All I’m thinking as I am reading this is what the fuck is Tom King doing. Enjoyed the artwork. I am quite curious to where the punch will lead to with the Bat-Family. I know I am not going to like it especially how my favorite scene in Rebirth Detective Comics was when Bruce and Tim got reunited.

More terrible writing from Tom King. Just an awful story.

OH MY GOD.

This is just a rehash of the Knightfall story arc from the early 1990s.

Bane breaks out the Arkham crew. Batman is stressed out, pushes allies away. Hits Robin the same way Hank Pym hit Wasp back in the early 1980s. (The action, while bad, is not a symptom of being a wife beater, but rather psychological stress).

They have two or seven artists, so the look isn't consistent. For some reason Alfred is telling Bruce he lost and is serving Bane and Thomas Wayne/Batman.

This is just a whole lot of who cares, and rehashed who cares at that. King recently boasted that he finally got permission from the suits to do something that will shape Batman for a generation. (It's going to actually have him marry Catwoman after he shakes off the psychological damage done in the war with Bane).

Here's a thought. How about writing Batman as a smart, dedicated crime fighter who is not a dark psycho. That would be refreshing. How about writing smart villains and not rely on CRAZY as a character definition.

Or I could be wrong. No, I'm not. more

More King tropes in play.

Bats wakes up, meanwhile the text box quotes Rintrah Roars, a poem by William Blake representing the just wrath of the prophet.

Bats beats up everyone in his path to escape Arkham. This is a callback to when Bane beat everyone up to get into Arkham.

Bats does things like punch out Solomon Grundy off panel. He talks to Freeze about how Bats always wins and punches him out, he punches Riddler then solves the Riddle.

Basically a lot of punching in the reverse order Bane punched to get in.

Two-Face tells Bats to go to Hell. Bats tells Harvey to tell Bane he's coming to Gotham, his city.
(This is the 21st century, does no one text?)

The story ends with a character I don't recognize quoting Dante's Inferno, abandon hope ye who enter here, as Bats heads to the Door With Blinding Light. I guess Gotham is Hell and there's no hope, certainly not in crime alley.

What I liked? The art. It was pretty good.

What I didn't like - everything else. It was, like I said, all King tropes. Using quotes from classic literature to do the heavy lifting. Say what you will about Stan Lee, he wrote the dialogue for a lot of stories and it gave the books character and interest.

The structure is a reverse of Bane's journey. Get it, Bats is the anti-Bane, get it? GET IT? I AM PROFOUND!!!! I DO NOT ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO TO THE TROUBLE OF WRITING ORIGINAL TEXT BOXES OR DIALOGUE, I CAN PAY HOMAGE TO GREATER WRITERS BY STEALING THEIR STUFF THAT IS IN PUBLIC DOMAIN. I AM THE BAT GOD.

The story really doesn't advance from last issue. It starts with Bats waking up, it ends with him walking out a door. He punches a lot of people. There is no wit, no out-thinking anyone, no figuring out a way to get out that doesn't require horrible violence.

Also, just as Bane punched above his class and beat guys like Grundy, who can go toe to toe with Superman, Bats does the same.

Overall a decompressed issue that does nothing and has no cleverness of character or plot. Just mindless action to get a man out a door.

Or I could be wrong. more

Guys, I don't think you understand how deep this issue is. Did you realize that it's a parallel to the I Am Bane issue where Bane fights the Arkham inmates? Did you realize that Maxie Zeus* was quoting Dante's Divine Comedy? Because it's like Batman is entering the inferno?? Isn't that deep and inspired???

This series is getting schizophrenic. One issue, I like it, the next I'm hating it again. Occasionally, this series gets me drunk enough, but the morning after is always a mess. Can we just talk about how badly this issue is executed? First of all, this should've been the finale of Knightmares. But I guess that arc needed no ending or beginning. That certainly helps with reader enjoyment. Second, why is there such a drastic change in art here? I prefer Jorge Fornes' art over Mikel Janin's art, but I think it doesn't fit at all here. Especially for the random page at which it starts. Third, the villains are just jobbers now. They're objects for Batman to overcome quickly. That Riddler riddle has to be the weakest one I've ever read. I knew the answer before the riddle was even finished. What's up with the "scientifically speaking" part with Freeze? I'm fairly certain that's some weak ass banter. Amygdala and Grundy obviously shouldn't go down so easy. Lastly, the pacing here. Is this run just DC's attempt to see how much they can squeeze out of a reader before they drop this title? Any other book with this type of pace would probably tank. But since it's Batman, people will continue to eat it up. It's basically an impulse at this point. more

