Review: Batman #39

Batman and Wonder Woman have been around for close to eighty years. They’re some of the first superheroes you think of when you think of DC Comics (Right behind Superman). In Batman #39 Tom King brings the two together for a team up in “Superfriends: Part 3”.

The two come together to give a weary warrior a day off. “The Gentlemen has been battling a never-ending war for thousands of years. Now for a day, Batman and Wonder Woman will take his place. But while it“s actually only a day off for the Gentleman, it“s actually about a decade for Bruce and Dianna.

This issue deals with Batman“s engagement with Catwoman, which seemed to be the theme of the “Superfriends”“ arc. King seemed to repeatedly ask the question, “Why would Batman be engaged to a criminal?”“ “Aren“t criminals who Batman has sworn to fight?”“ King does a good job of asking these questions, but he wasn“t that good at answering them.

I’ll be straightforward with you. I am not on board with this issue. Frankly, I haven’t been on board with King’s Batman for a while. His writing doesn’t usually thrill me. This isn’t to say he’s not talented, but that I don’t personally care for his work on Batman.

I don’t buy the story. It’s all a bit cheesy and out of nowhere. I don’t think it spent enough time on certain aspects of the story. I understand that comic books can only house so much material, but this issue could’ve been better developed. It just seemed out of nowhere. They“re in Gotham, and then all of the sudden a mystical adventure plot ensues.

I will say this about the Batman series: Rebirth’s run has displayed good art throughout the series. This issue is no exception. The solid artwork continues in this issue. JoÃ«lle Jones was on interiors with Jordie Bellaire on colors. I don“t want to take away from Jones but Bellaire really helps out with colors. She is a very talented colorist. Bellaire“s colors really compliment the artwork. The book looks pretty nice.

I wouldn’t say this issue was terrible. Batman is still Batman and the art was nice. I thought the issue needed more time. It changed directions super fast. It ended quite abruptly I thought. I liked the cliffhanger reveal at the end. I thought it was interesting and really threw us a curveball.

This story is said to be the finale of the “Super Friends” story but it really seemed like a part 1 to me. Certainly not like a finale. I feel like it can’t be. If the structure of the story was as unstructured as this issue then I guess it would check out. The cliffhanger and the art may keep some on board, but for me, it“s not enough. Batman is my favorite character, but I“m putting my comic book money towards other titles.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Tom King (A) Joelle Jones (C) Jordie Bellaire (CA) Mikel Janin