Beyond The Panels #24- In Defense Of Tom King's Batman

So, going by the reactions I see, people are pretty conflicted about Tom King's Batman run. Now, people being conflicted about things in comics isn't new- I wrote an entire post about why I think one of the best selling writers of the last decade sucks. People get into flame wars every day over shit like this. We've all been in them. It's part and parcel of this community, one of my favorite parts of the whole thing- the passion with which we love these things called comics inflames us so much, that we'll spent hours or days (I once had a five day comic based Internet flame war) fighting each other it. It's pretty fucking magical.

So, going from there, let's talk about Tom King's Batman run.

People say that they don't like how Batman talks like a robot or they don't like the whole "Bat" and "Cat" thing that Bruce and Selina do when they're talking. They didn't like Gotham Girl. They thought I Am Bane was anti-climactic. They didn't like the thing with the Ventriloquist in I Am Suicide of the personal reveal that gives the story it's name. They didn't like War of Jokes and Riddles. I'm sure there's more.

I am the opposite side of the issue. While I agree that these people have genuine points, I think that King's Batman is pretty amazing overall, not because it gets everything right or that the stories are these grand dramas or anything. No, I like it for a completely different reason- this is the most human Batman has been in a while.

See, let's go back a little, shall we, to the end of Scott Snyder's run. Bruce was living a Batman-less life until Mr. Bloom shit all over everything in Gotham, forcing Alfred to allow Bruce to go back to the Cave and strap himself into a machine that would give him back all of his Batman memories (or something- I haven't re-read those particular issues in a long time). Bruce gave up his new, happy life to become Batman again. That's what we call a traumatizing experience.

See, Bruce now knows what life can be without Batman. He understands the simple joys of getting up in the morning and living. Of helping people without hurting others or getting hurt himself. This is the Batman we're introduced to in the first issue of Tom King's Batman- a trauma victim. So, yeah, he sounds like a robot. I remember how I was after my Dad died- I would have outbursts of emotion, but for the most part, I was cold, trying to keep an equilibrium so I wouldn't completely lose it. That's Batman at in Batman #1. He's a guy who had just learned what being a normal person was like and he had to willingly give that up. That's some hard shit to do to yourself, especially if you're going to be Batman. That's not 0 to 60 in 3 seconds, that's zero to light speed in a pico-second.

That's why when he meets Gotham and Gotham Girl, he's willing to train them- because not only does he know that one day he'll die, but he also knows that he doesn't want to do this shit anymore. This isn't like in the past, where he had no idea what life as Bruce Wayne could really be like. He had tasted a Batman-less life. He's looking for replacements.

Barring that, he's looking for death as well. That's what I Am Suicide and I Am Bane are about. He sees what Gotham City did to Gotham and Gotham Girl and decides that it's only a matter of time before the city does it to him-might as well go out on his own terms. He gets more than he bargained for, though, because into his life walks Catwoman again. What could have been a suicide run in Santa Prisca becomes something else and now, the only person who understands him is back. He realizes that maybe, it's not all doom and gloom... and then Bane comes for him and his "family" in revenge for what he did.

I Am Bane is sort of anti-climactic, in that the final fight between them wasn't amazing, but the story serves a different purpose- Batman has decided to live again. He's decided that it's not the worst thing to be Batman. He has love. He has a family. I Am Bane is about him fighting for it.

Then, we get The Button, where he meets up with the Flashpoint version of his father- a lonely Batman driven by his demons. Thomas tells Bruce that he thinks he should give up this life as Batman. Bruce doesn't, though. He forges ahead with his life, because he has something that Thomas didn't- someone to love and a family.

