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So re-reading Vengeance of Bane and Knightfall and I noticed/remembered that
--When Bane escapes Pena Duro, he's naked, having been presumed dead and thrown to the sharks. He is still naked when he captures the warden and frees Zombie, Bird and Trogg.
--Knightfall kicks off with Bane using weapons he acquired from a military installation to free the Arkham inmates. "I Am Gotham" also kicks off with weapons stolen from a military site being used.
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[QUOTE=David Walton;4787920]So re-reading Vengeance of Bane and Knightfall and I noticed/remembered that
--When Bane escapes Pena Duro, he's naked, having been presumed dead and thrown to the sharks. He is still naked when he captures the warden and frees Zombie, Bird and Trogg.
--Knightfall kicks off with Bane using weapons he acquired from a military installation to free the Arkham inmates. "I Am Gotham" also kicks off with weapons stolen from a military site being used.[/QUOTE]
So what you're saying is...Tom King DOES read comics. :)
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[QUOTE=millernumber1;4787955]So what you're saying is...Tom King DOES read comics. :)[/QUOTE]
LOL I didn't know that was ever in question!
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[QUOTE=David Walton;4788015]LOL I didn't know that was ever in question![/QUOTE]
You wouldn't believe the meme response to Tom King (the reason I created this thread last year) - "Tom King doesn't read comics" "Tom King can't write dialogue" "Tom King is the worst writer of Batman ever".
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[QUOTE=gregpersons;4786987]It actually totally works if Maxie Zeus were revealed to be Bane's Skull Collector... he's enough of a presence in the run, we know he falls in line with Bane, so it's not inconceivable... at least for a, er, headcanon.[/QUOTE]
ROFL! I want Lee Weeks to draw this one.
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[QUOTE=Scott Taylor;4788043]ROFL! I want Lee Weeks to draw this one.[/QUOTE]
Weeks, Fornes, or Mann :) "The Beat Poetry Session of Head Canon"
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[QUOTE=Scott Taylor;4786444]So I didn't get into the King Batman until I Am Bane, so this was the first read of I Am Suicide. Found the graphic novel at a used bookstore.
What struck me the most was the parallel structure in IAS with what I had just read with the final confrontation between Bruce and Thomas. The key players are Wesker, Catwoman and Batman in each case. You have Batman taking the brunt of the fight and getting beat, practically. Batman and Bane/Thomas philosophizing about what it means to be Batman (a heavily distracting concept, it appears!). Then Catwoman as the "ace in the hole" in both stories and the same exact choreographed moment with Catwoman surprise-attacking Bane/Thomas.[/QUOTE]
Thomas thought he was so clever and fell for the same trick than Bane did, I loved that haha. My big problem with Bruce willingly receiving a beat down in I Am Suicide (that I could even take as him also being pretty exhausted after fighting through so many soldiers, but I think in I Am Bane "Martha" mentions that he let himself be beaten, playing with the theme of making his parents proud by having a "good" death) is that after Catwoman deals with Bane, Batman stands up like he hasn't received a single hit. He's just there seeing naked Bane. I would have liked that Janín drew him in such a way that we see a consequence of Bane's punches.
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[U]Rooftops[/U]:
The first Mitch Gerads+Tom King work in the main Batman title, and it's great, amazing, enjoyable and lovable. We have the first mention of the debate about where did Bruce and Selina first met. At first, it just looked like another reference to classic stories, but as we moved forward, it became a pivotal part of the run, pretty in line with the tendency that the writer has of introducing homages that later are actually important plot points. For a much intimate storyline, especially in the context of the action-epic that is the I Am trilogy, Mitch Gerads was the perfect choice. He doesn't just understand perfectly what Tom King wants, which shows the good relation they have outside of work, but he also finds ways, taking advantage of doing the whole interiors, to depict emotions and tell stories not just with the drawing, but also with the colors. The color pallete Gerads chose puts you inmediately in tone with the ambient and feelings of the script. Splash pages devoted to Bruce and Selina kissing or them resting after sex, with such naturality and romance is part of what makes this two-part story one of the best in the run and one of the best examples of what differentiates King's Batman from the versions that many other great writers scripted before him. The reiteration of sentences, phrases and words is pitch perfect in Rooftops
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Interestingly, I had a harder time getting into Rooftops. Probably because I really struggle with Gerads as an artist. But I loved the bits where they're out fighting crime and it changes the villain every panel.
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I enjoyed Rooftops. It's probably the high point (or low point, depending on your feelings about these things) of "what the hell is still in continuity w/Batman" for King's run. Holly Robinson being the killer was very WTF for me because I knew her in a completely different way (and in a way that Bruce sure should have recognized the name).
As a side note, I just read Gotham Knights: Transference (first 12 issues of Devin Grayson's run). There are some parallels in it with King's run - mostly superficial (in the sense that many Batman runs have similarities), but I thought they were interesting. In the second issue, Batgirl (Cassandra Cain, still mute) is shown to have heroic-suicidal tendencies, and Bruce forces her to confront them and overcome the suicidal part (it's implied that he had the same impulses). Hugo Strange tries to use Catwoman to get information about Batman before trying to replace him. The whole first year also has Bruce writing these files about himself and his family, trying to figure out what makes himself tick. There's also a fun issue with The Key where Bruce's memories of his father are the thing that saves him. It's not a strong parallel, but it's fun to see how everyone approaches Batman in slightly different ways.
