucius has some sort of holographic tech that can turn any car into some sort of "Batmobile" at least from the outside. (No armor, and I think we can all agree that a bullet proof capability is important for the cars of Batman and James Bond).

Also, Penguin tries to bribe the assassins he hired to leave Gotham but Deathstroke, when confronted by Batman, slits Penguin's throat and says that Batman can capture the paid killers who will kill again if they get away or he can save Penguin's life - the life of a mobster who has killed and will kill again. He lets the killers who will kill again to save the life of a man who will kill again. (I can't put my finger on it, but it seems like that's not the right choice but that could be me.)

It seems that Penguin knows who the real villain of the piece is and that villain hates Bruce Wayne. and Wayne is the real target. Dun, Dun DUNN!!!

So what's my problem? Simple. Selina keeping a secret from Bruce. I suspect that her saying she conspired with others to kill the Joker, a Joker (?) would be something she'd want to mention. If she didn't trust Bruce to understand the reasons why she did what she did, then their common-law marriage is built on a lie. Also, if she told Bruce and he freaked out, then he really didn't understand who he was in a relationship with. Frankly, killing the Joker is the only sane thing to do. No matter how many times Batman captures the Joker and locks him up, it doesn't stick. The Joker gets out. Letting him live condemns untold hundreds, if not not thousands, to death. Selina keeping this secret is so 1960s comics trope-y that I can only sigh in disappointment. Keep up with the times fellas.

So Tynion is starting his run with a bad portrayal of a relationship I've enjoyed reading about. Also, you'd think that Selina might mention being part of a conspiracy that had Bruce Wayne as the target. She is, afterall, essentially Mrs. Bruce Wayne. She is now in the line of fire.

So this plot goes forward only because of the Roger Ebert Idiot Plot trope, which basically says that the story only happens because characters act in an idiotic fashion and not in a logical fashion. I mean it might have been a good story if Selina came clean about his conspiracy befire it went into action. We could see Bruce having to grow the hell up and deal with the messiness of other lives. Have him show growth and say something like we all have a past, but it's the future that matters and as long as you don't pin me in the middle of a conspiracy where people get killed, I think we can manage.

So early on the Tynion run, I am disappointed. I did like the art, but can't say I'm crazy about how the Penguin was drawn. Did like how Catwoman was drawn - attractive without being all male-gazy to the point where she looks like a stripper.

Or I could be wrong. more

really beautiful art, but the story is just not grabbing me.

this just feels like it's trying way too hard.

I feel like I should be more excited about this issue than I actually am. Maybe it's the comic, or maybe I just have a bad day, but either way I couldn't really get into it, get invested in the story and appreciate the groundwork Tynion is laying down for events to come and mysteries to unravel. It's all fine, nothing's missing, nothing's lacking, but while it is an entertaining read, I don't think it leaves a mark on you. It's like your typical action movie - it's fun while it lasts, and then you just move on, get interested in omething, anything else. 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

Again, a five. I liked the art and I liked the fact that the colors were bright. King's Batman used muted colors, I guess to symbolize depression of the mind.

The plot is that the five assasins are locked up in Bruce's supermax holding cells he built for the city. But the cells don't work and they escape. Jinx or Minx or Lynx or whatever her name is, gets hit by a semi-truck so bad that the front is caved in, but she lives. (Is she super, because otherwise she'd be a smear on the road.)

Penguin and Riddler are talking via phone while Penguin does some light housekeeping that consists of a lot of bodies. Riddler is talking about how he and Penguin made a deal with someone called the Designer who will collect.

Selina relays the fact that last issue's macabre death guy was trying to change blue prints for plans to Bruce's new Gotham. Bruce detects nervousness in her voice. I really hope that this is not a seed of Selina realizing she can't take Bruce's world. First, it's a cliche. Second, her past is filled with her doing dangerous things that got her enemies that want to kill her. She saw a lot of bad stuff, so this should be par for the course and not a wake-up call.

My problems with the story. The unseen villain. What's his or her goal? Money? Playing nice with Bruce would get the Designer all kinds of money legally. Power? The same. You own a lot or real estate in a city and you've got power. Is the villain an architect who doesn't want a new modern city?

Did the Designer change the plans of Bruce's jail, so all the villains could escape? That would explain how no villain ever seems to stay in prison.