War of Jokes and Riddles is... well,it's problematic for me. I love the ending- the reveal that Joker had to stop Batman from killing Riddler was amazing. There's something so great about that idea and the image for me. I mean, just say that again- The Joker had to stop Batman from killing Riddler. That's just huge. We all wondered what secret Batman was going to be revealing and as far as they go, this one is sort of perfect. It's not some horrible misdeed or anything like that. Batman didn't poison a bunch of little kids or anything. His greatest enemy, a monster who kills for any reason, stopped him from killing someone. It's delightful. I also loved all the Kite-Man stuff. I had thought King was going to do something with Kite-Man because he had used him twice in bit parts- it seemed like he was seeding, getting us ready for more of the character. He didn't disappoint- The Ballad of Kite-Man is amazing and the best part about WoJaR. King takes a character who has long been a joke, shows us the tragedy of his beginning, and lets us know that Kite-Man is on the joke. He gets it. He's okay with us laughing. Our laughter doesn't matter to him. He's Kite-Man. Hell yeah.

Hell fucking yeah. Tom King has changed the way I look at Kite-Man completely. Instead of seeing some Silver Age loser, I see a tragic man with an indomitable spirit. I see a man who wears a fucking kite on his back and thinks it's great. I see someone who is actually a lot like Batman. Sure, he's a criminal, but he's taken his tragedy and used it as fuel to become something else. He's unbeatable. He's Kite-Man. Hell yeah.

Now, all of that said, WoJaR's biggest weakness is the way the story is told. We never get to see the war, or at least, see it in any kind of detail. We know it's happening. We know what's happening. We just don't really see it happen. It's a weakness in a story that is thematically perfect- one of the things about visual storytelling is show, don't tell. Comics can do both at the same time, but WoJaR depends a little too much on the telling, not so much on the showing. The things we are shown are cool, but let's be real- we all wanted to see the Deathstroke/Deadshot/Batman fight. Not just a splash page telling us about it (it's an amazing splash page, though), but the actual fight. WoJaR is both a triumph and a failure in that respect- it's a wonderful story with a great ending, but the execution is flawed.

Right now, we're getting stories about Bruce and Selina telling various people about their engagement and having adventures. The first two part story with Talia Al Ghul is pretty good. Last week's new issue was...well, it was amazing. Superman knows Batman is marrying Catwoman, but because Batman hasn't talked to him about it, he's loath to breach the subject. Lois thinks he should, but Superman keeps insisting he has his reasons. Selina thinks Batman should talk to him, but he has reasons why he doesn't. The issue gets into how they see each other and... it's so fucking perfect. Just brilliant writing. Add in last month's Batman annual, which goes back to the first times Bruce and Selina met and waaaay beyond, and the last few weeks of Batman have been some of the best of King's run. If you can read Batman Annual #2 and not get choked up at the end or read Batman #36 and not feel anything, I have to question your taste.

Look, I get that not every run is for everyone. I'm not trying to dog on people who don't like Tom King's run.I actually understand why they don't. However, I don't agree. King started with a traumatized man and built him back up. He throws such character defining shit into his run that it's not funny. I think the fact it's so controversial with fans means that he's doing the right thing. I remember the early days of Morrison's run and people were actually hating on it. Pretty hard, in fact. Now, we all look back on Morrison's time on Batman as a high water mark. King's coming after two fan favorite runs, runs that are extremely similar (Snyder's DC work owes a lot to Morrison, both from a continuity standpoint and from a storytelling standpoint- Snyder does have his little personal tropes, but his stuff reads as Morrison-lite a lot), and doing something very different. Any time someone does something different, people get mad. We'll have to wait and see how it all shakes out, but for me, right now, I'm loving it. Tom King's Batman is almost always at the top of my read pile (it's been beat out by Old Man Logan, Metal, and The Wicked and The Divine).

Hopefully, after reading my little analysis, it'll be at the top of yours, too.

Next Issue: I"m going to be watching The Last Jedi on my next night off (and spending all day playing Earthbound on my SNES Classis), so we won't get another issue til next week, but next week will be my big best publisher, best writer, and best artist post. So, join us next time here at.....


Beyond The Panels!!!