Originally Posted by
bob/.schoonover
My problem with the Thomas monologue isn't so much that it was used as a device to explain what had happened (I'd say half of it I'd already assumed), but that some of it seemed (a) beyond Bane's capabilities to manipulate (e.g. oh, the Riddler acquired and reprogrammed Skeets) and (b) beyond Thomas's ability to intuit (although since we don't know how Thomas is in this reality yet, that may be me assuming too much about what Thomas can know). It seemed all too Rube-Goldberg-ian for my tastes. I don't mind Bane master manipulator, but Bane omniscient planner is a bridge too far*.
The Gotham revival plot in The Price seems unnecessary when Psycho Pirate is in the story - she's either cooperating under duress or she's still emotionally manipulated; you don't need both.
I enjoy parts of Knightmares and get what King was going for, but it didn't entirely succeed for me. Part of it was starting with the Master Bruce character (who sucks, and who doesn't make sense with the rest of the narrative nearly as well), part of it was it cut against the pacing King had established - Cold Days, the KGBeast arc, and the Tyrant's Wing were moving, then POOF. Bruce is becoming alienated from all his allies, then the jump forward to City of Bane basically skipped over the fallout with Gordon and Batman, the bat family realizing that Bruce wasn't crazy (well, more crazy) about Bane, etc. I would imagine, if Knightmares had been more like Morrison's Last Rites, where we popped out of the dream world for a few panels to see what was going on in the world outside, I'd have enjoyed it a lot more.
Back to the patterns and greatest hits aspect of King's run (something I unabashedly love), I re-read I Am Gotham last night. The Calendar Man story from Rebirth is interesting - we know both Snyder and King wrote it, and I think a lot of people tend to think of it as mostly a Snyder story (setting up Duke's new status quo). The Calendar Man plot, though, really seems like more of a thesis for King's whole run. Calendar Man "dies" and is reborn anew slightly different, and Bruce tells Duke they have to be prepared for the new Calendar Man. This ties in with Morrison's advice to Snyder and King that you should write a death and a rebirth for Batman. The seasonal aspect can describe Bruce's journey, too (the rebirth is happening now while Catwoman is tending to him - we could probably mark out the seasons of Bruce in a few different ways, but I'd tend towards Spring from 1-24, Summer from 25-40, Fall from 41-50 (or maybe 59), then Winter is ongoing until Bruce wakes up and heads off to face Bane).
The other interesting thing is that King is playing a bit with alternate Batmen types in a different way than Morrison did (first with Dick, then with Inc). Those were all men that were directly inspired by Batman. Hank/Gotham has the explicit Batman origin about to happen to him, then Batman shows up and he takes a different path. Master Bruce wants Bruce's origin and more or less gets it, but not because he wants to become Batman. Thomas and Bruce have, essentially, identical origins but dealt with them in decidedly different ways (even if they share cosmetic similarities). The point is somewhat similar, though - only Bruce can be Batman. No one else has the capacity to become Batman, no matter how much the circumstances seem similar or the individual is willing.
*Hugo Strange betraying Waller, Batman coming to get Psycho Pirate, Selina leaving Bruce after the Booster and Joker stories and Holly conversation, Batman being hurt when Catwoman leaves are all on the "master manipulator" side of things. Gotham dying, Gotham Girl not rebelling at these machinations resulting in her parents' deaths, taking over Arkham w/o any evidence that very good cop Jim Gordon can find, anything about Skeets seems more on the omniscient side.