King Batman Run: Analysis and Enjoyment Thread

[Scott Taylor]

If Batman breaks Bane's back I'll applaud. Then if he breaks Thomas's back I'll stand up and cheer. He should just start breaking everyone's back now, like one slap man.

[bob.schoonover]

He could change his name to BackMan

[BatmanJones]

Holy ****.

[millernumber1]

Holy ****.

No kidding. I feel like it wasn't really built up to, so am hoping it isn't one of the Big Things.

[BatmanJones]

No kidding. I feel like it wasn't really built up to, so am hoping it isn't one of the Big Things.

To me it was much more surprising for being so sudden. (I almost never gasp at a comic book. I more than gasped.) It feels very much like one of the lasting changes to me. It's a doozy. And it makes for a lot of great storytelling possibilities.

[Chubistian]

This arc keeps on the great quality. It was nice seeing Damian confronting Thomas and that there are consequences to dissobeying the orders given by Bane so the stakes feel real. Still, I don't like comicbook deaths because I always think "they are going to bring this character back", even when writers go through lenghts to convince the readers that this one is for real (as it happened in ASM 800. I just can't get too feel Flash's death as "real"). I expect that bringing Alfred back is part of the storyline Tom King has crafted instead of a Grant Morrison esque scenario concerning Damian's death that, while it was great in the story, it was painfully obvious that he was going to be resurrected

[Hilden B. Lade]

Oh boy, if you thought The Wedding and Knightmares were going to be the most controversial issues of King's run...

To be honest, I'd be somewhat disappointed if it turns out that spoilers:

killing Alfred

end of spoilers is King's big change since I'm pretty sure it's been done before, all the way back in the Pre-Crisis days.

Though Janin's illustration of the moment and the whole sequence leading up to it was superb. Didn't even feel miffed that Tony Daniel illustrated like what, five pages in the whole issue?

Though on the possibility that this is something that King plans to undo by the end of his run, perhaps Bane could be using one of Gotham's many shapeshifters or telepaths to mess with Damian. King does trotting out Batman's more obscure villains in his run, and maybe Bane has one of the other Clayfaces (I didn't finish Tynion's Detective run, so was Basil Karlo still heroic at the end of it?) or Cornelius Stirk in his employ. Though admittedly, revealing that the big twist of this issue was all a trick does cheapen the stakes and impact of it.

Maybe King's planning to do his own take on the spoilers:

Alfred as the villainous Outsider

end of spoilers as one of his plot threads in Bat/Cat?

[mbeezy561]

I hope this death sticks. It would suck if this was a plot device, and it would really cheapen what's otherwise been a fairly good story.

[Clark_Kent]

I hope this death sticks. It would suck if this was a plot device, and it would really cheapen what's otherwise been a fairly good story.

I hope it sticks as well. spoilers:

I love Alfred, but fathers and sons has been a huge theme of this run...and there was that wonderful moment between Bruce & Alfred in #50, when Alfred found out he would be the Best Man...having Alfred go out would be a massive moment in Bat history. I know there was the pre-crisis death & return, but comics are different now...a real death that lasts for a while could generate some very good storytelling. I gasped when it happened, but in a good way. "Not in front of the boy" gave me CHILLS, and is poetically the perfect last line for dear Mr. Pennyworth.

end of spoilers

[Inversed]

Honestly, I don't buy that death being real. I could very well be wrong, but with everything else going on, it feels like a fake out, so like alot of other things in this story, I'm waiting till the end to fully dictate how I feel.

Also, is this just me, but I felt like Bruce and Selina's first real reunion was kind of underwhelming. Just because after how much baggage they have currently, acting like nothing happened just seems odd. I hope the next two issues, since they're just gonna be focusing on them, are able to go more in depth regarding a reconciliation.

[AnakinFlair]

Honestly, I don't buy that death being real. I could very well be wrong, but with everything else going on, it feels like a fake out, so like alot of other things in this story, I'm waiting till the end to fully dictate how I feel.

Also, is this just me, but I felt like Bruce and Selina's first real reunion was kind of underwhelming. Just because after how much baggage they have currently, acting like nothing happened just seems odd. I hope the next two issues, since they're just gonna be focusing on them, are able to go more in depth regarding a reconciliation.

I don't buy the death as real, either. It's either going to be a fake-out, and Bane 'killed' someone who looked like Alfred (is Clayface working for him?), or the next writer will 'reveal' that it was a fake out and he'll be alive again.

