In the wake of the announcement that Tom King’s planned 100 issue run will now be truncated by 15 issues, or there about, you might think King would cram as much plot progression as possible into each of his remaining issues. After reading the current issue of Batman that does not appear to be the case. In fact #73 is certainly one of King’s most insubstantial issues to date. In light of the events taking place in Batman #72 this issue feels extremely stark; the sparse desert setting and redundant use of Thomas Wayne as a mad crooner do very little to help matters.
King’s Batman run has been plagued with inconsistencies from the beginning, unfortunately the lows seemed to get lower while the highs remained mediocre at best. While many of the issues have been gorgeous to look at, thanks mainly to the art of Mikel Janin and Lee Weeks, the narrative has all but collapsed under the weight of King’s ponderously repetitive and grossly unnatural dialog, ludicrous and laboriously long story arcs and an overall self-indulgent concept. This is not all King’s fault some of the blame has to be shouldered by DC. They saw King as the next Grant Morrison because he had written some absolutely stellar 12 issue limited series and co-wrote a critically acclaimed run on Grayson with Tim Seeley. In retrospect huge run on their top selling book might not have been in King’s best interest at that point in his career. Hindsight being what it is, we are now 73 issues into the ill-conceived build-up to King’s promised status quo changing “City of Bane” and its more of the same.
This issue is set completely in the desert in the aftermath of Bruce’s utter defeat at the hands of Bane while his father looked on complicit in his son’s beating. Thomas Wayne’s very existence in this narrative is mind-boggling, he feels like a specter from Bruce’s id, present only as a plot device. Bruce asks him in this issue if this is a dream and while i won’t spoil the answer here, suffice to say the plot thickens, like pea soup. Thomas Wayne does seem to be ahead of the game in comparison to Bruce, that is. He at least seems to have sussed out Bane’s plan. The events of this issue consist of Thomas Wayne revealing his warped machinations to his broken and drugged son between scenes of the elder Wayne beating the hell out of Ra’s al Ghul’s personal guard, The Death of the Desert while singing “Home on the Range”. As surreal as this sounds, it is all too real and all too redundant. The entire issue serves as a framing device for two pieces of plot progressing information contributing little else to the larger narrative. At this point King appears to be more concerned with developing Thomas Wayne’s character than re-affirming Bruce Wayne’s motivation and commitment to being Batman, which at this point needs clarification more than at any other point in my 35+ years of reading Batman. King’s Batman has become something I never thought Batman could be in my eyes, unlikable. King has shown us a Batman that has been suicidal, abusive, disloyal and easily distracted. These are all diametrically opposed attributes to those possessed by the World’s Greatest Detective, Gotham’s Dark Knight. This chapter of “The Fall of the Fallen” does nothing to accelerate the slow pace of the arc, due in large part to King’s obsessive attention to Thomas Wayne and his unhinged antics in the desert, singing and battling ninjas. The script is repetitive even for Tom King, in what was likely conceived to call to mind Sergio Leone the resulting story reminds me more of Chevy Chase stumbling through the desert in National Lampoon’s Vacation singing “I Love a Parade”.
Visually this issue doesn’t pack the punch of Janin’s previous work on the title, but that is mostly due to King’s script being set in the desert. Janin’s sequential art storytelling prowess still shines through, however its in his brilliant use of facial expressions. The emotional range Janin accesses is amazing, particularly when you consider the fact that both characters are wearing cowls through most of the book. Colorist extraordinaire Jordie Bellaire captures the dreamlike atmosphere perfectly with muted tones and a precise use of light and shadow.
Overall this issue felt superfluous and thin, unnecessary in all but the very minimal aspect of plot progression. For the most part the narrative’s repetitive nature is frustrating and downright annoying at times. Any momentum King’s plodding plot had amassed has long since been diminished by his overall self-indulgence. As the story limps onward to the already over-hyped “City of Bane” I can only optimistically hope for the best while realistically expecting the worst. 2.5/5
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writer- Tom King
Artist- Mikel Janin
Colors- Jordie Bellaire
Letterer- Clayton Cowles
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