While this was an improvement over Knightmares, that’s not really saying much. Batman escapes the nightmare machine, talks like an asshole, and beats the crap out of almost everyone of his rogues in single panels. Really let’s you know how incredibly NOT dangerous and threatening they really are. He even drops Solomon Grundy and Amygdala bare handed without breaking a sweat. Solomon Grundy, who gives Superman pause, got his ass beat in between panels while Batman goes on about being a nightmare himself. People who complained about hating Batgod should be pissed but since Tom King is writing it, most will give him, yet another, free pass. Batman walks straight out of Arkham saying he’ll be back with his team later. If this is all part of Bane’s plan, it’s a really stupid plan that is needlessly convoluted. This story, like so many by this writer, makes no sense. Oh, and then there was the public domain literature that is a King staple as well. The art was not bad but, again, was not enough to make up for a poorly written issue. His last arc drug on and on and then this issue Batman takes on almost his entire rogues gallery in single panels. King needs to learn what pacing is because his sucks. Anyway, this was another mediocre issue from an overhyped writer. more

Basically this is another filler, because all Batman is doing is beating up his villains& boasting about how great& badass he is, while walking out of Arkham Asylum. That’s really it. It is the same, what Bane did in issue 19.
While I’m happy to see the villains, especially Scarecrow I’m also disappointed how much they are wasted here. They all get beaten with one punch, what makes them look weak& it’s quite boring. Villains should challenge the hero, but if the hero can knock them out so easily it’s just boring. They all deserve better! Speaking of hero, Batman also looks bad here, because he is beating most of the villains with no reason. Some of them are just standing there, not even attacking him& still he is punching& mocking them. With some of them like Manbat he is allied in other runs or I don’t know why Kings Batman has such a big problem with Mr. Freeze, since he normally is one of the villains Bruce sympathizes with. Boasting about how great he is also seems out of character for him. I can’t see Batman being so foolish. And at this point I’m asking myself, why Gordon hasn’t arrested him. And I can only roll my eyes about Bruce shouting „I’m living in a nightmare“ 🙄
Since it was Scarecrow‘s fear gas, that lead to Batman’s nightmares I would expect a worthy confrontation with Scarecrow, but all we get is Batman mocking Scarecrow& also beating him with one punch. Batman of course is also immune to Scarecrow‘s fear gas he is using here, what makes it look all too easy for him. The story also leaves it open, if Scarecrow even was the one affecting him or whether Bane just stole a version of his fear gas ( I still say it’s a version gone wrong), what ends up in even more plot holes. If Scarecrow wasn’t the one, then I’m asking myself, why Batman is even punching him, since it’s not Scarecrow’s fault, if someone stole it& used it on Batman. Point is Scarecrow deserves better. He should have stayed in Bludhaven a little longer.
The only good thing about this issue is the art, which is really great, just like the cover& even so the villains are portrayed badly here I’m happy to see them. If that’s how King is going to use them in City of Bane I don’t want to see it& I hope he leaves my favorites out of it.
King is also quoting the Divine Comedy at some point, while I’m a fan of quoting more demanding literature in comics, I say Dante deserves better than being quoted in such a simple story just to make it look intellectual.
more

SPOILERS!!
SPOILERS!!
and MORE SPOILERS!!

at long last, Batman FINALLY pulls his way out of the Nightmare machine.
well it’s about damn time!
then Tom King the master of decompression wastes as many pages as he can having Batman march from dummy to dummy, effortlessly punching them out as he goes, and spouting every cliche in the book. even Grundy and Amygdala were knocked out with little to no effort.

then there’s a painfully mismatched shift in the art style. did not fit AT ALL !!!!
in the end we get some swiped dialog from Dante’s The Divine Comedy.
it wouldn’t be a Tom King comic without padding it with as much filler and as little effort as possible.
at least we are more than halfway through this garbage.

Bane won’t be the one to finally break the Bat, Tom King will! more

Considerable improvement after months of pointless filler. That said, I do not find this was worth all those wasted issues even if it is much better than the entirety of the past arc.

I believe the “gauntlet” Batman goes through while it does fill the issue with action it just seems like a compressed version of the lead-up to Knightfall, wherein Batman faces multiple villains non-stop in what was presented as one of the most taxing nights of his career. The biggest difference is that no encounter even fazes Batman. He faces Solomon Grundy and Amygdala seemingly only with his fists and leaves unscathed? I find that hard to believe. He’s scarcely even challenged in his exit.

While the issue is full of cool moments, almost as if it wants to make up for a prolonged dearth of them, I did not feel particularly moved by this. One comment made by Batman to Scarecrow “I owe you for all the fun”, I actually found in poor taste because no enjoyment has even been present in this title for months. Nice to know at least in King’s mind Batman enjoyed the torturous nightmare he was stuck in and us readers were subjected to.

