Originally Posted by
gregpersons
Haven't gone and read through this entire thread yet but just wanted to give a shout out for it's creation. I've been seeing so many online commenters totally missing what King has been doing — literally just not getting it and not realizing that they aren't getting it — and glad to find a harbor on CBR to get into it. For me, I find his thoughtful literary approach to storytelling refreshing and intoxicating, especially here, on 'Batman,' finding new vibrant life in decades-old revised-and-revised legacy characters in a wacky fictional world of capes and death and resurrection and repetition. It all fits perfectly with the story he's telling about humanity. Morrison was similar in some ways, but took it in a completely different direction, but with Snyder, it really seemed like there was nothing left to Batman but to repeat old stories with more gore and needless narration boxes. Snyder's New 52 run, from the beginning, was just the Mountain Dew version of the old DCU but more eXXXtreme, and with Greg Capullo's perfect art. 'Batman' has had nothing but great artists in recent years, that's for sure.
I love that King mostly refrains from narration boxes and instead lets the reader intuit the characters' minds from their actions, behaviors, words. For Batman himself, I find it to be very refreshing, as I think a slightly more mysterious approach to him is the better, more interesting way. At the same time, the man underneath the superhero, has rarely felt more like a real person than in King's run.
For the most recent issue — I thought this issue turned "The Best Man" arc into a redemption after King lost his way a bit with the Booster Gold storyline which was, to me, one of the few times where I felt King wrote as sloppily as his most vocal critics say he does. With the twice-monthly release schedule, I guess that is bound to happen, although I think the run has been incredibly strong overall.
Here's my quick reviews of King's run, by trade rather than individual arc. I Am Suicide TPB contains Swamp Thing, I Am Bane contains Rooftops, etc.
I Am Gotham - B-
I Am Suicide - A+
I Am Bane - A+
The War of Jokes and Riddles - A+
Rules of Engagement (including Superfriends) - A+
And for what's not yet in trade:
Wonder Woman & Gentle Man — B
Origin of Bruce Wayne one-off — B+
Everyone Loves Ivy — B+
Bride or Burglar? one-off — A
Booster Gold arc — C
The Best Man — A
The Button - C+
Monster Men - C
Prelude to the Wedding (I know this is Seeley but its been positioned as part of the arc) - C+
And also this is happening concurrently with Mister Miracle which is also A-level.
Excited to see what happens in 50. We still don't have a clear sense of Selina's inner-life or her thoughts, and although I think King writes a great Selina, he does have the problem overall of not giving more depth to the female protagonist POV. It's there in Mister Miracle, too, in which Barda, like Catwoman, is often there to fix the male protagonist. Both could be seen as versions of "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" if you look at it. Now, in his defense, both Scott Free and Bruce Wayne are the eponymous stars of their books, so of course it is more from their POV. But even when we do get to spend one-on-one time with Selina, in 'Bride or Burglar' or in #49 with Joker, she is still talking about how she exists only in relation to Batman. In fact, I don't think King's run would've passed the Bechdel test until the Ivy arc, right?
I think her laughing at the end is realizing that Joker won, on some level. He cast doubt on whether Batman can be happy and Batman at the same time. On the other hand, I don't think that's right, or that Selina thinks that. At the end of Jokes & Riddles she tosses a similar notion aside -- the idea that Bruce has to be some fictional version of himself, either in his mind or in others. Bruce is not a perfect caped crusader, he has faults; he is not Batman only to serve the Joker's masochistic desires. He isn't anything except himself. He's just a person - "the man I stupidly fell in love with" to paraphrase her in the Talia sword fight. lol.
Anyway.
My prediction is that the wedding happens. Batman and Catwoman exchange vows in a non-traditional way. Batman has taken vows for avenging the dead before, notably his parents, but he has never taken a vow for the living -- for the people in front of him. I think he will do that.
But I think they will immediately 'separate' and return to a status quo of working separately. They will not be a traditional marriage. Bat/Cat will still maintain their independence. But their vow to each other will still be there.