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I've never had a real connection to Holly. I think what King did with her is probably frustrating, since she was a Catwoman, but sadly, Catwoman's supporting casts tend to be forgotten (except by Tim Seeley).
I should see if I can get a hold of Transference - I like that DC is still trying to release these older double-arc length collections. For now, at least - Didio seems to indicate that they aren't selling and that he wants to set the whole trade program on fire with incompetence.
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[QUOTE=bob.schoonover;4792799]I enjoyed Rooftops. It's probably the high point (or low point, depending on your feelings about these things) of "what the hell is still in continuity w/Batman" for King's run. Holly Robinson being the killer was very WTF for me because I knew her in a completely different way (and in a way that Bruce sure should have recognized the name).
As a side note, I just read Gotham Knights: Transference (first 12 issues of Devin Grayson's run). There are some parallels in it with King's run - mostly superficial (in the sense that many Batman runs have similarities), but I thought they were interesting. In the second issue, Batgirl (Cassandra Cain, still mute) is shown to have heroic-suicidal tendencies, and Bruce forces her to confront them and overcome the suicidal part (it's implied that he had the same impulses). Hugo Strange tries to use Catwoman to get information about Batman before trying to replace him. The whole first year also has Bruce writing these files about himself and his family, trying to figure out what makes himself tick. There's also a fun issue with The Key where Bruce's memories of his father are the thing that saves him. It's not a strong parallel, but it's fun to see how everyone approaches Batman in slightly different ways.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=millernumber1;4792843]I've never had a real connection to Holly. I think what King did with her is probably frustrating, since she was a Catwoman, but sadly, Catwoman's supporting casts tend to be forgotten (except by Tim Seeley).
I should see if I can get a hold of Transference - I like that DC is still trying to release these older double-arc length collections. For now, at least - Didio seems to indicate that they aren't selling and that he wants to set the whole trade program on fire with incompetence.[/QUOTE]
I didn't have a connection to Holly Robinson besides Year One, but I understand the controversy with such an extreme take on the character. I think the reveal works in Rooftops when taken from a narrative perspective. I'm not a follower of Catwoman, but her canon have seem pretty odd when I have came across it ever since the beginning of the New 52.
I do want to check that collected edition of Gotham Knights too, especially for the Hugo Strange story. I have other priorities right now, but I expect to eventually buy it someday
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I really wish DC would get it together on their collected editions. Didio's version of the market suggests that Marvel's material is just better than DC's, since they have no problems selling plenty of archival trades. The post-NML era (through Fugitive) is probably my favorite Bat-era - Brubaker on Batman, Grayson on Knights, Rucka on 'Tec, Batgirl (Cain), the tail end of Dixon's run on Robin - no weak links anywhere in there - and it'd be great if they'd get the rest of GK, Batgirl, Robin, BoP, etc. all in collected form. Oh, well.
Back to Rooftops, I wasn't upset that Holly was the real murderer, but it was just so confusing in the moment that Bruce had no idea who she was. I mean, Bruce is a crazy obsessive lunatic - how would he not know Selina's best friend's name? This was definitely one of those places where, for me, it seemed like King was trying to have his cake (it wasn't Selina but she was covering for a friend) and eat it to (and the name is one you'd recognize!).
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[QUOTE=bob.schoonover;4793056]I really wish DC would get it together on their collected editions. Didio's version of the market suggests that Marvel's material is just better than DC's, since they have no problems selling plenty of archival trades. The post-NML era (through Fugitive) is probably my favorite Bat-era - Brubaker on Batman, Grayson on Knights, Rucka on 'Tec, Batgirl (Cain), the tail end of Dixon's run on Robin - no weak links anywhere in there - and it'd be great if they'd get the rest of GK, Batgirl, Robin, BoP, etc. all in collected form. Oh, well.
Back to Rooftops, I wasn't upset that Holly was the real murderer, but it was just so confusing in the moment that Bruce had no idea who she was. I mean, Bruce is a crazy obsessive lunatic - how would he not know Selina's best friend's name? This was definitely one of those places where, for me, it seemed like King was trying to have his cake (it wasn't Selina but she was covering for a friend) and eat it to (and the name is one you'd recognize!).[/QUOTE]
I agree - I wish they'd just get their butts together and price and produce things that sold to the market that is out there. Sigh.
I think, with regards to Holly, it was one of those places where the edges of Rebirth were clear. Writers were clearly told "you can pick and choose" and that was a place where King decided to create rather than bring back. I get why people were mad about it - and I do think Holly is kind of a loose end - but we'll have to see if someone picks her up again. Did she show up at all in the n52?
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[QUOTE=millernumber1;4793112]I agree - I wish they'd just get their butts together and price and produce things that sold to the market that is out there. Sigh.
I think, with regards to Holly, it was one of those places where the edges of Rebirth were clear. Writers were clearly told "you can pick and choose" and that was a place where King decided to create rather than bring back. I get why people were mad about it - and I do think Holly is kind of a loose end - but we'll have to see if someone picks her up again. Did she show up at all in the n52?[/QUOTE]
There's no Holly in New 52