Tom King's Batman or Scott Snyder's Batman

[dan12456]

Only thing I liked in Snyder's run was the Court of Owls arcs. But I love those two arcs and like them more than anything King has done.
So tough, picking the high point, or the consistent quality.
I guess I'll say Kings?

[Chubistian]

Yes man, I buy the comics on ECC and now in Spain they have already edited war of jokes and riddles, and these days I've been doing a comparision of Snyder and King reading his respective comics and I think that Snyder is better, is more entertaing and personally I like the monologues that batman has and his joker for me is on of the best versions, the most psycopath of all and unstoppable. Of Snyder run I have to read superheavy, is the only one that I haven't read but I think it will like me because I like frak things like the armor suit that uses gordon. What do you prefer?

I collect Batman in english (it takes it one to two weeks to arrive to my country), it’s more expensive but I just can’t help myself, other titles like Metal and Mister Miracle I wait for the ECC edition. I just can’t decide between King and Snyder, it’s a tie imo

[JasonTodd428]

At this point I think I've read more of King's Batman run then I did of Snyder's and I'd take King over Snyder any day. I really like Snyder's Court of Owls story but everything else felt to me like Snyder was trying to hard to outdo his previous story arc. After a point I just got tired of the whole thing and stopped caring. So far I have yet to get tired of reading King's book. I think it's more of a psychological take then it is a straight superhero take on the character and I just find that more interesting to me than the latest grand scheme by some heretofore secret organization Batman didn't know about to destroy Gotham that supposedly changes EVERYTHING so that NOTHING REMAINS THE SAME or the same with whichever villain of the month it happened to be. I think King's book is about challenging Batman and Bruce in a different way than the standard superhero book does.

[nonsense man]

Yeah a pyschological take to destroy batman physically emotionally and mentally I guess that is revenge for what they did to jason

[Batmaniac]

I’ve really liked King’s run, all the one-shots have been excellent, and I’m really loving all the stuff he’s doing with Bat and Cat, but a few of the longer arcs have been a little lacking. So for now, Snyder’s.

[bat1987]

Snyder for now at least. He got to tell his Batman story. Will wait for King to do the same before I can make a fair comparison. But I do like what King is doing. He is trying something new with the character, which i can always appreciate.

As far as Snyder goes, I realy didn't like second half of zero year. Death of the family felt meh by the end of it, and superheavy felt like an elseworld story (wasn't bad though). I liked his run a lot for the most part.

[son of booyah]

Grant Morrison's Batman. 100%

I had to pick between Snyder's run and not reading Batman, and picked the 2nd. And nothing in the issues of King's that I've read drew me in. My choice comes down to not wanting to read either one.

However Black Mirror is one of my favorite Batman comics ever, so Snyder gets it if we count that.

Oh and I love some of Snyder vibe-wise. Court of Owls, Endgame, even Death of the Family would have been great if there hadn't been an ending - but arcs inherently have endings and his consistently ruined his stories for me.

[Mithrill]

Snyder was better. King's Batman is the worst run in a very long time, I'm disappointed honestly. The premises aren't so bad, they're interesting actually but the development is so so terrible. I can't believe this is published He dropped the ball.

[Moonwix]

I do agree Snyder was better even if I disliked the superheary, year zero , i wasn't really a fan of black mirror even if the batman was Dick but at least it was readable. I did enjoy the dark knight metal.
King's batman on the other hand is very underwelming, it isn't necessary bad just dull. He does have great ideas, they are just poorly executed. One major problem I find in his work is the dialogue , I find in some cases unreadable, almost retarded. It's ironic because his mr miracle is very good and the dialogue is solid.
One of his poor execution is his handling of he bat/cat relationship, it's unfortunate his writing has driven away some fans of this pairing.

[BatmanJones]

Snyder's run was good. Maybe even very good at times. But it didn't hold a candle to King's run. I don't believe any Batman run has been better than King's run. I'd probably rank top Batman writers thusly:

1. Tom King
2. Denny O'Neil
3. Steve Englehart
4. Frank Miller (DKR, Batman: Year One)
5. Grant Morrison
6. Doug Moench (very underrated IMO)
7. Scott Snyder

I recognize it's criminal to leave out Kane/Finger but those stories are too simple for me to actually enjoy them like I do modern comics. The Animated Series should also rank very highly but I only ranked comic book runs.

Alan Moore belongs on the list for what he contributed to Batman even though he never had an actual run on a Batman title. If he had, he likely would have ranked pretty highly.

As I keep saying, King is transcending superhero stories for me. He is writing a Batman that is as rich as, say Hamlet or Lear, and Batman is that rich of a character at his best IMO. And he (King) is poetic and accessible, both.

I don't believe in "best" writers. I believe in "favorite" writers. My rankings aren't objective because nobody's rankings would be objective. King just happens to be writing my favorite Batman ever. It's because I've always taken the character of Batman very personally and I have taken King's run more personally than any before it. I see myself in these stories and I reflect on my life as a result of them and that's the best thing a writer can do IMO.

I understand why King's run isn't for everyone and I wouldn't argue that anyone should feel differently. King found my sweet spot with Batman. Doesn't mean anyone else should feel that way unless they just already do.

[BatmanJones]

I'm also deeply impacted by the thing that King has Batman doing for the first time ever in all his 80 years. No, not the Catwoman marriage... It's that, for the first time ever, Batman is seeking happiness in a life that previously didn't have any room for that. That he is doing so at least in part because of a message from his father (Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Batman) makes it so impactful to me. If I'd been asked what would be the very last thing Batman would ever do it probably would have been killing or something else like that, some agreed-upon foundation of the character. But I could never have guessed "He'd try being happy" because it's been so fundamental to the character that his mission/life didn't allow room for that. And yet, under King's pen, it makes all the sense in the world. And that fact is utterly blowing my mind. And is the simplest answer for why his run is my favorite. But it's not just the fact of it, it's very much how it's being told.

I read a Snyder comment from the DC publishers panel of this week where he said something like "Tom King likes to figure out what he's doing as he's writing it. He likes to learn about what will happen while he's writing. I'm the opposite way: I like to have everything planned out."

That description of King's approach exactly mirrors my approach to playwriting and directing, which is what I do for a living. When I read that comment I thought, "There's another big reason I identify with this run so much and also why I prefer it so much to Snyder's."

[Aioros22]

Bronze Age Batman was far more well adjusted than the character has been in...30 years or so.

[kevinbruns]

Bronze Age Batman was far more well adjusted than the character has been in...30 years or so.

Absolutely! I have SERIOUS Synder fatigue. I stopped buying Batman when Kelley Jones was drawing and didn't come back for over 10 years, and only now have I been back filling my collection. I almost dropped it again but decided to stick it out. Im a sucker for 60s era camp (which most people hate) but more importantly I've been actively filling in my bronze age gaps..(However if I keep getting USPS packages in the mail full of books my wife is going to kill me...) Anyway.. it just doesn't feel the same these days, but maybe that is my midlife crisis finally kicking in as well.

I really hope DC finds someone knew that can really revitalize Batman again.. both in writing and art.

[My Two Cents]

I enjoy reading both.

[Geralt of Rivia]

I think Snyder's Batman run was great up until Gordon took over as Batman and I think king's Batman run is one of the worst comic runs I have ever read. So, Snyder.

Mind if I ask why you (or anyone) regard King's run like this? I'm looking to catch up with rebirth and I'd appreciate all points of view on the core Bat book.