I appreciate the change of pace and hope this title keeps moving forward, maybe then it would become a fully satisfying read. As it stands it’d be slightly above average at best. more

Man, was that... underwhelming.

The purpose of a villain in a superhero story is to challenge the hero, make them embrace their best self, grow and learn. None of that can happen when a random sleection of baddies is being taken down one by one by a hero so overpowered he puts Arya Stark to shame.
I'm aware it's just a set-up for something bigger, and Batman is going specifically after Bane, but such a waste of good bad guys, one shotting them one after another, doesn't serve this issue whatsoever. There's no tension, there's no actual stakes, there's no feeling of constant danger that should be present in a place like this.

You can skip it and you wouldn't miss a thing, since we already knew Bruce woke up after the last arc. A horrible arc, I may add. This, for now, doesn't look much better, with its disjointed schizophrenic art and non existent narrative. more

Issue had good art. However we’ve already seen this not too long ago where he fights everyone in Arkham about Bane. The dialogue was awful, like always. Is there a panel with Man-Bat even though he’s in JLD

This issue pisses me off even more than the rest of the filler nonsense. One, why does King keep having Bane fight naked? This was never a thing before. Suddenly this master tactician thinks it’s a good idea to fight with his dangly bits hanging out? Stupid. Second, why is Thomas here? There’s no explanation and it makes zero sense. Third, this damn dream sequence is just annoying. Holy hell, get over the break up already. I honestly don’t understand how anyone could still want a relationship between Batman and Catwoman after King’s run. He has made this pairing toxic. We were treated to the usual terrible dialogue and the lyrics to a song that probably no one knows. Also for the grand finale of the Knightmare arc and Batman is STILL LOCKED IN THE DAMN MACHINE!!!! So there’s no real resolution to anything. The 4 is all art which was decent enough but it had zero chance of making up for this nonsense story. more

All these dream issues lead up to Bruce telling dream Selina, who keeps changing form into the various Catwoman depictions made over the years, that his greatest fear is that he does not love Selina.

The other part is Old Thomas Wayne scrapping with NAKED Bane. (For the record, fighting with your testicles and penis hanging out to flap around is really a had idea. That's how sopranos are created).

Old Thomas beats Bane and walks away only to be grabbed and thrown down. Old Thomas, when at Bane's mercy answers the age-old question of "is that a gun in your pocket or are you glad to see me?"

It was a gun. Funny how a regular-sized hanggun in the pocket of a sweat pants showed no outline or evidence of existence until Old Thomas pulled it out of his pocket. (Pockets where you can hide a gun are another reason why you wear some damn pants when scrapping).

Bane accuses Old Thomas of CHEATING - NO FAIR!!!. Old Thomas says he doesn't cheat, he wins.

Bruce also speaks a lot of exposition of how he beat the fear gas. By being more afraid, the body produces more adrenaline and self-protects.

It would have been easier to say, when I realized I was in a dream, I woke myself up BECAUSE I'M BATMAN. (See How It Should Have Ended for more on this).

So I guess, these dreams are meant to show Bruce's greatest fears. But I really didn't get that impression. I just saw them as wheel-spinning that really didn't offer me any insight.

And I guess Selina in these dreams is Bruce's unconscious mind telling him truths he wouldn't face otherwise? I don't know, it just seems King being really self-indulgent without having the talent to really make these issues count.

I am really tired of this. Just get on with it. Also, Old Thomas doesn't want Bruce to be Batman, but works with psycho killers? What kind of sense does that make? He doesn't sit down and explain how being Batman is a waste of one's life and maybe by using the Wayne fortune to help people, he will do more to fight crime?

Old Thomas just teams up with killers? How does that help Bruce, Gotham? Innocent people? To quote another billionaire Super Hero - "Not a Great Plan."

All in all a very frustrating issue built on a set of frustrating issues.

Or I could be wrong.

At least the art was good.



Or I could be wrong. more

again this plot goes nowhere.

bunch of jumbled conflicting tones thoghout this series.
so inconsistent. no focus. just a mixed up hodgepodge.

This is a weird issue. It's all a dream, but it plays like it's a memory of one night.

Basically, Lois and Selina go to the Fortress of Solitude to have a girl's night out/bachelorette party.

The art is fun and nice. The hi-jinks are meant to be fun, and I can't say they're terrible, but they are sort of a 1980s thing. The jokey vibe doesn't fit with King's dour Batman.

Also, the drinking booze from 10,000 planets just drags on too long. The hot tub thing is kind of cute, but kind of lame. Again, not terrible but . . . not as cute and charming as King wants it to be.

While Lois and Selina frolic in a way that would be totally unacceptable if they were men, Clark and Bruce have an awkward night at Wayne Manor.

