So Helena will only be in the special and not Bat/Cat? That's what King has been teasing this whole time? I hope that's not the case, because if it is, then it really doesn't mean anything.
So Helena will only be in the special and not Bat/Cat? That's what King has been teasing this whole time? I hope that's not the case, because if it is, then it really doesn't mean anything.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
So I didn't get into the King Batman until I Am Bane, so this was the first read of I Am Suicide. Found the graphic novel at a used bookstore.
What struck me the most was the parallel structure in IAS with what I had just read with the final confrontation between Bruce and Thomas. The key players are Wesker, Catwoman and Batman in each case. You have Batman taking the brunt of the fight and getting beat, practically. Batman and Bane/Thomas philosophizing about what it means to be Batman (a heavily distracting concept, it appears!). Then Catwoman as the "ace in the hole" in both stories and the same exact choreographed moment with Catwoman surprise-attacking Bane/Thomas.
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We might be slightly far afield, but it maps much better from Selina's POV (even though it's not her book). Selina is the lower class woman who catches the eye of a prince/duke/nobleman, he's willing to pursue her but she is reticent because of his station, eventually they get together. The big difference is that Selina comes to Bruce's rescue, and not vice versa. The other difference, of course, is that King's run is not the start of their story, so there's a lot of confounding plot stuff (the boat or the street, our introduction to Selina being in media res, etc).
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King very much wanted to play with repeated structures - not just dialogue, but also narratives. I love it.
I also don't see how people could not expect Catwoman to come in at the last minute and help Batman, after this arc. It's just the way their relationship works, in King's run.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
Just to be clear, I love the story too, warts and all, but I still think it's King's second-weakest Batman arc, "I Am Bane" being first.
Agreed. The problem with "I Am Suicide" is that it's pitched as a clever heist, but doesn't have the satisfying sleight-of-hand payoff and leans heavier into the action elements than the actual caper.—Batman leading a heist caper is a slam dunk for me. I want so much more of this, there's not enough Mission Impossible style stories for Batman. Another good example would be the Hong Kong scene in "The Dark Knight" film; beyond that I can't think of too many other similar stories that go this route.... only other one I can think of is the beginning of the "Legacy" storyline where Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Selina are infiltrating Ra's al Ghul/Bane's desert hideaway. Even "No Man's Land" entirely skips over how the heroes were able to get in and out of the city, multiple times (it's not only "Dark Knight Rises" that cheats this). So even though the plan is ridiculous, I still love the overall shape of a "sneaky espionage snatch-and-grab" mission for Batman.
I think my reaction at first was mixed, but I didn't really understand where King was going with it until later. I was initially worried that he was building Batman up as an inescapable tragedy. The irony is that King's Batman is actually the healthiest he's been depicted since the 70s, maybe more so, because of how honestly he expresses himself, especially to Selina. That's one of the things I love about King's Batman the most. He's not the guy who pushes it all inside and holds every perceived weakness in contempt. (My mind goes to his great speech to the jurors in "Cold Days"--he's very self-aware and embraces his nature as a flawed human being.)—The acknowledgment of suicide!! A lot of fans hated this, it seems, but I adore it. It's such an emotionally intelligent read on the origin, such a small incisive addition that is so revealing and reverberant through everything. Batman's always had a lot of stories about his capability for self destruction, and his willingness to sacrifice his life for his mission/his vow, but it's never been acknowledged emotionally in a way this human before. The issue of his letter (12, iirc) is one of the highlight issues for whole run.
The letter is great! The brawl not so much. Readers were sold on a stealth caper and mostly got a Chuck Norris film instead.I love the over-the-top absurdity of him Arkham-video-game style just brawling through a hundred armed guys, and how it juxtaposes with the very human letter to Catwoman.
Agreed.I love that it's a letter, and not an internal monologue. I love that Batman is talking emotionally instead of logistically walking us through the plan, or how the bones are breaking... The letter lets us into Bruce's head in a way where I felt Bruce was truly relatable, which is almost never the case. Usually it's that Bruce is interesting, he's like a case study, and is sometimes in relatable dynamics, but I don't think I'd ever connected to Bruce emotionally like that since maybe Mask Of The Phantasm.
I agree with your sentiment, but I wouldn't put "I Am Suicide" in the top ten Batman/Catwoman stories told, much less the top three. I love what it sets in motion, but the story itself is rather flat when compared to "Rooftops" or the story from Batman Annual #2.—"I Am Suicide" also reveals that this is a romantic epic, which I find to be just as exciting and fresh as the humanistic take on Bruce's vow. Even just looking at this arc out of the context of the larger run, I think this is instantly one of the Top 3 best Batman / Catwoman stories ever told. We're introduced to "Bat / Cat" banter for the first time, which works well for me so that's a big plus in my book. There's some killer dialogue moments of tenderness between them -- "What am I supposed to do?"
It totally fits. I was just reading Bane of the Demon last night and Ra's al Ghul points out that Bane lacks subtlety. I totally buy into the idea that he's a guy who sits naked on a throne of skulls!—Naked Bane is simultaneously bizarre and also works so well for the character. Another example of an original take that I just find to be so refreshing, in part because it's at least doing something different and has something to say.
I think "I Am Gotham" already convinced me of that. But you're right in that his most important themes get rolling in "I Am Suicide."—This arc, moreso than I Am Gotham, flagged to me that King has something new to say about the character. And while the rest of the arc expands his thoughts, all of them are present and accounted for in I Am Suicide.
They really are!—The art! It's the first pairing of Janin with King, and they're a great combo.
Naked Bane is ok by me. He is a guy dependent on tricks to give him strength, so by being naked it shows he has nothing up his sleeve. Literally. The throne of skulls thing is just goofy to me. Are you telling me that he went to the bother to go find that many skulls and improbably pile them up just for effect? Totally impractical and silly. But thats comics for ya.
Every day is a gift, not a given right.