Tom King is one of the Best of all Time
Tom King is an Awful Writer
Tom King is a Bad Writer
Tom King is a Mediocre Writer
Tom King is a Good Writer
Tom King is a Great Writer
Tom King is one of the Best of all Time
Liked Heroes in Crisis very much (hoped for something more from the final issue but I took #8 more personally than any comic book in memory), loved Vision, loved Mister Miracle, and his Batman is my favorite Batman in my 50 years of being obsessed with Batman.
I'm not here to persuade anyone to my point of view and nobody would be able to persuade me to a different one so none of this is an argument, only an observation.
I do think a lot of people here take it for granted that King is almost universally loathed and, if that were so, he wouldn't keep winning awards that are voted on by people in the industry. Awards don't make someone great or even good and many bad artists have received awards they don't deserve. So awards don't prove anything except that some people, rather a lot, think pretty highly of his writing. To read these forums one would think everyone hates his writing and that simply isn't true. Even the poll here has a few more votes for him as good/great than bad/awful.
It takes all sorts to make a world.
I loved Grayson and Omega Men, hated HIC and have mixed feelings about his batman run.
I agree with the ones who say that now he’s spinning his wheels, anyway he’s a good writer.
King is without a doubt a capable writer, but he desperately needs an editor who can tell him no, and who can warn him off when he gets things terribly wrong.
«Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])
Tom King is a VERY good writer.
I think he excels with properties that don't have the heavy continuity.
I also believe the man should be banned from ever touching the character Wally West ever again.
"My name is Wally West. I'm the fastest man alive!"
I'll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
What's between "good" and "great?" I guess "Very Good" is where I ultimately fall with him taking everything into consideration.
In baseball, a successful slugger only gets a hit maybe one at-bat out of four. An exceptional slugger might get one hit out of three. And of those hits, very, very few of them are home runs. Yeah, your metaphor fits King's comic book work pretty well.
I didn't read his Vision series, but his Mister Miracle series went like this:
Barda or Scott: Oh, I'm so tired. I had to go fight that war today.
Scott or Barda: Oh, yeah. I'm glad you're home because the baby's diaper needs changing.
And that's pretty much the interactions and story until you get to the end and realize (SPOILER)...
The whole story took place in his head. Big surprise, huh? Most of King's stories seem to at least partially be a figment of the character's imagination. Imaginary stories indeed.
I stand by my opinion that he's a good writer, but not a good comic book writer.
Agreed. This forum is not representative of actual readership reality. Heroes in Crisis sold like crazy. Batman is selling like crazy. Tom King won an Eisner. Lots of us love everything he's ever written (not that I've read all of it).
I do wish Grayson was still around though, that title was awesome.
I dig him. That said, even my favorite writers don't hit it out of the park with me every time.
Keep in mind that you have about as much chance of changing my mind as I do of changing yours.
Yeah. Even taking into account normal attrition, if we had to take into account events and Batman sales... Well, Scott Snyder would be in a whole other world compared to King. But while I certainly enjoy Snyder's writing a lot more, it's mostly because I find his style far more in tune with the nature of super-hero comics than King's. I honestly think that if King tried his hands on prose, he would be one of the very best in his theme and genre.
I think he's a good writer but he can be hit or miss. I prefer Vision to his DC work so far, maybe he should have stayed at Marvel?
Granted we'd probably be complaining about his work on FF like we are with Batman so maybe it was just bound to happen.
Excuse me. I meant to write at the top, " Tom King is one of the WORST of al time.", not "best".
He's a good writer who wrote a horrific story. It just happens his horrific story was a high profile event. It happens to almost everyone.