Batman #40 Preview.

[WontonGirl]

I agree that they should had just used Diana as a person he was battling with and then she just started pressing him about what he saw in her and why he liked her.

They still could have had The Gentleman's deception as part of the story. Then Selina comes in and saves the day, blah, blah.

I mean, maybe there could had been a scene or panel where Selina walks with Bat to meet Diana and then she just has this "look" on her face like, "wow, Wonder Woman" and then at the end, he could had reassured Selina that she is the only woman he wants.

The End. LOL!

[K Nikk]

Tom King implies in a twitter response to someone that we will see the Gentle Man again. Might not be in Batman, but he has "big plans coming" in relation to this character. Finding a way to end the endless horde could be an interesting story arc.

and because I didn't say it before - WOW, I am loving Joelle Jones' art (and Bellaire's colour). Selina looks amazing - that shot of her in the car especially, goodness gracious. I'm not surprised considering how great the Lady Killer series is, but also her comedic tones are great. I love the page with batman and wonder woman eating and their expressions accompanying the conversation, but also the chewing... it's a weird thing to compliment but it just felt fun.

[WontonGirl]

Tom King implies in a twitter response to someone that we will see the Gentle Man again. Might not be in Batman, but he has "big plans coming" in relation to this character. Finding a way to end the endless horde could be an interesting story arc.

and because I didn't say it before - WOW, I am loving Joelle Jones' art (and Bellaire's colour). Selina looks amazing - that shot of her in the car especially, goodness gracious. I'm not surprised considering how great the Lady Killer series is, but also her comedic tones are great. I love the page with batman and wonder woman eating and their expressions accompanying the conversation, but also the chewing... it's a weird thing to compliment but it just felt fun.

Yes I am reading Lady Killer too!

[gregpersons]

It seems like he's being a little dramatic about it, but I got it. Thanks.

Well, his life does revolve around cosplaying as a bat for justice. So.

[K Nikk]

I agree that they should had just used Diana as a person he was battling with and then she just started pressing him about what he saw in her and why he liked her.

They still could have had The Gentleman's deception as part of the story. Then Selina comes in and saves the day, blah, blah.

I mean, maybe there could had been a scene or panel where Selina walks with Bat to meet Diana and then she just has this "look" on her face like, "wow, Wonder Woman" and then at the end, he could had reassured Selina that she is the only woman he wants.

The End. LOL!

I'm actually glad that Selina was not shown to be worried about that, or that he needed to reassure her about that. I like that when Batman and Wonder Woman got back she gave them space to say their good byes in privacy.

I also like that Bruce volunteered the information about what almost happened, and her initial response was to guess what he was going to say (because of course that would have crossed her mind) and also simply an accepting"Okay", not "what happened, how could you, do you love her, do you still love me?". Her follow up afterwards with "try harder" still reinforces that this was a special circumstance, she's not a pushover.

Complete aside: I like how often Batman and Catwoman are communicating silently in the comics. It reminds me of Hush when Superman asks if they had to punch Ivy and Batman and Catwoman look at each other before saying together "yes". They do the look at each other thing too after Damian's "are you happy" question.

Edit: to reduce length. Too much relationship talk from me in this thread already.

[Hulkout42]

Knew they weren't going ruin the engagement, people would have rioted if that should happen.

So i wonder what next challenge they will face? Selina needs to win over the sons perhaps? Batman bachelor party that goes wild?

[Doctor Bifrost]

So Batman and WW remember all 40 years? That would have a profound affect on them I suppose.

Superman and WW remembered all 1000 years, and it had no effect on them at all.

This was a contrivance to fit many moments of friendship (and one moment of near-romance) into one story while still having fight scenes. I would prefer to see a friendship developed with little moments over real-time in the manner of serial fiction - in different stories, different arcs, different comics (Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League, and so on.) I feel Superman and Batman have gotten that far, far more than Wonder Woman ever has with either of them.

Meanwhile, I don't think they have any interest in examining the effect it would have on characters to be trapped in a world of constant battle for 37 years. Which is what makes it a contrivance.

[CryNotWolf]

Well the issue played out about as expectedly and boringly as it could have. King took an interesting framing device for the story and played it as unambitiously as he possibly could.

