Any thoughts on Batman 50? (SPOILERS)

Vertighost

I know I'm posting very early so I'll refrain from saying anything in particular, but I have to say that despite being a big fan of King I didn't care for it and it seemed like a lot of filler to me. Was curious to see what others think.

Matt

I have only read reviews for the issue (and the ending reveal). Most people were disappointed.

Reportedly, people read The NY Times article & then had the issue pulled from their subscription list. I highly doubt that actually happened.

hauberk

I see a lot of teethgnashing and hairpulling on Twitter about it, but am taking the longer view - I wasn't buying Batman for wedding stunt. I was buying it for what Tom King is doing. However issue 50 turns out doesn't change anything about that motivation.

KellenThunder

I avoided spoilers, and when I read it first- I hated it! I was really looking forward to the wedding and I was disappointed. Then I thought about it, and it made total sense- what Batman's happiness would do (from the Booster Arc, and the Joker arc). Given that, and the fact that the clues were all there indicating what really had to happen, begrudgingly, I accepted it. Then, I re-read each of the letters, and all the AWESOME art (especially Cloonan and Weeks for me). After that, I was legitimately moved, and realized that it was great. Now, I kind of love it. :)

Vertighost

I also plan on continuing to read Batman as long as Tom King is on it. My problem with the issue is that not only was it the very definition of anti-climatic (esp for a writer like King), but most of it felt like filler. Tom King figuring out a (very uncompelling) way to allow the artists to draw splash pages. IMO when King is writing well, what he's writing feels fresh even it isn't. But here it was the same old note played over and over with Batman and Catwoman describing how they met (the disagreement on how they met has already been done by King at least twice), and then how they made assumptions about the other and then realized they were different. King writes their letters to each other as if these characters are discovering complexities in the other despite the fact that these characters' essential personalities haven't changed for the past 30 years at least.

My last biggest problem with the issue is that it doesn't follow its own character logic. Catwoman suddenly realizes that if Bruce is happy ("happy" is the key word) he won't continue fighting crime? Or will somehow not fight crime as passionately? While simultaneously she knows that fighting crime is not relieving him of his pain and misery, so she ostensibly sacrifices marrying him for... what reason? So he can continue crimefighting. She's sacrificing Bruce's happiness for the well being of others, but the story tries to play it as if her love for him is so great. But if you loved someone wouldn't you try to make them happy? And since when is Catwoman so selfless - in any iteration, including King's - that she's going to sacrifice both her happiness and the happiness of the man she loves just so he can continue fighting crime?

I did like the nod to the rooftop sex which I hope was meant as a tribute to Winick's Catwoman run which I think was always seriously underrated.

batlaw

I get the disappointment expressed by many with this issue, but not the angry hate it’s getting. I enjoyed it. The ending was kindve a predictable cop out with Selina ditching Bruce at the alter, and the bit with the villains was just a tad confusing, but all in all I liked it and it appears there’s still more to the story.

BionicDave

batlaw said:

The ending was kindve a predictable cop out with Selina ditching Bruce at the alter, and the bit with the villains was just a tad confusing

Yeah, seeing Psycho Pirate right there by Bane's side at the end - along with Catwoman #1 saying Selina's had memory gaps - leads me to think she may have been at least partially under PP's mind control during this engagement, which actually makes sense to me. I do believe she loves Bruce, and will get back together with him of her own free will at some point... but this idea that she'd only suddenly, on the day of the wedding, after months of thinking about their future together, realize that making Bruce happy would neuter Batman and doom Gotham... oh please lol.

This issue went on too long for my taste but I still enjoyed it a lot. King was vamping for time but he's always an interesting writer. And I am glad Selina ditched Bruce and broke his heart - my favorite Batman is dark/cynical/loner/brooding Batman - and those pinups by so many of DC's top Batman artists were breathtaking. I think my faves were Frank Miller's and Paul Pope's <3 But so many of them captivated me.

Am quite anxious to see where King takes his Dark Knight from here.

KellenThunder

Oh man, @BionicDave your Psycho Pirate theory makes sense. On one hand, I kind of hope that's not it- on the other, if it's Tom King writing, I'm sure it'll be awesome.

David_D

The wedding issue didn't really work for me. While there was a generosity of amazing artists involved, it was too disjointed and didn't flow. There have been a few times (I feel like Bendis pulled this off here and there in New Avengers) where the 'artist jam' issues can feel like a cohesive narrative. But here it felt like there was a story (and not much of one) that kept getting paused for a splashy pin-up, and then back to the story.

I also felt like I wasn't sure how they got from their grievously injured Joker story from 48-49 into this one. I felt like a missed an issue.

Vertighost

@David-_D, couldn't agree more. It also reminds me that I thought that I didn't like that Joker story either. Still don't know what King was going for with that ending in 49. (Never mind how insanely ineffective Bats was in that story. There were multiple times Bats could have easily disarmed the Joker in that story but never did. It all felt very contrived so King could reach this point where Catwonan comes in to save the day. (Which is something I'd love to see, but can he at least give the Jokers some goons or something challenging to put Bats out of commission. Never have I seen Bats so stymied by one lunatic with a gun.)