King writes Clark as if he really were a slightly socially awkward farm boy who is intimidated by the wealth of the Bruce.

And Bruce is written as a total workaholic who can't relax for one second. He is unable to function in any way that might be considered normal. It's Batman or nothing for Bruce, which I find to be a boring and not terribly interesting way to write the character. But that's me.

It ends with Batman being on a table being pumped full of drugs to keep him docile.

Problems: This is Bruce's dream, so how does he know what goes on with Lois and Selina.

And the dynamic of Selina and Lois having fun, while Bruce is a grump is a rehash from the issue where the couples go to the county fair. Nothing new is shown. It would have been nice to see Lois and Selina interact in a new way - maybe Selina helping Lois track down a story or something.

Finally, this dream arc is just dragging. As least this one is fun, but just get on with it.

What's good. Like I said, the art is fun in a way that I like. The idea that Lois and Selina might be friends away from Bruce and Clark. Their having their own thing is actually a pretty good idea.

I will say that Lois complaining that she deserves her own night out because tomorrow she'll be a wife, mother and reporter (I guess King hasn't been reading Bendis' Superman) and then the day after that I have to be a wife, mother, reporter. It's called being a grown-up Lois.

There was enough Charm to not make me hate this issue, but there are problems.

Or I could be wrong. more

I would really rather rate this issue an "?" because maybe I am just too dumb to get it.

Basically there's no dialog (King's favorite "Elmer Fudd" tells Batman where the person Bats was chasing went, that's all the dialog).

This is one big chase that starts at the top of a skyscraper and descends into the sewers. Bats is chasing someone who looks like the Question, only with eyes and mouth drawn on the mask.

Bats finally catches the guy he is chasing in the sewer, under water, and it's the Joker.

We then get some dialog boxes. They read "William Ernest Coyote. That was the name of the dead man on the roof. I asked him why. He smiled and said 'beep, beep." (Joker is holding a little horn that you squeeze and it goes beep.)

That's the whole issue. Like I said, I don't get it. Is King saying the Batman/Joker dynamic is a futile riff of the Road Runner Coyote dynamic?

That makes no sense because the Coyote is obsessed with catching the Road Runner. The Road Runner is just running down the road because that's what road runners do. The Road Runner is no threat to anyone.

But by having the Joker go beep, beep, King is saying the Joker is the Road Runner. And the Joker is a threat to everyone. Batman's desire to chase the Joker is based on the proven fact that the Joker kills a lot of people. Not chasing the Joker means more people die.

Like I said, I don't get this. I say this issue is convoluted, a lot less clever than King thinksit is, and is filler that merely pads King's Batman run without adding anything to the character of Batman. Plus it takes like 30 seconds to read, so we're talking about actually getting much story for the money.

This issue leaves me more sad and disappointed than anything. The art was OK. Not terrible, but it didn't do much for me, but that's more of opinion. If others liked it, I won't disagree with them.

Or I could be wrong. more

Um, more of Batman trapped in his dreams. In this scenario, Selina is being questioned by The Question. It's all film noir, and Selina asks for a cigarette. That's a red flag, and she goes over their relationship and The Question keeps asking why Selina left and she says she left a note.

That's pretty much the issue, but it ends with Selina saying that Bats always has an escape plan, but The Question says this is one time he doesn't, he's trapped in his dreams and that he believes he's not strong, Selina says he's strong, blah, blah, blah.

Basically, we're stalled. Selina isn't a character with agency, she's a projection of Bruce's mind. But the funny thing is, she's still exactly like King has written her.

The art was nice, but the so-called insights into Bruce and Selina are more of the same from King. It feels like he's padding to get to issue 100.

Frankly, I find this "trapped in dream" arc boring. Nothing is happening and the psychology is rather banal. I give it a 4 for the art.

Or I could be wrong. more

Nice art with a confusing story that features characters acting out of character. Also a lot of "on the nose" dialog.

The issue starts with Gotham Girl imaging that she had a cool origin and killed the mugger that attacked her family (don't worry, Batman saved the day).

We cut to Flash and Batman fighting a lot of people who have taken the magic juice, but are now burning out, literally, from using their powers too much. Flash runs away with Batman, while in the background we see the other "heroes" burning up.

Flash yells at Batman, runs to Central City to see Iris and deal with the death of Wally. (I am not familiar with this story). Then Gotham Girl shows up and chastises Flash for abandoning Batman.

She says it's not heroic. Then some sort of clone or double or doppleganger of her brother shows up. He says he and his sister just didn't study Batman, they studied the Flash and liked his powers, but really liked his optimism. Then he uses he powers for . . . reasons and burns out.

GG gets mad and gets ready to kill the Flash when Batman shows up. Apparently the distance between Gotham and Central City is such that a really fast jet can go from one city to another in like five minutes.

