Quote Originally Posted by bob.schoonover View Post
I should clarify (it was clear in my head) - lowercase "nightmare" refers to the specific fear being highlighted, as in "I had the worst dream, I showed up to school naked." The Constantine story was quite good, and I like the implication that Bruce is always evaluating other heroes as to whether or not they lived up to their potential. I just think "if Selina becomes a part of my quest, she might die" is a pretty obvious fear for Bruce (given how many allies have been killed or maimed) and any other hero. It's less specific than Master Bruce (could my circumstances led me down a different path)*, Pyg (will Damian become one of the monsters I face), does Selina love me, can I love her, etc.

I think you're on point w/everything about the Chase. I should re-view it through that lens. It's a very pointed example of Bruce's descent into anger and sadness starting with the wedding. And while I think that the Chase as an interruption works (there's a little too much tell not show in the finale explaining what the plot of the arc was), I believe once we know everything, The Chase (madness of the quest) transitioning to Constantine (the quest will kill Selina) transitioning to The Question (does Selina really love me) transitioning to Bachelor Party (do I really love Selina) is more pointed and feels like how I think Bruce's mind might work. I can appreciate the idea that the nightmares don't transition in an orderly manner, but the rest of the run is so engineered to rhyme, it's a bit off to me to have the nightmares are so jumbled.


*While I think Master Bruce is the least affecting, this run is littered with characters who share aspects of Bruce's origin, upbringing, or motivation. I Am Suicide draws the parallels between he and both Selina and Bane as abandoned children, I Am Gotham covers Gotham Girl and Gotham and how they're motivated by their own almost Crime Alley moment, then you have Thomas (actual Crime Alley moment) and Master Bruce (rich little snot). If my reading of what the point of the story was is correct, I do understand why Master Bruce was chosen - he's the least integrated into the rest of the plot so it's less confusing than if the Nightmare had been Claire or Selina murdering people "in self defense"
Interesting points, as before! Perhaps I read the Knightmares as more meta-commentary on Batman as well as a window into what Bruce is feeling, and give them a lot of extra slack about being disjointed because that's the nature of dreams. I didn't mind all the telling in the finale - it was very classic Tom King, and interesting that he does sometimes try to be really clear when elsewhere is revels in ambiguity.

All that being said, thanks all for the discussion of one of my favorite (and no one else's ) arcs in Knightmares, and move on to The Fall and the Fallen, #70-74, a five part arc the picks right up from The Tyrant Wing, and despite all the time that Knightmares gave, has last minute rewrites necessitating Jorge Fornes to come in as a last minute artist. (And even though I don't like that the rewrites were necessary, or fill in art generally, I adore Fornes, so I'm actually kind of happy about this). What do you think about the second to last arc of the run? Do the issues tying everything together make sense to you? (I know for some of us, they were a bit too "perfect", though I wasn't particularly bothered personally.)

We are also moving the Annual #4, Every Day, forward a bit so as not to break up City of Bane. This issue, according to King, was sort of a mission statement for what Batman means to him. I find it fairly moving, with lovely art again by Fornes, and an additional coda by Mike Norton. It's a bit disjointed and doesn't quite feel necessary, but as a collection of stories that add up to "what is Batman", it's very nice, and I kind of wish it had come earlier, as many people hating on the run seemed to enjoy it, and maybe it would have clarified what King was working towards a bit earlier.

To me, "Every Day" makes the argument that Batman is a job, and should be a job - one that Batman works at with all his heart - but he can also be a person, kind and warm - the moment with Tim really sticks out to me, as does the helping the old lady across the street. Perhaps it's just that Fornes makes the dragon look so awesome, and Batman killing it so amazing, or it's because Night of the Monster Men set up Batman as monster fighter, but I didn't really have any genre problems. It felt like a love letter both to the street level crime stories (the train story) and the wacky Silver Age adventures, and the philosophical style adventures. It's just a very nice issue with absolutely gorgeous art. It's not Annual #2...but really, how many Annual #2s do you get? It's about on the level of Annual #1: Good Boy, which is a very touching, whimsical, lovely story as well.