After two issues of pretty much straight set-up, we’re back to the action in Batman #18. From the opening page spread of Batman and Bane arguing and fighting in the rain all the way back to their respective childhoods this issue really packs in an emotional/action-packed punch.
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Batman #17 is the second issue of the “I am Bane” storyline. Issue #16 had a more light and comedic tone (except for the last page), and there is a definite tonal change from that issue to this one. Here it is back to business as usual as Batman continues to prepare for the coming of Bane.
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Let me first say that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to review Batman this month. As you know, if you read my review of Batman #15, I was not a fan of that issue. I didn’t like it, but I do feel like I might have been needlessly hard on it in my review. But this issue is the first issue in a new arc (called I Am Bane) so I figured I’d give it a shot.
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We’re nearing the end of the year and that means it’s annual season in the comic book industry… Since becoming a comic book shop owner, I’ve been paying more attention to annuals (I’ve picked up a fair few this year purely because I can.) Before that all I ever got was Daredevil annuals and Batman annuals.
Read MoreI think that issue five of DC's Batman book, which I should say upfront is a surprisingly good issue, has helped me clarify what hasn't been working in the series until now. As Batman faces off against the confusingly named Gotham in a battle for the soul of the city, one can't help but feel the stakes and philosophical posturing aren't earned by the series yet. The way Batman himself is written isn't bad, but is incredibly stiff, needing moments of humanity and humor that he hasn't actually had yet. On top of all that, the story feels constrained by the needs of the rebirth line (this title, while ostensibly the core book, has to set up a crossover for next month while also leaving room for Snyder's concurrent Batman Title to exist). And yet, with all of this bad, issue five manages to have some diamonds in the rough in terms of character moments and some surprising plot turns. I've been disappointed by Batman so far, but I've held on in hopes that Tom King can turn things around. Issue five gives the first evidence that he definitely can.
The issue opens up with Batman realizing that Gotham is in danger from, well, Gotham (seriously, the naming scheme here is a mess) and sending his best man in to buy some time. This leads to my favorite sequence of the series so far: Alfred suits up in his own Bat costume to act as a distraction while muttering to himself about what he thought it entailed when he promised the Wayne parents to protect their boy. It's a sharp, funny moment that somehow has never been done, that I know of, in Batman before. The leads in, of course, to a long fight scene between the real Batman and Gotham, while Duke Thomas and Gotham Girl watch from the wings. In another smart move, the emotional center of the issue is Gotham Girl who, as we learn via some narration, will be important in the future. While Gotham's motivations to turn evil are amorphous at best, Gotham Girl is an innocent, watching the superhero world destroy her brother in every possible way.
David Finch delivers some excellent work here, aided as before by the inimitable Jordie Bellaire. Early on in the series I was not entirely sold on Finch's 90s era, stylized designs, but I've warmed up to them as time has gone on. His Gotham Girl, for example, at first appeared over-sexualized and supermodel-ish in a way that I can't stand. But now, unmasked and vulnerable, she's drawn like a gawky twenty-something, awkward and immediately sympathetic. And as always, Finch's talent for action sequences carries the fight scenes, which as in most superhero stories, are constantly in danger of feeling like filler.
This brings us back to Tom King's story which is, now that all is said and done, an interesting, if underdeveloped opening arc. I love the involvement of the Justice League (an obvious option almost every Batman writer ignores) even if it amounts to little beyond a cameo in the long run. In all honesty, I was such a fan of King's work to begin with that when I started reviewing Batman, I wanted desperately to like it. Unfortunately I didn't, but now, with one arc finished, the book has a chance to redefine itself as something worthwhile. Here's hoping it can pull it off.
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Batman #5 Writer: Tom King Artist: David Finch Colorist: Jordie Bellaire Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Format: Ongoing/Bi-Weekly; Print/Digital
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Of all the Rebirth titles to date, none gives me more pause than Tom King and David Finch’s Batman. My feelings on the caped crusader go back and forth like a never-ending game of ping pong: one week I love it, the next I’m reminding myself what it is I liked about the Dark Knight in the first place. This most recent issue falls into the latter category, sadly. With limited to no plot progression, an extremely messy narrative, and an all too familiar "origin story," the third chapter in Tom King’s inaugural arc "I am Gotham" sadly falls flat on its cowl.
The biggest plot point, if you can call it that, is that we are given a glimpse into the origins of Gotham and Gotham Girl. In a very clever/not-so-clever re-imagining, the issue opens with a young boy and his parents walking arm-in-arm down Park Row (Crime Alley). As they veer into a dark alleyway, for god knows what possible reason, lo and behold they are set upon by an armed assailant! The mugger takes down father with a swift punch to the stomach, then turns towards the mother and grabs for her gold necklace (ringing any bells yet?). Then at the last possible minute, 
when you’re about to throw up/gouge your eyes out after having read what you believe is yet another Bruce Wayne/Batman origin story, who shows up but BATMAN! Because guess what: this isn’t a re-telling of Bruce’s origin, it’s actually GOTHAM’S! That’s right, his parents were attacked in the exact same way, for the exact same reasons, on the exact same street! Also like Bruce, Hank Clover (spoiler) uses the incident of his parents attack as the catalyst to rise up, help others and be a force for good in his city. Now I understand and appreciate the nostalgic irony but come on, seriously? It’s not enough that the character has a completely derivative character name (Gotham?) but now his origin is just a carbon copy as well? Let’s flex a little more creative muscle guys; expand the character scope. Yes, we get that you’re building towards Gotham wanting to Talented Mr. Ripley Bruce but could you do it in a less obvious way?
