Quick Poll: Do You Think Tom King is a Good Writer?

[CPSparkles]

The very first Nightwing issue where he has Batman beat up Nightwing so he won't get captured again after a whole arc of Batman worried and distracted about Nightwing in Forever Evil I figured he's the type of writer who will ignore other book's canon characterization to fit the story he wants to tell.

The very first Batman issue where he has Bruce doing his Batman work out almost naked on Wayne Enterprise's helipad I figured he's still a writer who does meta or ridiculous joke that ignore canon logic.

So I know going in that there will be quirks and for the most part, I accept it, because he's already giving signs that he is this type of storyteller.

However, all of this was before the story went Breaking Bat. Before he's talking about superhero trauma. When the story is about the characters undergoing stress, tragedy, and trauma, I expect it to be less quirky, and for the most part it was, but still...

There shouldn't be a meta-joke about how Robins kept dying done by the Robins when Tim just recently died and Bruce was worried that Bane is going to kill them. The Sanctuary interview tape should be used to discuss the Robins' own trauma instead of making a meta-joke about people confusing different Robins.

So most of my problem with him came in the decision making, not the story itself.
Writing the plot but not choosing the characters for Heroes in Crisis.
Inappropriate joke timing.
Picking and choosing character history or creating his own which other writers do this too but they shouldn't if it's in continuity
25 issues of BatCat (I think) and 25 issues of Breaking Bat are way too long

I'd say I can enjoy his works fully when I'm not familiar with the character history, and mostly I can tell what he's trying to say. Some may need a reread and I don't personally like it, but I get what he was going for... I think. His short stories are good but man the payoff is so slow when he's writing a long series.

So I guess he's good...? with a lot of buts in a heavy continuity story? Like I absolutely hate Heroes in Crisis in context with what's happening in Rebirth, but I can see me liking... no... okay with it if it's out of continuity.

Honestly "King is a writer who can win an Eisner while annoying the sh*t out of the fandom" sounds about right.

I'm sorry this is long but context matters. I can't just say he's good, period or bad, period.

Agree with all this.

Tom is decent but very hit and miss. He's also got the one theme that he explores over and over.

You realise after reading 2/3 of his works that Tom King thinks all traumatised people act the same way which hurts rather than helps.

[BatmanJones]

Liked Heroes in Crisis very much (hoped for something more from the final issue but I took #8 more personally than any comic book in memory), loved Vision, loved Mister Miracle, and his Batman is my favorite Batman in my 50 years of being obsessed with Batman.

I'm not here to persuade anyone to my point of view and nobody would be able to persuade me to a different one so none of this is an argument, only an observation.

I do think a lot of people here take it for granted that King is almost universally loathed and, if that were so, he wouldn't keep winning awards that are voted on by people in the industry. Awards don't make someone great or even good and many bad artists have received awards they don't deserve. So awards don't prove anything except that some people, rather a lot, think pretty highly of his writing. To read these forums one would think everyone hates his writing and that simply isn't true. Even the poll here has a few more votes for him as good/great than bad/awful.

It takes all sorts to make a world.

[failo.legendkiller]

I loved Grayson and Omega Men, hated HIC and have mixed feelings about his batman run.
I agree with the ones who say that now he’s spinning his wheels, anyway he’s a good writer.

[kjn]

King is without a doubt a capable writer, but he desperately needs an editor who can tell him no, and who can warn him off when he gets things terribly wrong.

[married guy]

Tom King is a VERY good writer.
I think he excels with properties that don't have the heavy continuity.
I also believe the man should be banned from ever touching the character Wally West ever again.

[j9ac9k]

What's between "good" and "great?" I guess "Very Good" is where I ultimately fall with him taking everything into consideration.

[WTNew]

A genuinely great writer. Yes, he does sometimes miss BIG time but at least he swings for the fences. And when he does hit, it's pretty much a home run every time (look at me with the baseball metaphor!).

In baseball, a successful slugger only gets a hit maybe one at-bat out of four. An exceptional slugger might get one hit out of three. And of those hits, very, very few of them are home runs. Yeah, your metaphor fits King's comic book work pretty well.