Bats says he's sorry, and that he knows he's hurt her (why, I don't know. It seems like that his mere existence causes pain).

This is where we get the "on the nose" dialog. GG says, and I quote "There you go again, making it all about you. Don't you get it, this is my story Batman, not yours. You need to learn you can't control everything. Not everything is about you."

Bats says "Doing what we do, living this life is hard. Wanting to be a hero is very different than the reality of living the life. I should have showed you that."

Aside from Bats using the word everything two sentences in a row, this dialog is so on the nose. It completely lacks subtly. Also when did Bats really ever show GG anything. I seem to recall that she realized that she had to stop and did.

She then takes extra GG juice and starts glowing. End of issue.

I found this issue confusing, in part, because I haven't been following the larger Watchmen are coming plot in DC Comics. Also we have no idea who is manipulating GG (its Bane) and how the juice got to so many people. She said that her bro burned out again because he was dead when he got more super juice. That seems to be beyond Bane's skill set.

As to the message of being a hero is hard. Well duh. It would be nice if King did more than show that being Bats is hard and the mere presence of heroes causes more trouble. He has even weaponized optimism and shown how optimism can inspire people to acts of self destruction.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. King has serious issues.

But the art was nice, even if Bats needed a shave.

Or I could be wrong. more

I found this issue . . . confusing. In that it does not take up from last issue and all it says is that Flash and Batman are considering the notion that there are too many mysteries.

For that, we get some Justice League action and Flash and Batman talking about said action and how it seems to lead them to some thoughts about too many mysteries.

I felt no emotional connection to characters or story. Rather I felt disconnected from everything going on.

The art is nice, but Batman needs a shave. He's not a damned hippie. Razors aren't expensive and how Alfred lets him go out of the manor groomed like that is beyond me.

There's not a lot of "there" there. So I give it a 5 - neither good or bad, just there.

But seriously, trying to fit in King's 100 issue plot with DC's NEXT BIG THING (something the Big Two do too often) really cuts out momentum from an arc that is already decompressed.

Or I could be wrong. more

Bats is kissing Cats in pretty or sexy environment. Constantine is there to harsh the buzz.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

On the final time Constantine tells Bats that he is caught and hooked up to a machine that makes him dream, with the final scenario having Cats die.

That is the whole issue. This story is so decompressed, if it were a set of tires, you wouldn’t be able to drive 10 feet.

Also, this is the second story this week wheres King’s protagonist is dreaming that his significant other is constantly getting killed. (See internet uproar over Walmart Superman book).

Get help dude.

The art was nice, but the story was slow. Three issues to tell us Bruce is mindtrapped. I feel so jerked around.

Or I could be wrong. more

I get it. Bruce feels bad about himself. We know that. Telling us the same point over and over again, doesn't make the story more intersting. And the twist ending really doesn't have the impact that King probably meant it to have.

The whole issue until the last couple of panels is him trying to escape from Mr. Pyg, a villain that I truly hate, not love to hate, but just hate.

>In his attempts - Bats is slung upside down in a slaughter house like a slab of beef - Bats cuts himself to the bone with a hidden batarang to escape. He fights Pyg and only really does damage when he throws Pyg's knife at him. He notes that he really only hurt Pyg by using Pyg's weapon. Pyg easily catches the thrown batarang.

There's almost no dialogue. It's all Bats in text boxes talking in present tense.

While Bruce wonders how he got into his current troubles (again King is all tell, not show) he thinks the the tale of Pygmalion - a sculptor who fell in love with his own creation, but when that creation gained life, she rejected him.

Then when Pyg is unmasked, it's Damian reciting a line from the three pigs - hair of chinny, chin chin.

IT WAS ALL A DREAM. PSYCH. More like Yawn. The art is incredibly bloody. So while well-done, I found it off-putting. But that's me. If you like a comic literally dripping in blood in every panel and full of self-mutilation and horrific violence, then this is the book for you. Psycho.

I hate dream language. No doubt things like only using the enemy's weapon works and falling too much in love with your own creation are supposed to tell us about Bruce's mental health. But that's all King has been doing - driving home the same point over and over again.

It's boring.

I am so tired of psycho Batman. I miss the days when he was smart, self-aware and a true force for good. Now it's all just "you make things worse" and "you're a driven psycho that damages everything you touch" and blood, blood, blood, bodies, bodies and more bodies.

Enough. But that's me. I am a bit of delicate flower.

Or I could be wrong. more

A big pile of who cares. King has brought back his rip-off of Tommy King - little evil "Bruce Wayne."

The whole story is basically Little Bruce's dream of the real death of the Waynes and how Batman solves the crime.