I guess I just don't like the hidden villain does things we won't understand for six issues trope. I much prefer the villain monologues about how his evil plan is going ahead, no one will stop me. We don't know all the details so when they unfold we're surprised, but when the hero thwarts the villain we say "of course, I missed that clue." I am old school that way.

I really do believe in logical motives for things. Lust for revenge, money, power idealogical purity. I have to get behind the motive to get behind the villain. Evil for the sake of evil doesn't do it for me, which is why I never got behind Morrison's Batman run.

I am holding out hope, but these new-fangled writers with their new-fangled ways of story-telling don't do it for me.

Or I could be wrong. more

A good Batman comic? Could it be?! Well, considering it's Tynion who took over the series, I expected nothing less, but still, I was afraid Tom King's awfulness preceeding this new run could affect it more, dragging it down. That didn't happen for the most part, naturally not including Alfred's death, which up to this point, has been just pointless, it was merely shock for the sake of shock.
Tynion, in comparison, just laid down everything important, set up the big mystery, and even more. That's what we call a plan, which can't be said about King's nonsensical gibberish with no purpose and endgoal. Whether it's a good plan or not, time will tell, but at least there's something we can follow now.

The art is beautiful, once again, not surprising, since DC wants to sell this flagship comic, and attract those who turned their backs on King's run. Good art sure is a good selling point, and this issue truly is something you could analyze for hours, focusing on every little detail.

What I enjoy is how Catwoman and Lucius Fox play bigger roles in the adventure, from the get go. Tynion undertands that Batman can be monotonus as a character, and needs company. People who would be more than cannon fodder to get killed off/shot in the head, or to appear only when a deus ex machina magical knife is needed. He did that already with Rebirth's Detective Comics series, establishing a team and giving each member purpose. I hope this continues, and we'll see Bruce developing some fleshed out relationships in this new era of Batman comics. Well, that's a glimmer of hope, at least, in the world where half of Australia and Amazonia are in flames, and the US government oes anything in it power to start world war 3 with Iran, so the current president gets re-elected. At least we won't experience all this horror without decent comics to read. more

What to say, what to say? The art is good. Tynion definately is taking the book in a new direction, but is it really a new direction? We see Bruce at Bats being ever so dedicated to fighting crime that he neglects his guests at a Wayne Enterprise event. That's not new.

We see him fighting an unnamed evil organization with a secret goal. That's not new. We see Selina acting at "Mrs." Wayne at said event and still looking at shiny objects with lust. Could be interesting. She loves Bruce and wants to help Gotham, but she's still, at heart, a thief. Has potential if done right, but it's a tricky road to walk.

Some point I bring up that could be exploited, but the writer will probably miss. The mayor says that thanks to Bruce's efforts Gotham is a boom town again, growing faster than any other American city and how did Bruce push his agenda to build a new campus through the city government so quickly?

We don't know and that's a good question. Is Bruce actually being as corrupt as the people he fights pushing his agenda? Did he bribe people, make promises that are "iffy"? We don't know and I hope Tynion explores this idea - that in the end Bruce is as corrupt in his own way as others. Democracy must be run democratically and not by an oligarch.

Bruce calls Lucius Alfred by mistake, so that shows he misses Alfred. So do I. He'll be back, but I do believe having a black CEO of a billion dollar company act as the servant of a rich white man is just bad optics. Also, running a billion dollar company is time consuming. Lucius has better things to do.

But the art was really good. I liked Selina's slightly off-modal haircut. There's a lot of potential here to be good and be bad and just hit notes that have been hit in other stories. Hence the rating of 5. I will wait and see.

Or I could be wrong. more

It was ok, but not great. At least Tynion is writing dialogue, that actually is readable. However I hate, that Catwoman is still a part of the story. She is just pointless. Deathstroke was beaten pretty fast by Batman & while I don’t really think Deathstroke to be an interesting villain, he shouldn’t be beaten so easily. The D Villains in this issue also were pretty boring& I am wondering, why they were even in it. I liked the Bruce missing Alfred part, but I still hate, that DC actually goes through with his death. So overall it’s an ok issue, but nothing outstanding. more

Prelude:
It's now been 19 issues of the Creel story. Are we going to get any progression here?

The Good:
Nothing of note.

The Bad:
Wow, that was boring as hell.

Conclusion:
Well that was very boring. It's been 19 issues and nothing has really happened.

Things I disliked about this issue.......

1. The art was terrible and inconsistent. One minute Maggie's in a wheelchair and a few panels later she is just standing around with no chair in sight. The room in the store kept change looks also.

