Batman #38 preview

[Caivu]

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/books-co...s-origin-story

[Chubistian]

Nice art, also, great to see Zsasz back as a terrifying villain

[TheNewFiftyForum]

This looks promising, King usually does very well with single issue stories and his handle on Zsasz seems to be very good. I wonder if Two-Face plays a part as well, or if Sale just wanted to draw him on the cover for some reason.

[Rakzo]

Well, this is just pretty much the usual stuff. I saw who the actual murderer was a mile away since it was heavily telegraphed and that was mostly because of how heavyhanded the parallels between Bruce and the new kid were. Worst of all is that this is also par of the course with King's portrayal of Batman since he tends to depict Bruce as waaay too dependant on his parents' death where he barely has any sense of self beyond that. Yes, Batman is supposed to have a complex, that's classic but PLEASE don't push it so much.

Art was solid at least. Sad part is that this is not really badly-written, it just has bad characterization.

[Chubistian]

I could see the twist coming from the moment Zsasz was out of the picture, but damn it was well written. Especially the confrontation between Batman and master Bruce. Art was also great. Another fantastic issue from King and also showing a Batman who relies in his detective skills.

[Barbatos666]

As a detective story it was mediocre, rudimentary and predictable. Amateur level even honestly, the introspection was nice but King didn't say anything new here with regards to either Batman or the villain here. Its a common enough trope in the Batmythos. Hush really comes to mind and this kid just doesn't appear to be menacing or interesting to be a major Batvillain.

[Aahz]

I think there was allready a story with a similar twist, and Hush has also a similar origin.

[Phoenyxx1481]

I think there was allready a story with a similar twist, and Hush has also a similar origin.

This made me think of Thomas Elliot/Hush as well. Not quite the same, but some overlap in similarities. I could see Hush potentially taking this kid under his wing. I just want to see Hush brought back in general. He has so much history and hatred with both Bruce and Selina*. (Depending on what they choose to bring back of thier pre-52 history.)

[Godlike13]

Well wasn’t this just a chipper little tale.

[Jackalope89]

Well wasn’t this just a chipper little tale.

Talk about a major introspection for Bruce.

[klynn]

I think I had heard King tell this story on a Word Balloon or something because I knew exactly how it was going to end. So not a very interesting issue for me.

[dietrich]

As others have noted some Dejavu reading this and the ending could be telegraphed but I recognise that it is a filler issue and honestly I was prepared for the best or the mediocre as this run often presents me with. Can't wait till we get back to regular business of relationships. Wonder Woman next up hope it's as crack as Super part.

[CryNotWolf]

This was a very cliche and uninspired story imo. Prosaic in its point and rudimentary in its execution. That doesn't make it bad, per se, but I wouldn't call it anywhere near great. It reads like the countless mediocre and forgotten Batman stories from the mid-aughts. Like King was just trying to hit some bullet points for a "detective story" that was never going to be anything more than filler.

[Aioros22]

Wasn`t terrible but wasn`t trending new waters either. You alreay had similar beats with pre crisis Roman and later Hush.

[Chubistian]

Though I can see where the comparisons with Hush come from, I think Hush is a different thing than Master Bruce. While Elliot killed his parents for money and later wanted to kill Bruce because Thomas Wayne kept his mother alive after his first murder attempt (I didn't like the reasoning Loeb gave him, Dini later fleshed him into a much more interesting character imo), he became a costumed villain in order to take revenge against Bruce once he found out his alter ego. Elliot wanting to become like Bruce Wayne product of an obsession, as far as I know (and I could be wrong since I haven't read much of Hush), was introduced in Batman Eternal. Before, his reasons to kill his parents and changing his face to look like Bruce Wayne were solely based on getting money and revenge. In that sense, I see Hush as an anti Batman (Batman has quite a few enemies who fall into this category). Master Bruce is more like an anti Bruce Wayne, a mock to what he represents, a distorted image, a broken mirror of Batman's millionaire alter ego (or is it billionare? Millionaires are so last year)

I did remember Broken City (an amazing story arc), and the kid that shot his parents, while reading Batman #38. The kid from Broken City has qualities that may get him close to the idea I described when explaining how I see Master Bruce, but he's still far from actually fitting it. That doesn't make Broken City any less of a good story, in fact, apart from the Joker bit, that I found completely unnecesarry, it's one of the best things I've read of Batman