Most people seem to think that Vision and Mr. Miracle were his best works.

I didn't read either, but I did read much of Heroes In Crisis, and I didn't like it.

So, for those who read Vision & MM, what was so great about them, and were they very different in style than HIC?

I didn't read his Vision series, but his Mister Miracle series went like this:

Barda or Scott: Oh, I'm so tired. I had to go fight that war today.
Scott or Barda: Oh, yeah. I'm glad you're home because the baby's diaper needs changing.

And that's pretty much the interactions and story until you get to the end and realize (SPOILER)...





The whole story took place in his head. Big surprise, huh? Most of King's stories seem to at least partially be a figment of the character's imagination. Imaginary stories indeed.


I stand by my opinion that he's a good writer, but not a good comic book writer.

[cgh]

Liked Heroes in Crisis very much (hoped for something more from the final issue but I took #8 more personally than any comic book in memory), loved Vision, loved Mister Miracle, and his Batman is my favorite Batman in my 50 years of being obsessed with Batman.

I'm not here to persuade anyone to my point of view and nobody would be able to persuade me to a different one so none of this is an argument, only an observation.

I do think a lot of people here take it for granted that King is almost universally loathed and, if that were so, he wouldn't keep winning awards that are voted on by people in the industry. Awards don't make someone great or even good and many bad artists have received awards they don't deserve. So awards don't prove anything except that some people, rather a lot, think pretty highly of his writing. To read these forums one would think everyone hates his writing and that simply isn't true. Even the poll here has a few more votes for him as good/great than bad/awful.

It takes all sorts to make a world.

Agreed. This forum is not representative of actual readership reality. Heroes in Crisis sold like crazy. Batman is selling like crazy. Tom King won an Eisner. Lots of us love everything he's ever written (not that I've read all of it).

I do wish Grayson was still around though, that title was awesome.

[phonogram12]

I dig him. That said, even my favorite writers don't hit it out of the park with me every time.

[LordUltimus]

Agreed. This forum is not representative of actual readership reality. Heroes in Crisis sold like crazy. Batman is selling like crazy. Tom King won an Eisner. Lots of us love everything he's ever written (not that I've read all of it).

I do wish Grayson was still around though, that title was awesome.

Sales don't mean much when it comes to events and Batman comics, though. HiC sales actually plummeted as far as major event comics go.

[Korath]

Sales don't mean much when it comes to events and Batman comics, though. HiC sales actually plummeted as far as major event comics go.

Yeah. Even taking into account normal attrition, if we had to take into account events and Batman sales... Well, Scott Snyder would be in a whole other world compared to King. But while I certainly enjoy Snyder's writing a lot more, it's mostly because I find his style far more in tune with the nature of super-hero comics than King's. I honestly think that if King tried his hands on prose, he would be one of the very best in his theme and genre.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I think he's a good writer but he can be hit or miss. I prefer Vision to his DC work so far, maybe he should have stayed at Marvel?

Granted we'd probably be complaining about his work on FF like we are with Batman so maybe it was just bound to happen.

[Timothy Hunter]

Excuse me. I meant to write at the top, " Tom King is one of the WORST of al time.", not "best".

[titanfan]

He's a good writer who wrote a horrific story. It just happens his horrific story was a high profile event. It happens to almost everyone.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

In baseball, a successful slugger only gets a hit maybe one at-bat out of four. An exceptional slugger might get one hit out of three. And of those hits, very, very few of them are home runs. Yeah, your metaphor fits King's comic book work pretty well.




I didn't read his Vision series, but his Mister Miracle series went like this:

Barda or Scott: Oh, I'm so tired. I had to go fight that war today.
Scott or Barda: Oh, yeah. I'm glad you're home because the baby's diaper needs changing.

And that's pretty much the interactions and story until you get to the end and realize (SPOILER)...





The whole story took place in his head. Big surprise, huh? Most of King's stories seem to at least partially be a figment of the character's imagination. Imaginary stories indeed.


I stand by my opinion that he's a good writer, but not a good comic book writer.

If this is really how Mr. Miracle went, then I don't get why people liked it. I would have been very upset if I bought this and that was the ending.