Originally Posted by
bob.schoonover
I'll just hit a couple points in Fall and Fallen before we jump into CoB.
* I despise the second issue's "previously" premise. Not one of Barbara Gordon (Oracle herself!), her father the Commissioner, Tim "with enough tech I can combat all crime" Drake, or Damian Wayne - grandson of the Demon, raised to take over the League of Assassins, trained by Talia al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, and a host of others - could find a single sliver of a hint that Bane was not comatose, had taken over Arkham, and was seconds away from suborning the city's infrastructure and gov't. Because The Riddler is helping him? I'll use this spot to also scoff at him reprogramming Skeets, because why not. The post-wedding, pre-nightmares issues made a convincing argument for Bruce's isolation and descent into sorrow, and I assume this was supposed to be more of the same, but unlike the previous issues, this plot point comes at the expense of established characters who are supposed to be the cream of the crop. It's minor in the grand arc of the story, but I had to get that off my chest.
* For a run this long, I thought the "Thomas narrates to Bane all the things Bane did" commentary during the battle was worthwhile. It obviously highlights how omniscient Bane is (well, until CoB, which we'll get to later). I find that level of planning implausible, to an extent, but the real flaw in it is the way Bane's plan falls apart later. It does tie in all the parts of the story that were necessary, and is a good basis for a re-read such as this so we can talk about the parts of the plan that matter.
* The two parts in the desert were really enjoyable. They highlighted Thomas's POV and endgame quite well, as well as letting Bruce articulate why Thomas would fail. My one line guess of what King thinks about Batman as explicated in this run would be "Batman is a suicide wish, but he's also the hope for a better future."
Are we going to take a couple weeks for CoB? If so, take it all at once over two weeks or split it into a couple pieces (75-79, 80-85)?