Can we discuss Kings Batman run? What do you guys think of it so far?

Can we discuss Kings Batman run? What do you guys think of it so far?

I thought it was off to a fun start, but these last 2 arcs have been pretty meh. Actually considering dropping the book for awhile.

I Am Gotham was really fun imo

Night of the Monster Men was a shitty filler crossover King wasn't in charge of so I don't blame him too much for that dumb story.

I Am Suicide was mediocre and pointless and I don't really get what he was going for with it. I also hate Janin's art, at least in that particular story.

The Catwoman stuff is okay though I'm not the biggest Bruce/Selina fan personally.

The way they're doing bimonthly books with intermittent crossovers makes it difficult for writers to write real "runs" unfortunately. The Tomasi Superman book had the same problem with filler issues like the dumb Frankenstein arc. The stories don't flow the way they should. Monthly series are doing better honestly.

All-Star Batman is a better book at the moment. I'm not sure what King's take on Batman is exactly. Snyder is much more clear and blunt about his Batman.

Dropped it at issue 8 or 9, really didn't impress me at all.

I was never a fan of Batman in the first place so I only checked it out because Tom King was writing. To my surprise it was boring as shit, didn't expect it since I really liked Sheriff, Omega Men and Vision. Not sure if it's because the plot of the book is Johns mandated, King is constricted by editorial and doesn't really about writing Batman, he lost all the magic along the way or it's just me not enjoying the character and setting. Maybe it's all 4.

*doesn't really care

Im loving it so far, my only complaint is the cutting issue of I Am Suicide being too heavy handed.

I like it, besides Calendar man stuff, which is just going to be ignored and retconned anyway.

starting to think the Batman writer is Sup Forums's Zelda cycle.


really wish King was writing Suicide Squad

I actually felt that King wasn't a good choice from the beginning and that his style just doesn't fit Batman.

I at least had hoped that he would prove me wrong, but he unfortunately didn't.

I hate it. Plots are boring and more over the top than 60's series, running gags are annoying(once kite-man was cool. three times, not so much). I could forgive that though. But Bruce is such a colossal asshole.

I like it

So much about I Am Suicide bugged me. Like why would Batman of all people fly his plane to Santa Prisca in the middle of the day? I guess he wanted to get shot down so he could fight hundreds of faceless goons, get put in a cage, fight his way back up to Bane, have Catwoman pretend to betray him for 5 seconds then have her hit Bane in the back which apparently was enough to "defeat" him and then just escape thanks to random team members doing a thing.

I guess maybe King is trying to play up that Batman can take a lot of punishment but it really feels like they could have gotten Psycho Pirate without having to do any of that.

The letters between Bruce and Selina were nice I guess but they didn't really fit with the story itself at all. Also wasn't a fan of Batman's mantra and didn't think the "break your damn back" line sounded cool.

Also I personally don't like Janin as a Batman artist. He was great drawing Dick as a superspy but his work is too clean and daytime-ey.

I am Gotham and the epilogue was much better.

That said the book is still better than Detective Comics.

Isn't the next arc Finch again? It even looks like they're featuring non-Duke Batfamily members in it. Maybe it'll be better.

I'm liking it but I'd like better art on some issues. I know two weeks is tough but bad art is bad

>Like why would Batman of all people fly his plane to Santa Prisca in the middle of the day?

To grab the entirety of Bane and his army's attention so that Catwoman could get Ventriloquist onto the island safe and undetected.

>I guess maybe King is trying to play up that Batman can take a lot of punishment

The point, and it's hammered throughout the entire arc, is that Bruce is more than willing to take punishment and risk his life for the sake of others, almost to the point of suicidal tendency.

>The letters between Bruce and Selina were nice I guess but they didn't really fit with the story itself at all.

They were there to explain why Bruce is "suicidal", to explain the fundamentals of his origins, and to provide a window into the BatCat relationship.

