NY Times article has spoiled Batman #50

[Drakeon]

Thomas Wayne died heroically after a reunion with his son during the events of the Button. If he returns as a villian it completely destroys that story.

Im guessing a big part of Heroes in Crisis will be centered on things like Batmans wounded inner child and Booster's ptsd.

[protege]

I'm not sure how Talia would feel about being a rebound girl, but I also don't see Bruce jumping at her, of all people.

I’m not sure how damian would feel about it either.

[bob.schoonover]

I’m not sure how damian would feel about it either.

Maybe this whole thing is an elaborate parent-trap by Damian?

[protege]

Maybe this whole thing is an elaborate parent-trap by Damian?

Unfortunately, i wouldn’t put much past him, anymore.

[Celgress]

Thanks. For what it's worth, I enjoyed our back-and-forths (and am aware of the irony of me being much more pro-corporate on the Spider-man board)

I enjoy our back-and-forths as well. Your arguments are always thought-provoking and have even made me reconsider my position on a given subject now and then.

I agree that what DC did with their marketing campaign is like if a stage performer hyped up a big stunt then at the last minute charged his or her mind after the tickets were already sold.

[KC]

The only good thing that would come out of King's awful run..and it's not happening. I am so glad I stopped reading DC's Batman books.

[Blue22]

Wait...so it's really not happening? All that hype for nothing, huh? Whelp...I think I'm gonna be taking a break from Batman for a while....

Selina just...let's the Joker, of all people, talk her into pulling a Kitty Pryde. Yeah okay. I defended you for a while King, but you really do kinda suck XD

[SixSpeedSamurai]

I feel bad for anyone who's plopping down the big bucks on some of the variants. No wedding, no real value to this issue.

[scary harpy]

Alright so apparently:

Bane is the architect of the entire run of Batman. He's been manipulating all the events.

He convinced Holly to convince Selina, to not marry Batman.

And the big part:

Apparently Flashpoint Batman is alive, all of the Gotham villains are in with Bane, and so is Thomas and Gotham Girl.

I've been hearing this from MANY MANY people on the forums, everywhere. I can't be sure of this but it does sound like stuff King would pull.

Flashpoint Batman would make an interesting "new mentor" for Damian. This is similar to Jor-El's return in the pages of Superman; so I wouldn't eliminate it as impossible.

I don't think we've ever found out where Gotham and Gotham Girl got their powers. Could Flashpoint Batman be the source? Very Interesting.

[geomon]

So what the hell is the point of this Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album - The Deluxe Edition? Damn it man, I already went through this crap with Batwoman and I ended dropping that entire book because it soured me so bad.

[Blue22]

Alright so apparently:

Bane is the architect of the entire run of Batman. He's been manipulating all the events.

He convinced Holly to convince Selina, to not marry Batman.

And the big part:

Apparently Flashpoint Batman is alive, all of the Gotham villains are in with Bane, and so is Thomas and Gotham Girl.

I've been hearing this from MANY MANY people on the forums, everywhere. I can't be sure of this but it does sound like stuff King would pull.

Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me! That is "Joker orchestrated every event in Jason Todd's life" levels of dumb!

[themasething]

I wonder how many last minute cancellations will happen on pre-orders thanks to the spoiler?

As I said to a friend today: "The logical side of me knew this would happen since Comic Book writers seem to be scared of marriage or evolving a character into a new life phase... But the fanboy in me wanted the marriage to happen and is very disappointed."

[Sacred Knight]

I don't even much like comic book marriages, at least not for long. I get bored with them. But far more than me thinking this one could actually be interesting in a way most comic-book marriages are not portrayed, this is about them confirming it would happen every way they could via the marketing scheme. I mean for god's sake they're printing a deluxe edition "Wedding Album" book. How in the blue hell do you title a deluxe edition "the Wedding Album" when there is no wedding? This is the angle about it that just feels so damn skeevy.

[rev516]

Flashpoint Batman would make an interesting "new mentor" for Damian. This is similar to Jor-El's return in the pages of Superman; so I wouldn't eliminate it as impossible.

I don't think we've ever found out where Gotham and Gotham Girl got their powers. Could Flashpoint Batman be the source? Very Interesting.

Didn't the new Titans solicit speak of Damian having a secret new mentor?

Hmm...Thomas Wayne being said mentor a possibility?

[Prof. Warren]

I'll judge the actual issue when it's out. I'll judge DC's marketing of this issue now. Those guys are morons - between the preludes, the HC wedding album solicitation, the social media campaign, etc., they didn't leave any room for a non-wedding result. There is no world where that marketing campaign goes along with a story w/no wedding. The X-Men one last month was dumb enough (yes, a wedding, but not who you thought!), but this is malpractice. How are they going to launch Catwoman out of this? Who's going to pre-order their next big "event" issue (as opposed to an event book, which is different)? How are they going to make this right w/retailers who are sitting on variant covers? What were they thinking?

It's so dumb it's jaw-dropping.

With the X-Men issue, that kind of dramatic swerve fits in with the unpredictable soap opera world of the X-Men.

Still a bit of a cheat, some might feel, but not such a big deal. And, as you say, there was still at least an actual wedding in the wedding issue.

Plus, the build-up to that was nothing like the build-up to the Bat-wedding has been.

The promotion for this has been all about the wedding. If it had been centered around the question of "will they really tie the knot or not?", having the wedding not happen would be a valid outcome. Disappointing for a segment of the readership, sure, but at least the marketing would have played fair by making it clear that there wasn't a guarantee of a wedding.

That wasn't how DC hyped this, though. Not even close. Anyone following this book had every right to believe that a wedding was happening.

Even if they killed off Selena after the "I do's" were said, as cheap a move as that would be, at least a wedding would have occurred.

But to have Batman simply get stood up at the altar after all this build-up...not good.

I dropped out of King's Batman a long time ago but I feel sorry for anyone who stuck with it, especially if their prime reason was their excitement for the marriage.

I don't know what the blow back will be on this but it seems like a serious error in both storytelling and, perhaps more importantly, marketing.