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

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

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