Also the whole plan was set up as to put everyone besides Bruce in the least amount of danger possible. The only real problem I had with it was Bane being so goddamn stupid as to leave Batman with his gear unguarded in a cell. Also Psycho-Pirate not affecting Ventriloquist...but whatever, comic books.

Tom, is that you?

What was Bronze Tiger even doing other than pretend to deliver Punch and Jewelry?

I guess all of that makes sense. It still felt boring and procedural to me though. No suspense or excitement. I was just waiting for the outcome everyone was expecting.

I Am Gotham was campy, ridiculous fun with a side of mindbreak and I loved it.

The Bane stuff is really not engaging at all, but that could just be because I don't care about the character. Batman's entire infiltration plan seemed unnecessarily convoluted, and not in a good way. Frankly, it feels like it's a different writer than the guy who did Vision.

Never cared about Catwoman or the pairing, so the last two issues were the worst for me.

He was to rendezvous with Wesker and escort him to Psycho Pirate while Batman and Catwoman took out Bane, and Punch and Jewlee got the escape raft ready.

Anybody else find it weird in the "Rooftops" story that Batman apparently fights D-lister villains like Condiment King on Rooftops every night? It didn't even look like they had done anything other than put on their costume that night.

Also Kite Man has become a little too meme-ey. Not fun anymore. Now it's like his catchphrase.

>The Bane stuff is really not engaging at all, but that could just be because I don't care about the character
This for me too. Bane is so one-note for me when he's in a Batman story (outside of them he has depth though).

Honestly if you want a better example of Batman taking extreme levels of punishment to help a friend, just read the first arc of All Star Batman. Better written and more gritty while still maintaining that ridiculous comic book-style silliness.

KITE MAN

FUCK NO

HELL YEAH

It's pages like this that make me dislike Janin's artwork in this arc. I guess it's showing you the path Batman took as he was fighting a ton of faceless thugs and there's some dynamic motion but for me it's not very interesting to look at. It felt like he was just filling up space. I spent most of I Am Suicide just reading the narration/letters because the art was so boring.

MEME MEME

Janin's an acquired taste imo. His stuff is so hyper-real looking to me that it takes me out of what I'm reading. It kinda worked for Grayson though.

People here seem to like him enough so I assume he doesn't trace but he must be doing something digitally to make his shit look so realistic. Does he color his own stuff/have a dedicated colorist?

>His stuff is so hyper-real looking to me
Christ, I bet you think Deodatto and Greg Land are "realistic" too.

Is Janin one of those kinds of artists too? I honestly don't really keep track, though I did know about Land and Deodato.

If you had asked me my opinion on Tom King before his Batman run started, I'd have said he was the best new writer cape comics have seen in well over a decade and was going to go down in history as one of the greatest of all time. Finally, we had a new writer that could surpass the best of the British Invasion folks from the 80s.

But after his Batman run, I just don't know.

>Is Janin one of those kinds of artists too?
A poser-tracer? Yes. I'd say he's better than most poser tracers and puts a bit more effort into it than the likes of Deodatto, but he's still a poser-tracer and it fucking shows.

You're allowed to have a bad run or two and still be a great writer. Even Morrison has had some misses.

He was hyped up to a ridiculous degree while his stories were consistently mediocre at best. He shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Morrison.

Loved the first arc.
Liked the second arc.
Didn't like third arc.
Catwoman looks good though.

I'd argue his stories were pretty damn good but I concede he's not at Morrison level as a writer in any respect. Just using him as an an example of one of the British Invasion guys.

I Am Gotham was too short
Monster Men was way too early in Rebirth for a crossover event
The Bane part of I Am Suicide was good but there was also a lot of stupid shit bogging it down
Everytime Bats and Catwomen are together it is cringeworthy as shit

A quippy maniac?

Personally, I think that Batman and Catwoman's interaction with each other was fine save for the whole "Bat, Cat" bit.

