Review: Batman Killing Time #1 (of 6)

Just as one Tom King mini, the superlative Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow, comes to end, another mini-series pops up. You can’t knock DC for the timing of this on point book, being as it shipped the same week that the new The Batman was on general release. Both the movie and this book feature over lapping characters, time frame and tone, the latter to some extent.

The Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman has a scheme up their collective sleeves. Each needs the other to pull it off, along with a patsy in the scaly frame of Killer Croc and a security guard who got a little Nippy at the Iceberg Lounge. With the scheme afoot, it Batman and the newly appointed Commissioner Gordon may be half a step behind.

One of the knock on Tom King’s writing is the pace. Heroes in Crisis seemed to go on two issues too many and the current Batman Catwoman book feels like the same story points have been covered in the last three issues. With that said, the reduced number in the Supergirl book seemed to focus King, so it may well be this time around, with only six issues in which to cover a satisfying start, middle and an end. The monologue that carries the reader through works for the most part, setting each scene and showing the setups quickly in the same issue give the book a more pacy feel. King obviously has a thing for Catwoman (who doesn’t, right?), getting her character down perfect, along with a smarmy almost arrogant Riddler and behind the scenes Riddler; Penguin is suitably seedy. King plots out a heist of something important, utilising a multi-faceted cinematic approach.

For a lot of people the main draw of this book will be the gorgeous art from David Marquez. Possibly more known as a Marvel artist, Marquez drops and absolutely fantastically well crafted book with clean lines and dynamic poses that will remind fans of Clay Mann, albeit without the over emphasised poses, at least for the most part. From the get go, you feel that you are in Gotham, there is a mystery within a mystery and Marquez handles the very different locales with aplomb. Marquez mixes up strong lines for certain characters, and longer accentuating lines for others; the result is a book that nary makes a misstep. Even the Penguin is back to a more a morbid version of himself than we have seen in the past. For the overall feel and look of the book, a lot of the credit must go to colourist Alejandro Sánchez who matches Marquez’s handling of the various environs, be it a bank, tennis court or the dark night itself! Letters are provided by Clayton Cowles, a name that is synonymous with quality. The font is nicely spaced, easy to read and doesn’t intrude on the beautiful art. There are a few covers to choose from; the cover from Marquez pretty much shows what is going on in the book, where the cover c from Alex Garner, featuring the feline fatale Catwoman is sublime.

For. writer that can be divisive, King has taken a step back from huge epics, to smaller, almost inmate stories in comparison. It’s change that I think will garner a lot of new fans, how had previously felt waylaid by his Batman run and the aforementioned Heroes and Bat Cat books. Let see what the next five books in this new limited series fare. As it is, King and co are off to a great start!

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Tom King
Art by; David Marquez
Colors by; Alejandro Sánchez
Letters by; Clayton Cowles
Covers by; David Marquez, Carlos D’Anna, Alex Garner & Peach Momoko
Published by; DC Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network