Batgirl #30 & Batman #995 (spoilers)

[scary harpy]

Batgirl 30

I read it and enjoyed it. Good art. Glad to see the return of Jason Bard and Cormorant.

I like Bard as an antagonist.

Batman 995

Leslie Thompkins dies and no one seems to care. I thought I would see a thread about this long before now. I'm not even reading the comic.

https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics...ompkins-death/

So no one cares?

[Restingvoice]

I saw it in Scans Daily, but no, I don't. Leslie hasn't really been significant since New 52 except providing backstory for Jason, Spyral, and the standard "she's there for Bruce as a child".
That said, I like that they actually utilizing Batman's supporting cast instead of the main character from another book. I was going for Alfred or Gordon, but I forgot about Leslie.

Wait, Bard is still an antagonist? I thought he turned around after Eternal?

[babybats]

Oof. I haven't read that issue yet but that's a terrible way for that character to go out, fodder for Bruce's Batangst. Not a good start for Tec.

[MajorHoy]

. . .Batman 995

Leslie Thompkins dies and no one seems to care. I thought I would see a thread about this long before now. I'm not even reading the comic.

https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics...ompkins-death/

So no one cares?

Wait. When did King's Batman resume some sort of legacy numbering?

(As for Leslie Thompkins' death, haven't read most Bat-books besides Batgirl in a while, so while it could be an unfortunate and useless character death, I unfortunately feel so removed from most of the Bat-family these days anyway.)

[Frontier]

Y'know, if Leslie didn't feel like such a minor character these days, I think Tomasi would be getting a lot of flack for this.

(I can hear Assam raging right now...)

[Kurisu]

Leslie Thompkins dies and no one seems to care. I thought I would see a thread about this long before now. I'm not even reading the comic.

https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics...ompkins-death/

So no one cares?

I noticed that too. Maybe folks are finally seeing Tomasi's work for what it is: totally unremarkable.

[kjn]

I leafed through the issue due to the cover evoking the infamous proposed Poison Ivy cover for Heroes in Crisis #7.

What a sad fall for what used to be DC's flagship title, with only 20 pages of actual story.

Leslie Thompkins is fridged; I can't say I have much relation with the character, but I remember her fondly from Brubaker's Catwoman run. At least Alfred got a meaningful emotional moment, but then he gets stabbed. Batman goes to Arkham and threatens to beat people up, because reasons.

Now, whatever opinion one has about fridging, this is one horrid example. Because whatever emotional impact the writer intended with killing off Leslie is directly diluted by having Alfred seriously wounded immediately afterwards and having Batman show far more of an emotional reaction to that. The fridging ends up narratively meaningless.

[Restingvoice]

Alfred's stabbed too? He was almost shot in Batman and now stabbed in Detective Comics. They need to stop teasing and actually do it. ^^

[kjn]

Stabbed and bled all over the living room mat… It's like some writers are in a competition to put holes in as many characters as possible.

[CPSparkles]

I noticed that too. Maybe folks are finally seeing Tomasi's work for what it is: totally unremarkable.

That or folks don't care for Thompson that much. after all we discussed the issue it happened in. That has a thread and folks on there didn't dwell on the death

[CPSparkles]

Batgirl 30

I read it and enjoyed it. Good art. Glad to see the return of Jason Bard and Cormorant.

I like Bard as an antagonist.

Batman 995

Leslie Thompkins dies and no one seems to care. I thought I would see a thread about this long before now. I'm not even reading the comic.

https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics...ompkins-death/

So no one cares?

It was discussed in the Tec 995 thread. A couple of people cared

[millernumber1]

Batgirl 30

I read it and enjoyed it. Good art. Glad to see the return of Jason Bard and Cormorant.

I like Bard as an antagonist.

Batman 995

Leslie Thompkins dies and no one seems to care. I thought I would see a thread about this long before now. I'm not even reading the comic.

https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics...ompkins-death/

So no one cares?

I'm a huge Batman Eternal fan, as people probably know, so seeing that followed up here is really nice. I hope that Scott plays with the ambiguity of Bard, rather than just making him a villain. It seems like she's doing that, but it's just a first issue.

As for Leslie, I care, but when I discussed her from Tec 994, most people either 1) didn't like her, 2) didn't know her, or 3) didn't care. Tomasi made her incredibly generic, just "old friend of Bruce" - no philosophy, no significant history with Batman, no importance other than "oh, Bruce is sad, but now he's more sad about Alfred."

I saw it in Scans Daily, but no, I don't. Leslie hasn't really been significant since New 52 except providing backstory for Jason, Spyral, and the standard "she's there for Bruce as a child".
That said, I like that they actually utilizing Batman's supporting cast instead of the main character from another book. I was going for Alfred or Gordon, but I forgot about Leslie.

Wait, Bard is still an antagonist? I thought he turned around after Eternal?

Well, he confessed to Vicki, but he disappeared completely after that, sadly.

I disagree that Leslie only provided those things - Tynion used her pretty well, but in a minor way. She's still not very significant, but Tynion at least gave her a consistent philosophy with her past.

Oof. I haven't read that issue yet but that's a terrible way for that character to go out, fodder for Bruce's Batangst. Not a good start for Tec.

And yet, it's completely predictable. Leslie's primary philosophical/thematic function was to oppose Batman's methods while loving him personally. Removing the philosophical/thematic opposition to Batman just before he goes full Rorschach (or worse) is pretty consistent with my philosophical/thematic criticism of Tomasi since the start of Batman and Robin.

Y'know, if Leslie didn't feel like such a minor character these days, I think Tomasi would be getting a lot of flack for this.

(I can hear Assam raging right now...)

Too true.

I noticed that too. Maybe folks are finally seeing Tomasi's work for what it is: totally unremarkable.

Nope. People are loving it.

I leafed through the issue due to the cover evoking the infamous proposed Poison Ivy cover for Heroes in Crisis #7.

What a sad fall for what used to be DC's flagship title, with only 20 pages of actual story.

Leslie Thompkins is fridged; I can't say I have much relation with the character, but I remember her fondly from Brubaker's Catwoman run. At least Alfred got a meaningful emotional moment, but then he gets stabbed. Batman goes to Arkham and threatens to beat people up, because reasons.

Now, whatever opinion one has about fridging, this is one horrid example. Because whatever emotional impact the writer intended with killing off Leslie is directly diluted by having Alfred seriously wounded immediately afterwards and having Batman show far more of an emotional reaction to that. The fridging ends up narratively meaningless.

Really good point. But consistent with the kind of attempts at emotional impact without thematic coherence.

That or folks don't care for Thompson that much. after all we discussed the issue it happened in. That has a thread and folks on there didn't dwell on the death

I think to care about Leslie, you had to love her from the early 2000s stuff, and not a lot of us are still participating in the discussions. Tynion definitely provided some fan-service to that generation, but none of the other writers really seem to have enjoyed the same stuff we did.

[scary harpy]

It was discussed in the Tec 995 thread. A couple of people cared

I must have missed that thread. Strangely, I was looking for it.

[Frontier]

It feels like we're losing more and more of the civilian or out-of-costume segments of the Batman universe these days.

[millernumber1]

It feels like we're losing more and more of the civilian or out-of-costume segments of the Batman universe these days.

To me, it makes sense in King Batman, because it's somewhat natural to lose more and more of what connects Bruce to his life outside of the mission after the wedding (even though he spent a huge amount of time out of costume in Cold Days).