Another problematic aspect was Tom King’s poorly strung together narrative. The whole issue felt like he was trying to channel Scott Snyder and the attempt to do so results in a script that’s confusing, bloated, and hard to follow. There’s an entire monologue toward the end where Hugo Strange speaks in strangled parables and paradoxes - to be frank, it just doesn’t make any sense at all; I’m still not sure what he’s trying to say and I’ve read it four times over. Also, the whole "piss and smoke" metaphor from Gotham’s father in the opening monologue really irked me. It just screamed out Scott Snyder but in a really blatant kind of way (also, did anyone else find it weird how Gotham’s parents hadn’t aged a day in nearly ten years? Whoops…).
I hate bitching. I hate bitching about Batman more than anything but Tom King just…irks me so far. I feel like the annoying kid in the classroom who's constantly yelling out to the substitute 'you're doing it wrong, you're doing it wrong!' but these problems go way beyond nitpicking and fanboying. It's clear to see there are some intrinsic problems in the scripting that have to be addressed immediately. King and Finch need to take a bold step out from the shadow of Snyder and Capullo, stop worrying about what came before and focus on their task ahead. Right now for better or worse Tom King is Batman; let's hope he starts acting like it soon.
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Two new caped heroes have joined Gotham City's ever darkened skies, old villains are hatching dark plans in shadowy corners, Commissioner Gordon receives a startling confession, Batman broods about his own mortality, and somehow it all feels a little off. Batman #2 is a rock solid issue that I enjoyed immensely, and yet, as with the first issue, it felt a little unnatural and forced. The writing's sharp, and the art's good, making it hard to pinpoint what wasn't working, and then it hit me all at once--Batman feels wrong. I've heard it pointed out by a number of authors that there's very little difference between writing fan fiction and writing a franchise title. And author Tom King seems to have fallen into the trap of bringing too much reverence and fandom to his own writing, making for a good comic but a stiff, formulaic Batman. It remains a good comic, but thanks to the lack of life in its titular character, it's a little hard to connect with.
The issue opens with Solomon Grundy (a personal favorite villain of mine) tangling with Gotham and Gotham Girl in a park. They have the situation under control, to an extent, but Batman intervenes to knock Grundy cold and deliver a quick, biting lesson in collateral damage. The line Batman delivers to Grundy is "Feel it Grundy. Feel how much it hurts. And remember if you get up, it will hurt a whole lot more." The line he delivers to the new superheroes is "From when I interrupted, you would have caught Grundy in one point three seconds. He would have trampled that 
man in point seven seconds." There's no denying these lines sound like Batman (albeit a very Robocop-like Batman), but they sound like Tom King aping the style of Frank Miller and Scott Snyder with stiff, inorganic results. The issue contains some greatest hits from Batman including his classic rooftop disappearance trick, but they don't feel like fun moments, they feel like obligatory, fanservice-y ones. King has, as of yet, no clear voice of his own for the character, and it's hard to empathize or care about a Batman that feels oddly generic and predictable.
I would, however, suggest that King will likely relax and warm up to writing the Bat as time goes on, since this issue gives ample evidence through the other characters that he's as sharp and creative as ever. King's Alfred is in his own way classic, delivering bitingly dry remarks mixed with sardonic wisdom, but there's a subtle sense of warmth and fatherhood to him. When he tells Duke a story of mistakenly choosing to buy a young Bruce a Wakizashi instead of a Katana, it's not only a great joke, but a nice reminder that Alfred is, in a very real way, Bruce's father. Similarly, I love King's crusty, pipe-smoking take on Gordon. This is a Jim Gordon who is old enough and experienced enough to take even Gotham's strangest occurrences in stride (he has a killer line questioning why all heroes wear masks). King displays the well-developed sense of character work that he has displayed in other books here, it just somehow doesn't yet extend to Batman.
I haven't yet, in either review, really talked about David Finch's art, which is mostly because I am having trouble deciding how I like it. His action scenes and poses are very sharp; with a chunky dynamic quality I always like in superhero books. But his characters are stylized and exaggerated in ways I don't think entirely fits them. Gordon for example is drawn as a mustachioed supermodel while the ostensibly silver-age throwback Gotham Girl looks disturbingly like a purposefully semi-pornographic character from Adam Warren's Empowered. As should surprise absolutely no one, Jordie Bellaire's colors tip the scales in the art's favor, lending the book some twilight hues of red and purple to break up the typical blues and blacks of Batman stories.
I know from reading other online reviews and comments (I am a glutton for pain) that the reactions to this book have been a little mixed, especially from King fans who expect another Vision or Omega Men. But that's frankly not quite fair as those characters had no expectations or limitations in the way Batman does. On a property as iconic as Batman, trying to sift through decades of history and iconic stories to find your own voice is a huge challenge even for a writer as good as Tom King. I like this Batman series a lot. It's self-contained in a way literally no other DC rebirth book I have tried is, sharp where it needs to be, and generally pretty to look at. The ongoing plot, involving a few classic villains, which I managed to mention hardly at all, is intriguing. I hope that King's Batman comes to life a bit as things go on since he is, of course, the book's key character, but I'm cheerfully along for the ride at the moment.
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