Like I said who cares. It seems that today's writers have their pet characters that they love, but no one else does. These characters take up time and space in stories that don't work because the characters suck.

Little Evil Bruce is one such character. The sooner he's dropped in a wood chipper, the sooner King can get on with his life and we can stop reading these awful stories.

Or I could be wrong.

(I'm not. Little Evil Bruce is just another variation of the doppleganger concept, and not an interesting one).

The art was fine. more

More of the same. Batman using violence instead of brains. Beating ex-Arkham prisoners, who back up Bane’s story.

Penguin is being guarded by Alfred. They fill up space talking poems. Commissioner Gordon is through with Batman and we learn KGBeast is alive because he was under watch by Russian officials.

Story ends with Alternate Batman (Thomas Wayne, I think) clocking Bruce in the Batcave. That last page is the only page that matters. The whole issue is just a slight variance of last issue. Nothing happens. Decompressed storytelling at its worst.

Mixed artists, so the look isn’t even consistent. Just bleh issue.

Or I could be wrong. more

King makes the biggest mistake a Batman writer can make - he writes Batman as stupid.
Bats learns Bane is responsible for his troubles, bullies his way into Arkham, scaring SWAT and finds Bane pretending to be “crazy.” He beats Bane and when Gordon objects, he hits Gordon.

That scene reminded of the time Yellowjacket hit Wasp. That is the whole issue. Batman ones no detecting, no checking out Arkham, no investigating staff, no looking for the Bane cave. Bats used dumb brute force. I remember when Batman would put on disguises as the janitor and check things out. I get what King is trying to do, but that is the same plot Bane did 25 years ago. The writing is terrible.

But the art was nice.

Or I could be wrong. more

Nice art. But King uses a whole issue to tell us that Bane has ordered Penguin to kill or maybe hurt Alfred. The issue ends with Alfred at the Manor and we see a red dot on his forehead, telling us that a sniper has him in his sights. (By the way, as an ex-CIA agent, King should know that real snipers never use laser sights because they do tip off the intended target. It's just Hollywood nonsense.)

That's it. Also, another woman is killed by the "freeze" technique. The hit of Alfred was ordered to punish Bruce Wayne for interfering with the Freeze trial. Boy, I hope King has something clever up his sleeve with Freeze, because right now framing him makes no sense, except maybe to get Batman crazy for sending an innocent man to prison. But Freeze has killed so many people, he hardly qualifies as innocent.

Again, an issue where the pace crawls at a snail's pace. The action is hardly compelling and the dialog consists of poems. So King is letting other writers do the hard work.

Just get on with it. more

The art in the story is nice. King is a man of few words. Too bad words aren't a bad thing in a comic book.

The story picks up right where it left off. Batman goes to the cabin where KGBeast killed dad. Instead of doing something smart like throwing a flashbang stun grenade in the cabin to get an advantage over a villain that can go toe to toe with him, Batman says "Beast" outside the door of the cabin. Beast immediately shoots through the door, tags Batman with a bullet and comes out fighting.

They trade blows and the Beast has Batman on the ground and Batman takes out a grapple and fires it at Beast's head, breaking his neck. Beast is paralyzed and says help me and I will tell you who hired me. Batman says no, I'm the World Greatest Detective (copyright pending) and leaves Beast in the snow, presumably to die until some other writer wants to use the character.

Interspersed in the story is a Russian folktale about animals trapped in a hole who eat each other one by one until the last one starves to death. We see Beast's dad read it to Beast and it ends with Bruce being read the story by his father. Were their mothers both named Martha?

What to like. The art really good. But the fight scenes have no flow. They are just individual shots of big men hitting each other. Also, the use of "Bang" and "Pow" word effects is kind of in poor taste. Those graphics are associated with the 1966 Batman TV show, King's dark, cynical violent storytelling doesn't mesh with Adam West's Bright Knight stories.

What's not to like. The writing. Nothing really happens. Batman doesn't defeat Beast in a clever way. His giving Beast a sporting heads-up is really dumb. Having both dads read a real Russian fold tale to their sons really doesn't add up to anything.

Oh, having Batman say he has to walk 300 clicks, presumably that means 300 kilometers, to get to his transport is dumb. That's over 160 miles. He walked in the snow 160 miles to get to Beast's cabin? Dude Uber is a real thing. You have Batplanes.

Also leaving Beast to die? Really? I know that mimics what Starlin did 31 years ago, but it was controversial then, and Beast was proven to be an unstoppable killing machine. Here, he's just a big guy who can punch one handed.

Either kill the guy outright, with none of this coy "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" crap, or bring him in.

Character is not illuminated, and plot is not so clever that that doesn't matter. All in all, just a time filler until King gets his 100 issues plot line done.

Or I could be wrong. more

The art saves, well not save so much as make this issue not be a total waste of time.

