The Fate of Batman

[Tom Foolery]

Today’s issue of Batman(#83) was heartbreaking. A lot of people are never gonna forgive Tom King for this and somebody will probably figure out a way to undo it or retcon it at some point.
But, damn, that was a powerful issue.

[jjreason]

Welp I only have to read from 51 to catch up. Thanks for not posting a spoiler.

[Diabolical]

Anyone read Three Jokers?

I was really skeptical when it was announced like 25 or whatever years ago, but I ended up liking it.
I won't spoil it, just in case, but the fan fiction sounding concept ended up working pretty well.
I'm just curious if it's going to be accepted as canon or not. It could go either way.

[Tom Foolery]

I’ve read the first two issues, but not the third one that came out yesterday.
I haven’t been impressed thus far. Geoff Johns is quickly climbing my list as the most overrated writer ever.

[Diabolical]

But you've got to admit, the execution has been better than the premise.

[Tom Foolery]

Okay, nope. Sorry. I reject the entire premise based on the absurdity that Batman somehow didn’t realize it’s been three different guys this entire time, but is ALSO is such a master fucking detective that he figured outthe other thing in one week.

And...AND this entire “Three Jokers” story was kicked off because Batman asked the Moebius chair the identity of The Joker!!!why ask the question if he already knew the answer??! Fucking stupid.

And I haven’t read Batgirl in such a long time, was that casual revelationcalling Gordon “dad” already established elsewhere?

The only positive thing I can say is that Faibok is doing an excellent job homaging or mimicking Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke art style. Johns was TRYING to mimic Moore, but just as with the Doomsday Clock series aping Watchmen, Johns just embarrasses himself as an inferior storyteller.

Being ‘in continuity’ is problematic only because this book released almost on top of the Joker War storyline over in the main Batman book, and the conclusion and revelations in that series are at odds with this one. Not saying one is better than the other, but they don’t jive.

[Tom Foolery]

Batman/Catwoman 1 finally came out this week. The narrative structure is...dicey. It’s three stories, one in the past when Cat and Bat first started banging, one in the present involving Andrea Beaumont and her missing son, and one in the future after Bruce has died from old age.
But all three stories are being woven together, sometimes on the same page, and there’s no visual cues as to when transitions between the three stories takes place. I don’t know if the next 11 issues will follow that same pattern, but you’ve really got to focus while reading it or you’re gonna be confused as hell.
Other than that, the art is gorgeous (hopefully Mann can actually finish all 12 issues. He’s infamous for falling behind and needing fill in artists) and the story is great.

[jjreason]

I'm going to let fate decide. I asked for it to be in my pile months, if not a year ago..... if the comic store sets aside a copy for me I'll get it but I'm not seeking it out otherwise. Too much delay. This is a story I might literally wait to check out of the library once it has been released & re-released as a trade.

[anarky]

How the fuck long has this Death Metal crossover been going on?

It sounds like the most convoluted mess of bad fanfic, and I swear it feels like I've been seeing stuff about it for three years or so. I don't even think Final Crisis of the Crises went on that long.

[Tom Foolery]

Dark Nights:Metal was an Event series that came out 2 or 3 years ago. It introduced the Dark Multiverse where all the “super heroes” are evil variations of Batman and their leader is the Batman Who Laughs. It was set up in Snyder’s Batman Nu52 run and after it was finished, a bunch of new series launched from the fallout, but I think except for maybe one series they’ve all tanked already.

Death Metal is the sequel event. It’s been going on for 3 or 4 months. Besides the main series, there’s been a metric fuckton of tie-in oneshots, but I think very few of the actual ongoing series are also tie-ins. Justice League for sure, but that’s about it because Snyder is writing that also.

[Diabolical]

I've only been buying Death Metal due the Artgerm covers.
Haven't read a damn one.

[Tom Foolery]

The Batman’s Grave final issue dropped yesterday. 12 issue maxi series by Ellis and Hitch. I don’t know if it would’ve read better in one sitting, but I was very underwhelmed. And the ending.Did he die? Is this in continuity? I guess this was so mediocre I just don’t care.

Also, the current regular Batman book had a limp finish to the current story arc. They introduced this relatively interesting new character Ghost-Maker as sort of the antithesis of Batman and that they had trained together when Bruce was training to be Batman for all those years. Blah blah blah retcon retcon whatever, it’s hard coming up with new shit for a character 80+ years old. But they wimped out at the end and Batman’s like ‘o you should totes come help me fight crime in Gotham!” and the guy is like “LOL cool ok.” and then they held hands and fight crime together.
I’m just saying, they could’ve had an ongoing Daredevil/Punisher moral argument type situation and this guy is good enough that Batman couldn’t just kick him out of Gotham. But instead they just rolled him into the crew with the rest of the ever expanding Bat team, which is at least 12 strong at this point.

All in all, it was a weak Batman week.

[jjreason]

Well I'm up to issue 71 (skipped over the Flash crossover for now, am thinking of going back to it after I'm done the main issues). Knightmares was fantastic. Unlike new 52, I feel this run will have real re-read allure. I love the different artists contrasting styles & every issue is a nice, smooth read.

[Tom Foolery]

There were two different Flash crossovers weren’t there? God, I can’t retain anything I’ve read in the last ten years. The stuff I read 30-40 years ago is baked in. The current stuff just filters out almost immediately except for the broadest of narrative milestones for characters. I don’t think it’s bad writing or anything, my brain just doesn’t want to bother...

I think you should read it only because his dad being alive becomes a crucial plot point at the climax of the series.

[jjreason]

Yep, two Flash crossovers, and they used that spoilered character at the end of the last issue before the nightmares started so the seed was planted prior to the second crossover. I googled a reading order & it looks like I need to read Heroes in Crisis on both sides of the crossover so I'm leaving it for now.