Batman #17 preview

[Frontier]

You know how come Bane went to the effort of finding and dressing Selina in her costume but left Bronze Tiger in his boxers?

I'd like to think Bane isn't skeevy enough to have his men undress Selina just to put her in her costume, so I'm assuming she was wearing it under her clothes.

I think it's possibly more a case of weird comic book logic.

Like how at the start of the Victim Syndicate in 'Tec, the heroes are all in party-wear for the gala, then out of nowhere they're all in their vigilante costumes. When and how did they have the time to change in the middle of a surprise attack? Did they all race home, then race back, or do they keep stashes of their gear everywhere they go...without it looking suspicious that they carry around a change of clothes everywhere they go.

Probably the same non-logic.

I can believe that Bruce has secret stashes of costumes, probably for the entire family, hidden away practically everywhere in Gotham City for when he needs a quick change.

Either that or he's perfect a gadget that allows for one to instantly transform into their costume .

[Aioros22]

Ahh, I see, thanks. Did King expand on how/why? Or is that something to be revealed later hopefully? Is King taking the Morrisonian approach of "everything is in contuity" or has Pyscho shown this before besides...


Since that's an out of continuity, 4th-wall breaking story?

Edit:
Ok, read his interview w/ DC's website. Looks like he is factoring in all history. I can dig it.

Psycho Pirate knowing the multiverse has been an integral part of his character since COIE, regardless the absurd number of reboots DC has made since then. Likewise, I never got the impression that Morrison`s Animal Man run was never supposed to not be in continuity regardless of the same. It became too iconic with the character for any editor or writer to rule it out.

[joybeans]

ugh...this issue. and after such a fun issue before it. Alfred with a gun...the notion that the Robins could be taken out so easily, and somehow NOT die from being hung and somehow Batman thinking flying these dying(?) Robins to the top of the world and then freezing them seems in any way logical boggles my mind.

They weren't taken out by Bane.

https://twitter.com/TomKingTK/status/832721707706286081

[darkseidpwns]

That should have been obvious from the story itself. Robin fans can chill now lol.

[darkseidpwns]

You know how come Bane went to the effort of finding and dressing Selina in her costume but left Bronze Tiger in his boxers?

He has a thing for Batman's women, first Talia and now Selina, they've seen him naked and now he's seen them

On a serious note, he wanted her to be recognized. He identifies her as Catwoman, to him that's who she is

[Frontier]

They weren't taken out by Bane.

https://twitter.com/TomKingTK/status/832721707706286081

I'm not sure how much better Bruce taking them out is, but whatever .

[TheNewFiftyForum]

In the nitpick-department: It feels unnecessary to make Alfred the world's greatest actor that never was, what's wrong with him simply having been a working theatre actor for a few years? And I don't like it being public knowledge that Thomas Elliott and Hush are one and the same. Also, the clock tower in Arkham didn't need a specific name.

Other than that, this was my favorite issue of King's run to date, and possibly my favorite DC issue post Rebirth. Even Finch seems to have gotten a second wind, that last page was amazing.

[millernumber1]

They weren't taken out by Bane.

https://twitter.com/TomKingTK/status/832721707706286081

So how does that work? Those were dummies in the cave, or they were just unconscious?

[Frontier]

So how does that work? Those were dummies in the cave, or they were just unconscious?

They were probably fakes to psyche Batman out.

[millernumber1]

They were probably fakes to psyche Batman out.

Hmmm. I like King, and I know he's playing with the limits of closure, but...would it kill him to spell things out sometimes?

[Drz]

Hmmm. I like King, and I know he's playing with the limits of closure, but...would it kill him to spell things out sometimes?

I agree, but he still has time to fix it by having the Robins make it clear for everyone by later issues.

[thefiresky]

I think overall we can chalk it up as a f!@# up. I don't really think that panel of the robins hanging there can really be considered "something we'll find out later". I get that it left that issue with a great cliffhanger but it never explains why they were hanging, why they had 'I AM Bane' painted on them. I mean I can rationalize and see it as something like Bruce doing that so Alfred and GG THOUGHT they were dead, but it still doesn't make sense in the long run, and doesn't connect well to the following issue where Bruce just brought them to the fortress of solitude.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Hmmm. I like King, and I know he's playing with the limits of closure, but...would it kill him to spell things out sometimes?

I don't mind making the reader do some research (like I had to) or making the reader fill in the blanks. Or if it's something confusing or open-ended that'll get answered later.

What I don't like is something so disjointed as seeing the Robins apparently killed by Bane in the Batcave, just to be in cryosleep in the Fortress of Solitude a few pages later w/o any suggestion as to how that makes any sense, just to be half-assedly answered by the writer. If anything, King's answer just added another layer of confusion. I agree w/ you that this should've had a bit more exposition or implication to it.

I think overall we can chalk it up as a f!@# up. I don't really think that panel of the robins hanging there can really be considered "something we'll find out later". I get that it left that issue with a great cliffhanger but it never explains why they were hanging, why they had 'I AM Bane' painted on them. I mean I can rationalize and see it as something like Bruce doing that so Alfred and GG THOUGHT they were dead, but it still doesn't make sense in the long run, and doesn't connect well to the following issue where Bruce just brought them to the fortress of solitude.

I agree. I've loved 95% of King's run so far, but this is part of that 5% I've disliked. I mean, your explanation actually makes sense if we consider that Bane doesn't know where the Batcave is (does he?) and isn't childish enough to just leave some dummies hanging around? At first I thought maybe Supes' cryochambers have some healing properties for dead ppl, but that'd obviously be way too broken and make huge story points in other stories, like the Lazarus Pits, lose their significance. So yeah...Bats playing some joke actually makes sense lol...

[Aioros22]

They weren't taken out by Bane.

https://twitter.com/TomKingTK/status/832721707706286081

Yeah, what I said. King is a smart fella. Way he paces things, he can just see the reactions and decide the course, if that`s his game.

For fun, it wasn`t Bane, it was Batman being more paranoid than usual.

[joybeans]

Hmmm. I like King, and I know he's playing with the limits of closure, but...would it kill him to spell things out sometimes?

I'm guessing that it was meant to be ambiguous, leading to a later moment when the truth gets revealed. But ambiguity and comic fans don't mix very well. People got impatient, and badgered him with questions.