King kills more time by not showing us anything we don't already know. Batman beats up a gun dealer who IDs the picture of the KGBeast. Batman says a witness saw a one-armed man near the scene of the crime. Richard Kimble no doubt is looking over his shoulder.

We next see Batman and Bronze Tiger beating up Ninjas. BT says he doesn't know where KGBeast is, but he might know someone who does.

It's Kanto. We see Kanto threatening to torture a tied-up, upside down Batman. Bats says I know you're wanted, tell me what I want to know and I won't snitch. Kanto caves in, says KGBeast is only close to his father, who is hidden somewhere in Russia. We next see Batman walking in the snow to the hidden cabin where KBDad is. Over the long walk we have a lot of text telling us that Batman has a contact, a former intelligence agent in Russia who is corrupt and gives the address.

That's Batman's story. All we see of KGBeast is him visiting his father and saying I am not weak and killing his dad.

What is to like. The art. Very good.

What not to like. Everything else. Like I said, this is just filling space. We don't actually see anything. We don't see Batman find the witness who saw the one-armed man. We don't how Batman picked that gun seller to threaten. Did he go to all the illicit dealers? Did he know this guy fronted for Russian mobsters? We don't know.

Why did Batman go to Bronze Tiger? Having them fight Ninjas should be exciting, but it isn't. I get the impression that it would have been just as exciting to have BT and Batman talk in a dark room.

How did Kanto capture Batman? We don't see. The whole upside down thing amounted to nothing. We don't see Batman do anything clever to escape, so his getting caught is a dead end.

We are told about how Batman gets KGDad's address. That's not exciting.

The talk between Beast and his dad takes up a number of pages but amounts to "you raised me to be strong, so I will kill you to cover my tracks." Again, not exciting.

Oh, by visiting his father KGBeeast exposes himself and I strongly suspect that's how Batman will catch him. So if Beast just stayed away from his father, Batman has nowhere to go, because it's obvious Dad and Son didn't keep in touch, they weren't even Facebook friends.

So this whole issue is a waste of time and money. We don't learn anything new. No exciting fight between Batman and Beast.

Also, with continuity rebooted 47 times in the last 31 years, I don't know what's canon and what's not. So I don't know the backstory between Beast and Bats.

Just a lot of treading water. Oh, we do know Beast was hired to Shoot Nightwing. Man, I wonder who could have done that, who could have been the Bane of Batman's existence?

Not a great issue. Or I could be wrong. more

What to say?

I get what King is trying to do. I just don't think he did it well.

We see Batman and Nightwing fight some mummy monsters. All during this Nightwing talks and talks and talks. He said Batman never liked his puns and then comes up with more puns.

Again, I get why. King is trying to show us that Richard is trying to cheer Bruce up. Good idea. The problem is with the execution. It's all surface and cute. We don't actually get a serious conversation. Your mileage may vary, but Richard came off as a dick. (See what I did there?)

Basically, it was just clumsy.

The second part of the story is KGBeast entering Gotham, buying a sniper rifle and setting up a sniper's blind.

The book end with KGBeast shooting Nightwing in the head when Batman and he respond to a call from the Batsignal.

What I liked. The art. Looks like Jim Lee, and was nice stuff. Really liked the art. I tend to like my Batman drawn this way - crisp and fairly realistic. I tend not to like the more abstract versions by people like Kelly Jones. But that's me. I concede that others may prefer more abstract.

What I didn't like. As I said, Richard trying to cheer Bruce up. It comes off as superficial, and I didn't find it funny. When something that is supposed to be fun and funny, and I don't find it that way, it can be annoying. But again, humor is subjective. This just didn't work for me.

Second objection. King has talked about his days in the CIA. I suspect the way KGBeast enters the country with a false passport, cover story and with contacts needed to buy a sniper rifle reflect King's real world experience. The problem is he needs to find a way to make talking to customs agents exciting. The tradecraft stuff was boring, but took up a lot of space. (An evil I suspect comes from having to write two Batman books a month. Decompression is the obvious result).

Third point. A sniper setting up a blind at the Batsignal makes perfect sense. Which is why in this day and age of burner phones makes the Batsignal really stupid. I know it's cool and his the weight of history behind it, but there's a reason they invented the Batphone for the 1960s TV show.

So Batman and Nightwing meeting in a public place at a predicted time when that public place has clear lines of sight for snipers to use is just dumb.

And Batman isn't supposed to be dumb. One would think he'd do a recon of the area before exposing himself. More realistically, which is a funny thing to say about a man who dresses as a bat and puts youths in danger by dressing them in red and yellow, one meets in a secluded area. That means when the Batsignal is lit, Commissioner Gordon and Batman go to the secret place only they know about that is nowhere near the Batsignal. These days the Batsignal could be activated with a Bat-app on the special Batsmart-phone Batman would give the commissioner.

