Batman #59 Preview

[Armor of God]

I dont think King is hiding his intentions at this point. This is Knightfall 2.

[Armor of God]

It is not likely true give that it is implied that Bane gave Gotham Girl her powers, setting the whole run in motion. Which yeah, makes all of I Am Bane very dumb.

I dont believe Bane was responsible for her getting powers. That'll be disclosed in Williamson's crossover story. Bane just got to her later, King'll probably reveal that Hayden tampered with her mind somehow.

[willtupper]

No one has mentioned the elephant in the room.

I mean, literally. On the very first page. There's a freaking elephant in the room!

[blunt_eastwood]

I like the idea of Bane manipulating Batman the way he is, but as someone else said, the way he's doing it doesn't make a lot of sense and doesn't feel earned.

[Restingvoice]

All I'm saying is if King wants to make someone amnesia he could've chosen the person who's not the lead character of two books and someone who he actually in charge.

Okay, I saw the pages where Bane is catatonic. I don't really see the problem with it, because that seems to be the big mystery. How is he able to lead the villains in Arkham while making an appearance of disability in front of Gordon. It's the question of the story that should be answered at a later reveal and doesn't mean it's a bad writing.

Now, if the reveal is bull, then yeah, it will be a bad story.

I posted this question in the last issue preview when talking about Thomas Wayne, but does Skeets have the ability to time travel? As a follow-up, how does time travel work in DCU? Can 2 Banes from different time, before he recovered and after he recovered, exist at the same time?

[ZeroBG82]

Penny is discussed between Oswald and his henchmen., with no bats to be found. So I don’t think it’s a ploy to trick Bruce.

Batman does his research. If you're going to fool Batman, you play the long game. Sometimes you have to commit to a role to really give it life. (Have you ever seen The Prestige? Think of it in those terms.) If you're going to convince Batman that you have a secret wife Bane killed, you get your goons to talk about the secret wife that Bane killed. When Batman inevitably goes and beats them up to check on your story, they have nothing but Penny flavored things to say. Hell, given that Penguin has killed at least four women as part of this scheme already, there may even be an actual body in the casket, an actual dead girl playing the role of Penny.

Honestly, until something in the book explicitly tells me otherwise, this was all part of Bane's plan. He wanted to mess with Bats' head a bit. And he gets the added bonus of driving a wedge between Bats and Gordon because he's been so effective in undermining Bruce's mental faculties.

[Talon1load]

So you’re saying that Batman does his research but only to the extent of listening to the henchmen? He wouldn’t have researched to find out if this wife he’d never heard of in ALL of his dealings with Penguin was real? Now you’re just making excuses for bad writing. And when was Bane ever catatonic? I don’t like this being Knightfall 2 because that went across titles and was affected his standing throughout the DCU when he was replaced. This story, 59 issues in, has hardly been referenced ANYWHERE.

[ross61]

Wait, Alfred survived?! The guy who's actually Batman's supporting cast and not the main character who doesn't have his own series therefore if anything happen to him it will not derail any ongoing storyline or superhero team arrangement survived?!

At least Snyder actually cut off his arm. Please tell me he suffers at least some kind of damage that affects him and Bruce an entire year, because I can't be more angry or more out of this situation and its priorities than I already am.

Edit: You know what. Nevermind. I don't care. I'm already out. I'm reading stuff I actually like and doesn't make me angry now, so I'm not interested.

OMG, King “derailed” two horrible books from their horrible storylines. The horror!

[Mr. White]

I suspect Penny is actually a Penguin as opposed to a wife/daughter. Might be wrong but yeah.

Also, how about just wait and see. Seems people often get themselves "worked up" without having heard/seen the full story. Remember the whole Bruce and Diana almost kiss issue where everyone threw up a fuss before the end? How did that turn out?

This is by no means a defence to King's run, which I think has more misses (including, I am Gotham, I am Bane and War of Jokes & Riddles) than hits (Roof Tops, Rules of Engagement).

[byrd156]

Should have been split over four pages instead!

Nah a nine panel grid would be better.

[Onthetrapeze]

I suspect Penny is actually a Penguin as opposed to a wife/daughter. Might be wrong but yeah.

Also, how about just wait and see. Seems people often get themselves "worked up" without having heard/seen the full story. Remember the whole Bruce and Diana almost kiss issue where everyone threw up a fuss before the end? How did that turn out?

This is by no means a defence to King's run, which I think has more misses (including, I am Gotham, I am Bane and War of Jokes & Riddles) than hits (Roof Tops, Rules of Engagement).

To be fair, an almost kiss still clearly expressed their intentions. That's not a good story for Diana...

[CPSparkles]

Okay, how much of the Bane Plan is implied and how much of it is revealed on page?

Implied but some of the characters shown in that last page have indirectly prompted/ nudged Bruce into taking the steps Bane needed him to.

Thomas got him feeling sentimental and pushed him to change his life.
GG implied he wasn't happy etc
Even holly sudden foray into mass murder that Selina took the fall for can be viewed as a ploy to put intense emotional weight on Selina so that when Batman proposes she's feeling cornered enough that marrying the Bat looks like a cure all . At least it's better than life on the run an she gets Bat protection.

I'm sure there was more but I only jumped on when BatCat started heating up.

[Mr. White]

To be fair, an almost kiss still clearly expressed their intentions. That's not a good story for Diana...

Yeah I sort of get you. That said it can be argued that being the only compatible beings around for millennia, it's not out of the ordinary...

[Restingvoice]

OMG, King “derailed” two horrible books from their horrible storylines. The horror!

I don't care how horrible it is, if he's not writing the book, he has no right to change it. Each of the writers is in charge of each book, and so any change should come from them. More importantly, he's not the boss of those writers.

[Naked Bat]

I don't care how horrible it is, if he's not writing the book, he has no right to change it. Each of the writers is in charge of each book, and so any change should come from them. More importantly, he's not the boss of those writers.

Even as a fan of King's run, I would agree with this, especially considering how worse Rick Grayson is than Dick Grayson has even been. That said, King didn't decide that alone, the editors probably did or at least made sur it would happen this way.