2. There was no story progression at all. The issue was just more unneeded and useless filler. How is Creel making all these Zombies? Is she just grabbing people off the street and giving them a Laz-pit bath? Selina was bitten and didn't turn into one so that shouldn't be how more are being made. But Jones is not a good writer at all so it's a safe bet that could be how even if it doesn't make sense now.

3. We keep getting told Creel has these big plans for the city but never given anything about how, what or why. No clues or hints that this story that has been almost 2 years in the telling of, has an actual story in it. From the first issue it has felt like a place filler to keep Catwoman on the canvas till something happens in the Bat books. I've kept buying it because of being a huge Catwoman fan as well a Batman/Catwoman fan. But now that we no longer seem to be going to get the promised Bat/Cat series I'm feeling less inclined to continue reading this series.

4. What bothered me the most about this issue is the fact that it was more of a Carlos book then a Catwoman book. Carlos is a character that has not had much written about him to make you even care about him and yet we got panel after panel of Carlos fighting the Zombies. When Catwoman, the main character who's book it is, is actually shown she was mostly shown running across a roof and non-stop panting. Which I find to be insulting to the character because she does that every night. Her body would not be that out of shape that she would be non-stop panting.

What I liked about this issue..................

1. Uhhhh .....yeah...... I got nothing. Not a single thing. Umm..... I love the color purple so I liked that she was wearing a purple suit. So I liked that one thing. I didn't like how it was drawn with the lines down it. It looked better way back when it was smooth and sleek looking. Also when she had the longer hair. The short hair just didn't look right with it. Though that could be because it was slicked down instead of how she usually has her hair. So anyway I liked the purple color of the suit. more

i honestly didn’t really find this story very engaging. i really wanted to be excited for this comic, but in typical Tynion fashion this issue was VERY dialogue heavy, and very much a slog.
although this was much MUCH better than the last Bozo that was writing Batman, the story just didn’t hook me in. i didn’t feel very engaged.

one thing i found VERY funny was how much this story reminded me of the formation of The Club of Villains back in Batman #676. (which Tony Daniel also drew) we have the gathering of a gang of villains. but instead of Le Bossu killing the Stagecoach Driver, we have Cheshire killing the doorman.

the art was pretty and polished, but the compositions and page layouts felt a bit stagnant. once the action FINALLY started, i just didn’t feel invested at all.

i'm still going to check out the next issue, though i can't say i'm all that excited for it.

more

What I disliked............

1. King just did the minimum to finish the story up. This issue feels like he just threw it together and didn't care about giving the fans a real story. I liked a lot of Kings run and disliked a lot also. However with all of what I liked I felt hopeful and was looking for this to be an epic ending. Instead it was more the dying embers to the fire. I was so looking forward to this issue with high hopes and now I'm left feeling stupid for having believed he would give us a good ending to all this. I wonder how different the ending might have been if Kings run hadn't been cut short?


2. What happened with the villains that were being mind-controlled by Bane and Psycho Pirate? And were was the commissioner and the real police in all this?

3. Some interaction with the rest of the Bat family dealing with the aftermath of the insurgence of Gotham would have been welcomed.


4. The part of the story with the football crap was wasted space. Bruce would not have gone into the bar to watch football. He has stated a number of times over the years that he doesn't like football. The last time he said so was in the issue that had Lois and Selina together at Superman's fortress.

5. Were was the big fight? There should have been a big fight.

6. Claire seemed fine and healthy enough to be climbing around just fine with Batman. Why give her back her powers? She never seemed stable from the get go so I don't see how giving her powers back is a smart thing.

7. I didn't like that Thomas seemed to want Bane to kill him. It would have been nice to have him stay one of Batman's villains. Batman's in need of some new villains. The same ones get used over and over. Even though the stories change using the same villains makes the stories feel stale anyway.

8. My biggest bitch about this issue is the fact that once again Bat and Cat look like they are going to get married only to once again be a NO. Seriously you slapped us fans of the couple once already. Only to do it again on the last issue of your run. Screw you King !!!!!


What I liked...........

1. The Joker story coming up looks interesting. Though to be honest I'm so getting tired of Joker stories of late. He's being used way way to much lately. Both Joker and Bat-Joker are being over used.

2. I liked that Bane broke Thomas's back. Well okay it's more of I don't dislike it then actual like. But anyway he deserved it. However I hope that this doesn't mean that will be endlessly plagued with hearing Bane brag about having killed him along with his never ending bragging about breaking Batman. His sad and pathetic one claim to fame.