Fourth point. I get it King. No doubt Bane is behind the KGBeeast's actions. It's all a part of Bane's plan to break the Bat. Eliminate his support system. Make him alone, so the big fight (another big fight - these guys must have had like 1,009,034 showdowns already) when it comes will have Batman alone. So when Batman wins, it's a great victory. (I predict he will win either by being awesome and beating everyone up, or two, Batman was never alone and all his Bat friends help him beat Bane and company. Either way is really predictable).

So overall I give this a 4 or 5. The idea makes sense. Friend helps friend. But the execution just doesn't work for me. It's full of holes and the humor doesn't work.

The art was great and that makes up for a lot, but still doesn't save the issue.

Or I could be wrong. more

I'll keep this short. This is not a terrible issue and has all the strengths and weaknesses of King's writing.

First the strengths. I am hard on the man and it's only right that I give him credit where credit is due.

Richard Grayson sticking around to cheer Bruce up after filling in as Batman is a right and proper plot. Showing how Bruce worked with young Richard after the Flying Graysons had their lethal dispute with gravity is not terrible. (Though I've seen this in Batman The Animated Series and Robin Year One, so not a lot of new ground plowed here).

Showing Richard has a cheerful person, also nice. Contrasting the two personalities makes sense.

But that takes us to King's weaknesses as a writer. A lot of his stuff is conceptual. In interview he talks about theme and such. But a theme is not a full story. There are things like dialog, show don't tell and structure that help make a story great.

Slavish devotion to any one of these literary conceits can result in an off-kilter story.

In this issue we get parallel story lines. We see Richard recreating the circumstances of Bruce helping him when he first came to Wayne Manor.

But this time it's Richard cheering Bruce up.

Short aside. I am not calling Richard Grayson Dick. The reason is not because Dick is slang for the penis. It's because no one under the age of 65 is called Dick anymore. Maybe the penis thing killed it, but if Richard is, say, 25, no way he's called Dick. Get with the times DC.

Back to critique. So we see King write a highly structured story, but without better dialog and without better exploration of character what we get is basically "Richard cheers Bruce up by recreating past."

What we don't see is Bruce actually break down and say thanks for being there my son. We don't see Richard say you were there for me, I'll be there for you. It's all allusion.

For example, we learn when Richard first came to Wayne Manor, he didn't like cucumber sandwiches. But Bruce said stick with them, you'll learn to love them, that's what my dad taught me.

Get it? Work hard and you'll overcome your awful past as illustrated with cucumber sandwiches. Get it? Get it?

Of course Bruce's lesson could just as easily be the stalker's creed. Wear someone down and they'll love you.

What we don't get is Bruce actually having any sort of epiphany. Richard gets him to laugh because he bets a penny that he bounce his billy club 36 times. (Physics doesn't work that way). Richard then says he wants the giant penny in the Batcave. Bruce laughs. This refers to an earlier flashback where Richard wants to bet a penny that he can stand on one hand longer than Bruce. Bruce said he doesn't bet. Richard said that his parents would make penny bets and a penny is a small thing. Bruce says not all pennies are small.

We don't see Bruce acknowledge that he is down. He doesn't realize he's not alone. We get almost zero sense of forward emotional growth.

What I didn't like. Again, King really likes killing people. We see Nightwing and Batman tackle Crazy Quilt and Condiment King. Nightwing mocks them for being losers. Batman points out that Condiment King has killed three people in seven robberies in a week. Again, told, not shown.

Why is this bad. Well as I've said in the past, death for the sake of death in a story depresses me. This is supposed to be a light-hearted issue and the Condiment King was absolutely created to be a joke. Making him a mass murderer isn't a joke. It harshes the buzz of the story as the kids who won't stop playing on my lawn say.

King loves his obscure joke villains. Fine. Just don't make them killers. Because being a killer is no joke, despite what you've seen in "A Fish Called Wanda."

Also, I found Nightwing's banter to be lame, but I will concede that is more a matter of opinion. (Though a review by its very nature is all opinion. I get confused).

So not a terrible issue. The art by Wagner was great. I guess the real problem is that reconciling the boy's adventure Batman of 1940 with the mass murder Batman of 2018 is difficult. It needs a light touch, and say what you will about King, you must concede he is not a subtle writer.

That's why I think it's best if Batman stories from different eras remain separate. Trying to reconcile different styles under one roof, as it were, hardly ever works.

But it was nice seeing Nightwing and Batman together, especially showing they didn't hate each other. (F*ck Teen Titans TV's F*ck Batman. That's what I say).

Or I could be wrong. more