Morrison, Tomasi, Snyder or King?

[Hcmarvel]

Some additional thoughts: Some have questioned why I put Tomasi on this poll and I just want to acknowledge that it's true he was never the leader of the franchise but he had a lengthy run on Batman and Robin and now Detective Comics and it felt wrong to not include him. I never expected he would be in 2nd place in the poll and it shows his Batman and Robin run is especially fondly remembered.

To use an analogy from some other franchises - JM Demattis' work on Spectacular Spider-Man and Rick Remender's work on Uncanny X-Force shows you can write one of the satellite books and still have a tremendous impact as a creator. I think the fact that Damian is alive and kicking is partially due to Tomasi's work (I mean literally in that he brought him back but also because he wrote more of the Bruce/Damian relationship than even Morrison).


I am surprised Tom King is so maligned. I admit I did not care for the final third of his run but it seems like at the time a lot of people loved his first 6 or so arcs? Wasn't The Joker/Riddler War really well regarded? Did the ending spoil things that much for people?

I think it's also telling that Morrison's run is the consensus favorite. One key feature of his run was that until the very end it was a ton of fun. I think Batman fans don't necessarily want the character to be overly serious and depressed all the time. I think this is why King's run is not well regarded even just a few years after it's over.

[seusilva]

I started reading Batman monthly because of all the buzz around Black Mirror, until today my favourite tale from Snyder. Great comic! I read all his run but Endgame and Bloom are a bit too much - how Gotham survived all of this in so little time?!

I know Morrison did total destruction like this too, but at least he didn't take it too serious as Snyder. I love his Batman and Robin, the time travel adventures and the insanity of Batman Inc international stories! Sometime you can't understand exactly what's going on but its always intriguing and fun. My favourite.

I really enjoyed reading Omega Men and Sheriff of Babylon by King, but his Batman not that much - the 5 issues of dreams, all that mess with the wedding and his father turned me down a bit. I liked the first two arcs and some individual issues are pure gold (the story with Ivy, Kiteman, Bugs Bunny), but this is not better than Morrison.

Tomasi I didn't read as much, need to catch up!

[marvelprince]

Morrison, King, Synder and then Tomasi for me.

Morrison can be a little esoteric sometimes, but his Batman and Robin is my favorite arc of Batman ever. I really love that and Batman RIP. Outside of the Knightmares arc I thought the Tom King arc was just fantastic. It was even darker in some ways than Grant's run, and I enjoyed the twist of Bane breaking the Bat emotionally vs physically again. Really well done and I love how poetic it feels. Synder introduces a lot of great concepts and ideas but I find the execution in a lot of areas falls flat. For example I love Duke and Harper but I was so confused with where he ended up taking their stories. And the less said about Superheavy the better. Tomasi always gets every character's voice down and I enjoy that but I found myself not really gripped by his stories like I was with the other writers.

[Aahz]

Wasn't The Joker/Riddler War really well regarded?

It was pretty hyped up when it was announced but I don't think that the actual story lived up to that hype.

I think in general a lot of readers where hyped up by the stuff King was promising (Joker/Riddler War, Bat/Cat Wedding, City of Bane, an epic 100 issue run he had planned ...) and than kind of disappointed by what they got in the end.

And while some of the stories early in his run are decent, non is imo on the level of for example Court of the Owls.

[phonogram12]

Everyone but Morrison. TBH, I only really care for him on certain books/characters. Batman and X-Men were not those characters.

[Noodle]

Tomasi, King, Snyder then Morrison.

[Hizashi]

Morrison and Snyder, I like what they gave me. I enjoyed the first arc of King's run, but it really fell apart quickly for me and #50 was the last straw. I think it would've been interesting to have used the Punisher-Batman Dick Grayson from the Gift timeline instead of Flashpoint Batman because Bruce would've only recently "lost" Dick.

I never read Tomasi's run but plan to get that omnibus at some point.

[JBatmanFan05]

Morrison wins for me, he had the best understanding of Batman, his history and the many various genres he operates in. I could go on about Morrison, but it suffices to say he's a peak comic writer like Alan Moore and Frank Miller and others in that select group.

Snyder is definitely second. He's just a very talented conventional comic writer. I knew when Black Mirror came out that he had inordinate stand out talent and insight into Batman and his characters. He is very strong on characterization and thematics and balancing action & detective work & horror.

[Hizashi]

Morrison wins for me, he had the best understanding of Batman, his history and the many various genres he operates in. I could go on about Morrison, but it suffices to say he's a peak comic writer like Alan Moore and Frank Miller and others in that select group.

Snyder is definitely second. He's just a very talented conventional comic writer. I knew when Black Mirror came out that he had inordinate stand out talent and insight into Batman and his characters. He is very strong on characterization and thematics and balancing action & detective work & horror.

If Snyder writes Dick Grayson after all, I'd welcome a sequel to Black Mirror, thematic only even.

[charliehustle415]

Morrison wins for me, he had the best understanding of Batman, his history and the many various genres he operates in. I could go on about Morrison, but it suffices to say he's a peak comic writer like Alan Moore and Frank Miller and others in that select group.

Snyder is definitely second. He's just a very talented conventional comic writer. I knew when Black Mirror came out that he had inordinate stand out talent and insight into Batman and his characters. He is very strong on characterization and thematics and balancing action & detective work & horror.

Ohh, I like the definition of Snyder as "conventional" out of the four authors he is definitely the most conventional - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for a long time reader like me it can get very old hat.

I know people on these boards do not like King as much as critics do especially on the bigger comic sites, I wonder where the disconnect is coming from

[Restingvoice]

Ohh, I like the definition of Snyder as "conventional" out of the four authors he is definitely the most conventional - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for a long time reader like me it can get very old hat.

I know people on these boards do not like King as much as critics do especially on the bigger comic sites, I wonder where the disconnect is coming from

Critics don't read comic lore. Critics don't care if Holly Robinson, Booster Gold, or Flashpoint Thomas Wayne are written wrong or if Catwoman and Thomas Wayne are OP or if his version of Riddler deviates from fans' common understanding of him. They're just some of the thousands of characters of DC with so many different versions and continuity that they don't matter, but for fans, they matter.

[Godlike13]

I think Snyder just seems more conventional after these 10 years as more readers got use to his work. But I still remember my being impressed with him because of his horror influences and his style wasn’t quite the same as what else was going on at that time. And that was creatively a strong time.

[Godlike13]

BTW all these guys best stuff was with Dick. Thats right, come at me Bruce.

[Hizashi]

BTW all these guys best stuff was with Dick. Thats right, come at me Bruce.

lol, you're right.

[SiegePerilous02]

Morrison for me. His ending arcs were some of his best stuff imo, whereas Snyder and King kinda petered out and ended with whimpers. Tomasi’s B&R run was fine and enjoyable but not great imo. Morrison’s run wasn’t perfect, the Clown at Midnight is bad, if you’re going to have a prose issue the prose needs to be beyond reproach and that CGI artwork was godawful, but Batman, Inc. was some damn impactful and good comics for me. So much of Morrison’s stuff was picked up and used by his successors that he stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of impact on the Bat Mythos.

I've come around to liking the prose in that issue. As purple and OTT as it is, it grew on me despite disliking it at first.

No defending that CGI artwork though, I can't understand why anyone thought that would look good.