3. The art was good more

Nice art.

Well commenting on what I like is out of the way. Now for the bad stuff. The action consists of a bunch of "I've got you, no, I've got you, no, I've got you." And it's about as clever as that.

It seems that Bruce was in control of Ventriloquist all along by miking the dummy and speaking to Arnold Wesker. So he controlled Psycho Pirate, who didn't control Catwoman. <br/>
So question? Why did Bruce let Bane and Thomas take over Gotham in the first place? No answer from King.

We see a well-drawn but boringly written fight. Bruce says Thomas, you're not my father so cut out the Darth Vader crap. My response was "well duh." That's the big epiphany?

Oh yeah. Cat and Bat "marry." After defeating Thomas, Cat says let's get married. Bat says sure. We'll have sex and then wake up Judge Wolfman. (A nice nod to Marv Wolfman). We see them in bed declaring their love and Seline has an engagement ring on. They forgot to visit the judge but they consider themselves married anyway. How does that work? Does Selina live in Wayne Manor? How does Bruce Wayne living with an infamous thief work? Does the press comment? How does she fill her time? Does she keep stealing? Get a job? Become a lady who lunches? Decide to work for a charity?

Bats gives Gotham Girl platinum kryptonite, so now she has all the powers without any of the side effects. How does this work? Cleaning up crime should be very easy now. Say what you will about Batman's villains, but they aren't designed to fight a heavyweight with Superman powers.

In prison, Bane breaks Thomas' back. I have to admit, I liked that. See I can say nice things about King.

We also see Bruce walk into a bar and not meet a Rabbi, Priest and Minister. He does meet Chuck Brown a.k.a. Kiteman. (God, I have Kiteman). Bruce wants to catch the last minute of the football game. Chuck says the Knights always blow it. (As a Detroit Lions "fan" I accept that reality.) Bruce says things change and people change and the Knights wins. (As a Lions fan, false hope is terrible.)

So Bruce now sees that there is no good death. Life is great. Again, well duh. What I really hate is that Bruce's lessons had such a high body count. I read someone write about King, saying his writing was about trauma, and not heroics. Points for that observation. His run, while it had a couple f fun parts (like the Lois-Selina bachelorette party bit) was not fun. The dialog lacked character. The plots weren't clever and the explanations of what we missed when the plots concluded were hardly Agatha Christie smart.

We now have a strange status quo. Alfred is dead. But I predict we'll have another crisis that will restore a more familiar status quo. Maybe they're work-shopping Bat and Car marriage. I have no problem with it. We've had 80 years of bachelor Bruce. Robin came within a year of intro, so loner Batman is something of a myth. It would all depend on how Cat was written, and I have no faith King can actually write a flesh-and-blood has her on spark of divine fire woman partner for Bruce.

This run was not the profound insight into Bruce's psyche that King thinks it was. It covered a lot of familiar ground with plots that had been done before and done better. His Bruce was a mess, and didn't see him do the work of making Bruce healthier mentally. His Catwoman was a plot device, not a character. He KILLED ALFRED, so screw him. I am glad this is over. But reading Tynion's plans for Bruce, (He's even angrier) shows that King has not written a definitive Bruce, setting the pace for decades to come. We're still stuck with angry Miller Batman and I'm tired, so tired, of that.

Or I could be wrong. more

Well. That was bad.

Like actually bad.

Terrible even.

Alfred is dead for no reason. And it just didn't feel like it. No one seems to mourn him. What exactly happened to the batfamily? Are they okay?

So, Selina and Bruce got married. Yay.

But my grodd was this a slow and terrible run. And I'm glad it is over. If 35 issues of this were this slow and bad, I cannot imagine what 20 more issues whit this garbage would've been.

So is Bane an idiot again? Thomas is broken but still alive in the main universe? Or dead. Who knows. Who cares.

And this showcases events in a different order. Again. I don't get it why Tom loves to have flashbacks to the events while having a boring story happening in the present day.

Bruce just lost his father figure and a father from alternate dimension. And seems to be fine. Like nothing happened. Which is why it doesn't feel like Alfred died. BECAUSE NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE.

City of Bane was the worst Batman arc I've read after Knightmares. Absolutely terrible. And boy am I glad it is finally over. more

Prelude:
Well, it's the last issue of Tom King's run on Batman. A series that showed so much potential at the start but lost it at #50 and never got back to that level. Let's see how this final issue goes.