[millernumber1]

Honestly, I don't buy that death being real. I could very well be wrong, but with everything else going on, it feels like a fake out, so like alot of other things in this story, I'm waiting till the end to fully dictate how I feel.

Also, is this just me, but I felt like Bruce and Selina's first real reunion was kind of underwhelming. Just because after how much baggage they have currently, acting like nothing happened just seems odd. I hope the next two issues, since they're just gonna be focusing on them, are able to go more in depth regarding a reconciliation.

I actually thought that over the past 3 issues, we've gotten a really good reunion. Yes, they have a LOT to talk about, but they also have a 12 issue mini where they're going to do that. For this ending of the main title to work, we have to see their love for each other, and I think we see that. Bruce is too broken down to really show it, but Selina is showing it very powerfully. Those scenes have been my absolute favorite parts of the last three issues.

I don't buy the death as real, either. It's either going to be a fake-out, and Bane 'killed' someone who looked like Alfred (is Clayface working for him?), or the next writer will 'reveal' that it was a fake out and he'll be alive again.

On one of my Discord servers, someone brought up the fact that there's the Lazarus Pit from the last arc that DIDN'T get used for Martha, so it might still be open for Alfred (or Bruce, since the Death of Batman is still coming).

[Inversed]

I actually thought that over the past 3 issues, we've gotten a really good reunion. Yes, they have a LOT to talk about, but they also have a 12 issue mini where they're going to do that. For this ending of the main title to work, we have to see their love for each other, and I think we see that. Bruce is too broken down to really show it, but Selina is showing it very powerfully. Those scenes have been my absolute favorite parts of the last three issues.

I really loved the scenes in the second issue, because that did have Selina reflecting on her choices and kind of revealing to herself how she really feels. It's their very muted reactions, and how fast everything seemed to go by, which is why it didn't seem all that effective to me personally. Maybe its because they're both purposefully being emotionally distant, but it felt weird to me they both acted like essentially nothing happened.

Their relationship is broken, which is why I think you really need some semblance of the characters recognizing that so that it can be repaired, and then evolve, which would make it all the more powerful. It's why I really hope that's what they're gonna be doing in the next few issues, rather than just simply just going "They're back together so they're fine now".

If I remember I believe King has teased that either 78 or 79 was gonna finally address the whole "Boat/Street" thing, and I think that is going to be instrumental in unpacking and reconstructing their relationship.

[lilyrose]

I've noticed King doesn't write them ever fighting or anything, so I'm actually not surprised that it seems like they're back together with even talking about what happened. But I need Selina to figure out that this was all part of Bane's plan in the first place. Shouldn't she know what Holly did?

[millernumber1]

I really loved the scenes in the second issue, because that did have Selina reflecting on her choices and kind of revealing to herself how she really feels. It's their very muted reactions, and how fast everything seemed to go by, which is why it didn't seem all that effective to me personally. Maybe its because they're both purposefully being emotionally distant, but it felt weird to me they both acted like essentially nothing happened.

Their relationship is broken, which is why I think you really need some semblance of the characters recognizing that so that it can be repaired, and then evolve, which would make it all the more powerful. It's why I really hope that's what they're gonna be doing in the next few issues, rather than just simply just going "They're back together so they're fine now".

If I remember I believe King has teased that either 78 or 79 was gonna finally address the whole "Boat/Street" thing, and I think that is going to be instrumental in unpacking and reconstructing their relationship.

Maybe I've become accustomed to King's pacing, and I have reread all of the issues several times at this point, but that's why I was surprised that people thought the meeting was underdone. I don't think that they're acting like nothing happened - but it feels to me like there's more important things for both of them right now.

As for the boat/street? I'm "on board" (pun intended, haha) for that!

I've noticed King doesn't write them ever fighting or anything, so I'm actually not surprised that it seems like they're back together with even talking about what happened. But I need Selina to figure out that this was all part of Bane's plan in the first place. Shouldn't she know what Holly did?

Yes - I hope that the next few issues will show that. 78 and 79 are the Clay Mann BatCat interlude.

Also, I just found out that 79's alternate cover is the Cardstock cover, that's a dollar more...but it's Clay Mann drawing BatCat. DARN YOU DC!

Last note - I mostly love the way King writes Bruce and Selina, but I actually really didn't like the way they bickered in 33. It just didn't feel as well crafted as his stuff usually was. But that's the only really false note I've found in the way he writes them.