2018.011 Batman Vol 4: The War Of Jokes And Riddles

Tom King has been doing solid stuff on Batman, but for some reason, I just don't think it's been as good as everyone has been saying.  I've liked it a lot, but his run IS coming off of Scott Snyder's, and that's probably what my issue is.  As good as Tom King's Batman is, it's not Scott Snyder's.  Well, after reading this book, I'm taking that argument and throwing it away.  I was captivated by this story.  It's been a long time since I've read anything that I could not put down.  There was something about the way he wrote this book that clicked with me.  I love that it was a flashback story.  I think that worked wonderfully.  It only strengthened it for me.  It was beautiful to look at.  He did things in this book that made me go "WTF?" but they worked.  I fucking loved Bruce Wayne hosting a dinner for Riddler and Joker.  That was my biggest WTF moment, but the moment I loved the best.

Tom King has set his own personal bar pretty high with this story.  I can't wait to see where he goes next.

Batman Vol 4: The War Of Jokes And Riddles

Written by: Tom King

Illustrated by: Mikel Janin, Clay Mann, Danny Miki, Seth Mann, John Livesay, Hugo Petrus

DC Comics

125 Batman Vol 3: I Am Bane

Tom King is a solid writer and I'm enjoying his Batman run so far, but not as much as Scott Snyder's run.  I think Tom King is a far better fit with Nightwing, but that's just my opinion.

This book feels like it's the point where everything is about to change.  The whole Bane storyline from the last volume gets wrapped up, though the ending left me cold.  It's like "Batman punched out Bane.  Batman wins.  Fade to black."  It was an abrupt finish to the story and it sat funny with me.

This run has been all about reinventing Catwoman again.  I guess the New 52 version was that awful that they decided to go in a new direction.  She's not quite where she was when the Flashpoint hit (that was my favorite era of Catwoman.  The last couple years up to Flashpoint), but it feels like that's the direction they're trying to take her in.  I'm not complaining (much), but I just want it done right, not rushed, not fucked up.  That's my wish.

I love that all the Robins get a chance to pop in and out of this book, too.  I don't know why, but that brings me joy.

Batman Vol 3: I Am Bane

Writer: Tom King

Artist: David Finch, Mitch Gerads, Clay Mann, Trevor Scott, Sandra Hope, Danny Miki, Seth Mann

DC Comics

071 Batman Vol 2: I Am Suicide

 I liked the first volume of this Batman run.  I really liked this volume.  A lot.  Tom King is extremely reliable.  This book picks up on threads left from the issues before.  Batman collects a handful of his villains and mounts his own Suicide Squad mission to retrieve the Psycho Pirate from Bane.  It's a fun romp, if you can call any modern Batman story a fun romp.  It's an interesting collection of rogues, many who haven't been seen (at least in anything I've read) in a really long time.

The only thing that I'm unsure of is the whole part of this book involving Catwoman.  I haven't read any Catwoman stuff since the New 52 started.  I don't know if this Catwoman's backstory is the same as the New 52 backstory or if this is all reinvented for Rebirth.  Either way, I really don't care for a lot of it.  I wish they'd steer her back to her conflicted anti-hero status of the days of old.  It kind of seems like that's where they're heading, but it might be a while before she's back.

Batman Vol 2: I Am Suicide

Writer: Tom King

Artist: Mikel Janin, Mitch Gerads, Hugo Petrus

DC Comics

041 Batman: Night Of The Monster Men

The first official Batman Family crossover of the Rebirth era.  I thought this might have come too soon into Rebirth, but it was clearly planned out to happen when it did and didn't feel like it was shoehorned into the schedule at the last minute.

This crossover was set up (almost to the point of overkill) in the first Batman Rebirth trade.  Mentions were made to something going on throughout that story, which led right into this.  I love that the whole crossover took place throughout a very small period of time which kept the story moving quickly.  All the elements that have been laid down so far in Batman, Detective and Nightwing were not ignored and this whole thing felt very organic.  You don't always get that in these kinds of crossovers.  

Most importantly, though, this story is part of setting up something even bigger.  It ended with the death of Tim Drake, Red Robin.  This is sure to set into motion a lot of different stories.  It's certainly tied into the bigger picture of Rebirth as well.  I'm very anxious to see where this goes from here and how it's all going to unfold.

Batman: Night Of The Monster Men

Writer: Steve Orlando, Tom King, Tim Seeley, James Tynion IV

Artist: Riley Rossmo, Roge Antonio, Andy MacDonald

DC Comics

030 Batman Vol 1: I Am Gotham

I'm a huge fan of Scott Snyder's run on Batman,  Huge.  So it's taking a little getting used to someone else writing this book.  Tom King is a solid writer and I think he's off to a good start.  We're setting up a new dynamic here, with Duke Thomas now firmly ensconced in the Batcave.  I like Duke and I like the slow and steady use of him.  I like that Batman has gotten him a costume, but he's not been in it yet.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Always.  As a counterpoint to Duke, we have Gotham and Gotham Girl.  Two super-powered heroes who suddenly show up on the scene.  And they're all over Gotham.  They came on strong and burned out even stronger.  It's too bad, because I would have liked to have seen them show up here and there before getting to their story.  (Remember subplots and foreshadowing?  I mean REAL subplots and foreshadowing, not what we're given these days.  The fact that the next storyline is broadcast in each issue of this trade doesn't mean it counts as either of those things.)  They might have felt like more than throw away characters.

All in all this was a solid first volume of the Rebirth run of Batman.  I'm anxious to read more.

Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham

Writer: Tom King, Scott Snyder

Artist: David Finch, Mikel Janin, Ivan Reis, matt Banning, Danny Miki, Sandra Hope, Scott Hanna, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert

DC Comics

023 Grayson Vol 5: Spiral's End

Grayson.  The final volume of his series.  One of the better series DC has put out.  And probably my least favorite volume of the book.  It was a fine story, but it felt a little rushed to me.  I'm guessing that Rebirth was in the full planning stages and the book was put on the cancelled list, so things needed to be wrapped up and wrapped up quickly.  And that's what we got.  A big, kind of off-feeling wrap up.  Tim Seeley and Tom King were only involved in the first chapter of this book, so maybe that contributed to it feeling off?  I don't know.  I'm assuming they plotted the whole thing out, but only worked on the first part.  

The series ends with an Annual, written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, the same team who wrote the rest of the series.  The Annual felt like such a waste of time.  There was really no point of it.  It wrapped up loose ends that were quickly created so they could do an annual.  Whatever.

This volume was okay, but not quite up to snuff if you ask me.

Grayson Vol 5: Spiral's End

Writer: Tim Seeley, Tom King, Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly

Artist: Roge Antonio, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Geraldo Borges, Natasha Alterici, Christian Duce, Flaviano, Javier Fernandez

DC Comics