The Good:
It finally happened.

Janin's art is great in this issue.

The Bad:
The pacing is completely broken.

Batman in his MAIN SOLO SERIES doesn't defeat the villain, Catwoman does and in the same fashion as she has done before.

Still didn't tie the series up with what King had set up earlier.

Conclusion:
Look, it's just so lackluster. The pacing is extremely off, the defeat feels like a cop out, and King doesn't tie it all up. Add the fact that half of the issue isn't even mentioned in this review due to it's mediocrity says something. more

No, Tom King, throwing incoherent shit, glueing it up with no context and pretending it has a message is not writing. 85 issues, and everything you've set up at the beginning, every promising thing, went to complete disrepair, and in some cases was just abandoned. Example? Gotham Girl killing Batman - remember when she, herself, teased that in the first arc of the series? If you do, well, you're one step ahead of King, since he, clearly, forgot about it long time ago. No wonder CIA can't overthrow democratically elected governments anymore, if they hire such incompetent hacks.

Writing in this issue is awful, but it's nothing new in the series. Dialogues were atrocious for over two years now, mentioning them feels like beating a dead horse. Script... is there even any to begin with? Scenes are disjointed and don't create a unified conclusion to anything. As I said, it's just ducttaped shit. And you know what's the worst thing about it? It won't go away next month. No, it's going to leave a mark, because James Tynion will have to acknowledge its existence. That's what I loathe about long running comic continuities - atrocities made by one writer can't be instantly retconned when needed. Nobody remembers Batman Damned, and rightfully so, because it was an abomination. It was also an elseworld comic, so its awfullness did not impact anything outside. King's Batman, and Heroes in Crisis before it, though...

It's a pathetic, absolutely miserable joke of an ending to one of the most insulting series I've ever had displeasure to read, despite its solid start. It's a laughable display of lack of talent and any story to tell. I'm glad it's finally over, and more readers won't have to suffer from exposure to this toxic trash.
What a waste of everyone's time, and slap in the face of Batman's brand. more

thank god this pathetic P.O.S. Batman run is finally over!!

leave it to Tom King to riddle his "grand" finale with a juxtaposition of something totally non-consequential to the climax. this comic is ALL over the place! does he think he's being clever?
i can't believe he re-used the Catwoman gag from ‘I am Suicide’. it was dumb the first time, and even more cringe-worthy now that he's forced it in here.

Tom King, take your S***ty Cucumber sandwich eating Batman and Gotham Girl and GTFO you awful HACK!!! more

I didn't know what to expect, and what we got is totally Tom King. Repetition, failure to follow through, obvious metaphor, quoting literature, etc etc etc. I don't care, though. I genuinely couldn't care less about any of this. And knowing that it's over in not a bang, but an astounding whimper, leaves me with an empty feeling I can't help but enjoy... It's like a starvation, but a good one. It's odd. And you know what? That tease with Joker was actually pretty good. I'm on board for Tynion's Batman. That did what it was supposed to, I guess. Maybe that helps soften this blessed emptiness I feel, but I can't act like I'm upset or that I... feel anything at all about this ending. The only reason this is getting a three is because I know a past version of myself would believe in that rating. I recognize the problems. There are many. But again, there's nothing here but blissful apathy. more

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

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**!!!!!

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

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

i really hope that DC will do another reboot soon!
all this arc did was ruin the character of Nora Freeze.

DC really needs to drop this rushed Bi-Weekly release schedule.
so many rushed, half-baked ideas. a lot of cringe dialogue.

i used to really love this run, and was excited for each new issue.
now the only reason i continue buying this series is because i respect Tomasi and want to continue supporting his Batman. though if i just stopped buying it completely i really don't think i'd miss it. as much as i enjoyed getting to spend just a little bit more time Tomisi's version of Alfred, i'm glad this arc is finally over.
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Oh this was just terrible. Like, peak terrible. Even the art was bad. The story was worse. 20 pages for something that could have been done in 2. Just get this shit over with...

Tom King continues to prove that he should not be writing for DC. The art is nice, though.

I liked parts of this issue. Before I get to that though let me start with what I hated about this issue......
1. Alfred's lack of faith in Bruce. After all the things Alfred has witnessed Bruce/Batman over come and defeat how could Alfred so easily give up believing in his being able to beat Bane and Thomas.? Alfred above anyone should have faith in Bruce. So to have him lie and bring about his own death and say that he did it to keep Batman from being defeated is bullshit.