A little background: I started getting into comics when Arkham City came out. I immediately got hooked on Batman so I bought the Court/City/Night of Owls and Knightfall Vol.1 Books


That said, I feel like Tom King really tried to aim for a start like Snyder with new faces expecting the same outcome but failed and we wound up with a big MEH opening arc.

I bought the first issue of I Am Suicide which was issue 7? I believe. Again, feels like hes trying to follow Snyder with all the rogue gallery shit that Snyder is doing in All Star. I haven't bothered keeping up on the floppies but so far for Batman's Rebirth I'm really digging Detective Comics and All Star. I haven't finished My Own Worst Enemy but I plan on ordering what I've missed through MTC anyway.


All in all it feels like Tom King wants to be Snyder instead of doing his own take on Batman. I really hope he cleans his shit up, he's the pilot as of now and I don't want to be in the plane when it's plummeting towards the Earth.

On a side note, how have Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern Corps been doing? I followed Corps for 4 issues and thought it was alright. I heard Superman is insanely good along with Action Comic's. Should I trade wait on them or start following it weekly/biweekly?

Yeah. Not saying it's necessarily the best or even a great take on the character but at least he's consistent with it.

>Also Kite Man has become a little too meme-ey. Not fun anymore. Now it's like his catchphrase.
I knew that was gonna happen the moment Sup Forums latched onto that page. But Kite-Man has a long history of appearing for one story every ten to fifteen years or so, and for a while in the 00s he only appeared to get killed off. Now maybe he'll be popular enough to get actual character development, if not by King, by someone else.

>wanting villains to get character development

This is the problem with the Big 2

First arc was ok with shit Finch art, the rest is terrible in general

/thread

why did he set up another Suicide Squad instead of the Outsiders

Good except for the dialogue.

I fuckin love it. His layouts are what lifts him over his poser work,

Because nobody cares about Outsiders where SS just got a movie

This

Its been hit or miss. If the next issue doesn't mean grab me I might just drop the book and come back to it in April, I've still got All Star Batman and Detective Comics for my Bats fix.

I enjoyed Tom King's work so far, except for I Am Suicide because I thought Batman's plan was too convoluted relying on no-names like Jewlee and Punch. Bronze Tiger didnt have much of a role, but I enjoyed The Ventriloquist being immune to Pyshco Pirate due to his inability to express emotions without a puppet.

I think I'm the only one of this board that actually enjoyed I Am Suicide's art as it showed how nimble Batman was when fighting and climbing. The one page spreads I believe add more to the action instead of panels of Batman" fists and bars separating the panels, thus ruining the immersion of the story.

Dont care much about Catwoman as we all know how these things always end because its happened 1,000 times already.

Detective Comics is good as its the only title other than Teen Titans thats tying into Rebirth and Clayface being the good guy for once. The best part was the simulation for Batman Worse Case scenario, which was a huge out of control Clayface swallowing Arkham Asylum.

All Star Batman is easily the best DC title

it's pretty good. 7-8/10 depending on how much you like it. it's nothing spectacular, but it's decent. and really that's batman comics since the start of the new 52. better than snyder's imo

And I thought I was the only one. I remember that one issue of i am suicide where it was all just a bunch of spread image and narration box.

Like fuck that turned me off real good. Haven't touch batman ever since.

Not counting imprints, it's one of only three titles I'm following and enjoying from DC, along with Deathstroke and Midnighter and Apollo.

the "Batman is a terrible father" meme by Snyder and Tom King

Aquaman just finished up an arc. It's decent overall, especially if you like Manta and political shenanigans.

Flash is slow, as odd as that sounds. The art also kinda frustrates me but it's tolerable--honestly I can't pinpoint what's wrong but it reminds me some of those pieces done by that guy who was on LSD as an experiment, pic related. I WANT it to be good because I love the Flash in general but it's kinda meh ATM. I'll just pick up the Rogue arc that started and call it a day if it doesn't improve.

Haven't read much of GL or Hal 'n Pals but I've heard good things.

Supes and AC are good if you like Superdad and Lex, respectively.

>Snyder
Snyder cancer.