I mean really, why Wonder Woman? It could have been just about any other character given how poorly King used her. That bit of dialogue at the end particularly made me roll my eyes. Wonder Woman and Catwoman had zero interaction and all of a sudden she waltzes over and is like "some say you're a criminal, but I think they're wrong. I think you're a hero." What does that even mean? I appreciate characters being given a positive view of Selina, but at least have some sort of a buildup to it to make it believable in some manner. Maybe Bruce talked a lot about her? Then maybe they should have shown it. Also the "Kingspeak" so to say was really bad this issue. Characters talking in the same laconic, stop-heavy manners with little to no contractions and always having the conversations be heavily cyclical. Every time. Is it too much to ask for King to stop wanking himself by trying to make all his dialogue be vaguely poetic all the damn time, and just have the characters talk like themselves?

Also there's a TON of questions this arc brought up that remain unanswered, but whatever I'm not going to dive into that abyss.

On the other hand the central idea of the arc, that Batman and Catwoman both have a lot to learn about love, is appropriate and natural and makes sense given the context of their characters. At least that's what I got from it. And Jones' art was great as always, so there's that.

Here's to hoping for better come next issues.

[Doctor Bifrost]

Just for fairness, I think we now need a story where Superman and Batman are trapped together in a world of constant battle, the two of them against a horde of monsters, unaging for decades or centuries, and finally there comes a point where the two of them look at each other - two very attractive human beings, at the peak of physical perfection, and dear friends - and one of them leans in and says "Hey, you wanna...?"



Was there ever any discussion of what would happen in nobody fought the Horde? The Gentle Man made a big deal of the fact that only he could lock or unlock the door. You'd think they'd all at least consider the possibility of just leaving it shut.

[Barbatos666]

I'm dropping this book, this issue was just yuck. King's Batman has been a dissapointment to me since WOJAR. There's barely any actual story telling, a whole lot of telling instead of showing, nothing happens and then the comic/arc ends with a cliffhanger or punchline to provoke people. I'll even take Snyder's big bombastic city destruction to this. Atleast Batman was saving people and defeating villains. When was the last time this book did either? King should apply for a DC Ink book and leave the main book for someone who actually wants to tell Batman stories.
Even Superman for all its Jon focus has the titular character fighting bad guys and saving the world and logical story beats. Here its just constant terrible dialogue about endless hordes that are endless for reasons and must be stopped for reasons, blech.

[K Nikk]

I'm dropping this book, this issue was just yuck. King's Batman has been a dissapointment to me since WOJAR. There's barely any actual story telling, a whole lot of telling instead of showing, nothing happens and then the comic/arc ends with a cliffhanger or punchline to provoke people. I'll even take Snyder's big bombastic city destruction to this. Atleast Batman was saving people and defeating villains. When was the last time this book did either? King should apply for a DC Ink book and leave the main book for someone who actually wants to tell Batman stories.
Even Superman for all its Jon focus has the titular character fighting bad guys and saving the world and logical story beats. Here its just constant terrible dialogue about endless hordes that are endless for reasons and must be stopped for reasons, blech.

Issue 38 was a detective piece. But yeah, I dont think I've seen you say a positive thing about this run since I've been coming here and I'm surprised you haven't dropped this earlier. Not every run of a comic needs to work for everyone. This one doesn't work for you. Better to drop it rather than waste money hate reading.

[Barbatos666]

Indeed, its just a chore for me now. But that said issue 38 was only created because Jones needed more time for this arc.

[bob.schoonover]

Just for fairness, I think we now need a story where Superman and Batman are trapped together in a world of constant battle, the two of them against a horde of monsters, unaging for decades or centuries, and finally there comes a point where the two of them look at each other - two very attractive human beings, at the peak of physical perfection, and dear friends - and one of them leans in and says "Hey, you wanna...?"



Was there ever any discussion of what would happen in nobody fought the Horde? The Gentle Man made a big deal of the fact that only he could lock or unlock the door. You'd think they'd all at least consider the possibility of just leaving it shut.

Maybe this is what happens in Metal #6. Diana defeats Barbatos, heads down to the dark multiverse to save Bruce and Clark, and the two are just going at it. It'd be quite the twist

[dietrich]

Hey, I think that was my post you quoted.

Yeah it totally is.

[Chubistian]

It wasn’t as good as Superfriends, bur overall I enjoyed it. Selina was the highlight this issue, which is great, but I would’ve liked that WW had a more prominent role. Once the sexual attraction was put to rest in the first pages, it kind of looses strength seeing WW and Batman constantly fighting an everlasting wave of monsters. I guess we will see the Gentle Man again in the future. I understand what King was aiming at, temptation even when you’re engaged with someone you love and how relationships aren’t perfect but about people overcoming obstacles and trying harder to surpass whatever comes their way, or at least that was my interpretation, but it could’ve been handled better. Still, both parts were fun and enjoyable, only not in the level of most of King’s run