2. I swear I would love to shove Kings poem books up his hoohaw. Enough with the damn poems already. We get it you don't know how to write yourself out of the hole you wrote yourself into. Talk it out with someone and then write some actual story.

3. The art was not great at times. Like the panel where the artist was going for dramatic grief and instead got comic horror.

4. Bruce was shot twice last issue yet once again he's fine with no apparent injury this issue.

5. It would have been nice to know if Bane was killed or not.

Now what I liked about the issue......
1. Thomas is a serious sick twist for the way he sets up the way Bat's finds out about Alfred. The way the table is set up with them having Martinis in front of them. So twisted!!!

2. The emotions displayed in this issue through Alfred's words, Beautifully done. Would have been better without the poems but that's me just being picky.

3. I like how crazy Thomas is. I hope his reasons for all this is explained well.

4. City of Bane is still the best Bane story ever!!!! Little of Bane actually in it and he may now be dead. Best ever!!! LOL more

I've read more poetry reading King's run on Batman than I ever did in college, or since. Not what I read comics for. I agree with all the other criticisms about miraculous healing/discontinuity between issues, etc. My main complaint is the entire story line makes no sense, including FB (not "father" - why does Bruce call him that?) thinking killing Alfred will make Bruce give up being Batman? I could go on, but it's not worth it. more

Huh.

I really don't have anything other to say here. City of Bane that has no Bane in it.

Broken Bruce who wasn't really broken.

Alfred who is dead, but nobody cares and buys it.

Summary so bad and full of lies, but is still better and has more story than this issue.

Art so good it almost makes you miss the wanna-be-deep-done-bad-writing.
>
This doesn't make feel anything. Alfred's death means nothing to me right now. Huh. I guess that is an accomplishment.

What will happen next? Who even cares at this point. more

Wow. Just wow. This is the more humanized Batman? Last issue this guy got shot in the gut and this issue he's completely fine. In this run he's been shot, had his throat slit, and broken his back multiple times to just pretty much walk each off as if nothing happened. This isn't a humanized Batman, this is a terminator Batman who is emotionally stunted. Don't worry though because Tim magically recovered from being impaled 2 issues ago as well. The only one who's injuries seem to stick is Alfred, who has been dead for months our time but who knows how long in comic time. I'm assuming he's been dead long enough to be getting pretty ripe though. King steals some more poems to fill up space because he's unable to come up with anything meaningful and original. This was a very exposition heavy book where Alfred leaves a journal? a recording? I'm not sure. Doesn't really matter. Alfred gives a stupid reason why he gave the "all clear" to get Bruce's plan in motion and I guess we are supposed to gloss over the fact that his "all clear" put Damian's life in danger. In the end, this issue exists to give those who are willing to forget what happens issue to issue the feels. It shouldn't since everyone has known Alfred is dead for months now and if he was really in the clear then Bruce would have heard from him already but that should only bother those who put any actual thought into what goes on in this story.
The art was great though. Seeing Batman pointlessly punching a wall was nicely rendered if not completely pointless. This issue was complete shit and no one should bother wasting their money on this. King shouldn't be allowed to continue to write at DC since he spends no time trying to understand the characters or trying to figure out how to pace a story or make a coherent plot. more

Mikel Janin's art gets drowned by bad plotting. Alfred's death has zero emotional impact because it happened two months ago and even before it happens we know it won't stick because of Doomsday Clock and the upcoming Crisis. Alfred deserves better. Murdering characters is Tom Kings "thing". But as with every storytelling tool it must be used sparingly or else it ends up being a joke. How many characters has Tom killed in the past 12 months? See the problem here? I'm a fan of Kings earliest work. This is just rushed garbage. He knows it. He's smart enough to understand how ridiculous it is to make Batman try to break a brick wall when there are windows he can escape. Yes. It is symbolic. But it's also bad, very bad.
This is the equivalent of killing a cute puppy to get an emotional response from readers. The art is the true power of the book. Mikel Janin and Jordie Bellaire are the true stars of this issue. Their art is solid 10. Unfortunately I can't cancel my Batman subscription but I have cancelled Batman/Catwoman. I hope King reads this and understands that I want to support him, he is a great writer but he needs to plot things better. And he definitely needs a better editor. Batman feels like a book with no editor. more