Batman #51 Preview / Discussion (Spoilers)

[Sonia]

Batman # 51

https://www.avclub.com/bruce-wayne-r...pre-1827626454

The honeymoon’s over for Bruce Wayne as Gotham City’s most prominent citizen gets selected for jury duty in a chilling court case involving Mr. Freeze! Freeze claims the charges should be dismissed because Batman used excessive force; cue the outrage and media circus. While doing his civic duty, Wayne’s forced to take a hard look at the Dark Knight’s methods. And hey…what is Dick Grayson doing running around the city dressed as Batman?

[millernumber1]

Batman # 51

https://www.avclub.com/bruce-wayne-r...pre-1827626454

The honeymoon’s over for Bruce Wayne as Gotham City’s most prominent citizen gets selected for jury duty in a chilling court case involving Mr. Freeze! Freeze claims the charges should be dismissed because Batman used excessive force; cue the outrage and media circus. While doing his civic duty, Wayne’s forced to take a hard look at the Dark Knight’s methods. And hey…what is Dick Grayson doing running around the city dressed as Batman?

Holy cats! Those pencils - I know Lee Weeks did the (still unavailable digitally or in trade) followup to Miller and Mazzucchelli's Born Again with Last Rites, but I've never seen something that drips "Mazzucchelli Year One" more than these pages! And Breitweiser's colors are a perfect callback to Richmond Lewis's! (Unsurprising, given her work on the Annual and with Brubaker and his artists.)

Love the way we're in Bruce's head with the flashbacks to him fighting Freeze.

Still worried that King's just going to drop the stuff we really care about - Selina, Bane - for three-six months to build suspense.

[nonsense man]

Not really just make the filler interesting but since it is king writing no chance on that

[Lvenger]

Weeks' pencils are breathtakingly good. He makes the 9 panel obsession of King's seem more fluid and engaging than even Gerrads has in Mister Miracle. I liked his Superman stuff in Lois and Clark but maybe Weeks is better suited to the dark and gothic world of Batman.

[millernumber1]

Weeks' pencils are breathtakingly good. He makes the 9 panel obsession of King's seem more fluid and engaging than even Gerrads has in Mister Miracle. I liked his Superman stuff in Lois and Clark but maybe Weeks is better suited to the dark and gothic world of Batman.

Agreed. I think each of King's major artists - Janin, Finch, Weeks, Bagenda, Walta, Gerads - has done a different take on the nine panel grid. I prefer what Weeks does, where each panel tends to be a new or at least varied drawing, instead of 9 parts of a single one page splash (as we see Gerads do in Mister Miracle with the Scott/Barda sex scene). The 9-panel splash can work, as in the reveal of Kyle in Omega Men with each panel a different color, showing his mastery of the whole spectrum - but usually, I think 9-panels is better when showing passage of time (especially tedium or quiet moments).

Weeks working on Daredevil I think showed how good he was with the dark and gritty streets.

[chipsnopotatoes]

I spy Silver St Cloud, the juror next to Bruce. See the hat she was drawn with in Fudd.

[millernumber1]

I spy Silver St Cloud, the juror next to Bruce. See the hat she was drawn with in Fudd.

Now THAT would be quite a twist...

[Frontier]

It's always refreshing to see Bruce Wayne doing something .

That seems like your typical hard-nosed interrogation by Batman, but it feels weird to see him doing that to Freeze, or Freeze's reaction.

I spy Silver St Cloud, the juror next to Bruce. See the hat she was drawn with in Fudd.

Oh wow, now that you mention it...it would explain why she's the only juror who's staring at him.

[oasis1313]

It's always refreshing to see Bruce Wayne doing something .

That seems like your typical hard-nosed interrogation by Batman, but it feels weird to see him doing that to Freeze, or Freeze's reaction.

Oh wow, now that you mention it...it would explain why she's the only juror who's staring at him.

Can it be? I love Silver St Cloud! Time for a rebound!

[Restingvoice]

The art is so good
I wonder if he's taking out his frustration on Freeze. That's what he usually does when he's angry/brokenhearted, like when Damian and Jason died

[millernumber1]

The art is so good
I wonder if he's taking out his frustration on Freeze. That's what he usually does when he's angry/brokenhearted, like when Damian and Jason died

I think he's definitely doing that.

[Coal Tiger]

Given how Bruce Wayne has publicly admitted to financing Batman, at least in the past, I can't imagine any lawyer would allow him on this jury.

Beyond that nitpick, this looks really fun.

[gooch4011]

Am I the only one that thought the art looks pretty trash for a Batman title?

[Somecrazyaussie]

This was one of the strongest issues in quite a while. It is nice to get an actual BATMAN story again. King has delivered with this one (he seems to thrive with the smaller type stories I find.)

But my god those pencils! I love Lee Weeks, but this was absolutely stunning. Damn, can we have him back on an ongoing? I'd gladly part with whatever amount to see gorgeous work like this monthly.

[millernumber1]

This was one of the strongest issues in quite a while. It is nice to get an actual BATMAN story again. King has delivered with this one (he seems to thrive with the smaller type stories I find.)

But my god those pencils! I love Lee Weeks, but this was absolutely stunning. Damn, can we have him back on an ongoing? I'd gladly part with whatever amount to see gorgeous work like this monthly.

That art - pencils and colors...it's so gorgeous...