It’s a mixed bag, but a good read

Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding
DC Comics
Creators: Tom King, Mikel Janin and Tony S. Daniel
Release date: October 2018

I’ve been reading recent issues of Tom King’s Batman Rebirth run in trade format and enjoying them. The entire courtship and developing relationship dynamic between the modern Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle since the former proposed has been an interesting read even though the title of this particular trade is a bit of a misnomer.

That’s right: If you’ve been living under a rock and missed the news after the release of Batman No. 50, Batman and Catwoman did not end up going through with the wedding. That was several months ago now, in real time, and the “secret” was spoiled for me long before I read this trade, too, so you might have even heard the news while living under a rock. But that’s not what makes this outing such a mixed bag — not exactly.

First the good stuff: The Batman (or rather, the Joker) short from DC Nation No. 0 is included in this collection. It focuses on the Joker showing up at a random house and holding the owner hostage until the mail arrives. The Joker is waiting to see if his wedding invitation will be delivered. And King handles the Clown Prince of Crime quite deftly in this eight-pager. The stream-of-consciousness dialogue and daft motivation make sense coming from this insane character. There’s more of the same on ample display in Batman Nos. 48 and 49 as Joker faces off against the happy couple one at a time. The running exchange between Joker and Catwoman especially is both mundane and hilariously off-kilter while still ringing quite true to form.

I also credit King with writing a very minimalist yet spot-on interpretation of Batman, especially his caring. That’s not a side a lot of writers focus on with Batman. But that is what makes the character be his best self. As grim as things look, as dire as the situations grow, as murderous as his foes become, Batman hopes they can still change. Why else would he continue to confront them and foil their schemes time and again. Without his belief that they could still reform, there would be little to keep Batman from simply killing his foes. King seems to get that as Batman kneels when the Joker asks him to pray in the image above.

I have some issues with the first half of this trade, though. The premise of the first three issues collected in this trade are that Booster Gold, a time-traveling hero, wanted to get Batman and Catwoman the perfect gift. So he went back in time and saved Bruce Wayne’s parents from being killed. The idea was to give Batman a “For the Man Who Has Everything” moment, an “It’s a Wonderful Life” revelation that shows the Caped Crusader that his life is how it was meant to be and that it is better for how things unfolded. The result is much worse than Booster anticipated, a reality where nothing is as it should be.

My first problem with this scenario is that such a story has been done before several times. Maybe Bruce has the chance to save his parents lives. Maybe someone else does it on his behalf. Things never turn out well, and Bruce is forced to relive his parents’ murders all over again to right things.

Secondly, even if Booster has no first-hand knowledge of any of the times when this scenario has played out for readers, what sense does it make to prevent the tragedy that led to the creation of the Batman in an effort to show Bruce Wayne that his life is perfect as it is. Booster refers in-story to the time when Superman went through a similar life re-imagined event in the story “For the Man Who Has Everything.” Anyone who has read Superman annual No. 11 knows the Man of Steel did not find the experience pleasant. Why on earth would Booster think this was a good idea?

Then thirdly, it is truly bizarre just how wrong things go in this revised history where Thomas and Martha Wayne live on. We are told most of the Justice League was killed in battle with Starro the Conquerer because the team was missing the strategy of Batman. If the League lost that battle, why is everyone on Earth not wearing a Starro face-hugger? Dick Grayson, Selina Kyle and Jason Todd all make appearances in this new reality, but as twisted parodies of their traditional selves. Yet if Bruce is not Batman, why are these characters even connected to him?

If one simply accepts events as they unfold, this isn’t a bad story arc. It’s just that there are a lot of oddities within the reality that results from Booster’s actions that don’t seem to add up logically. I can’t help but wonder if this arc was stuck in here simply to explain the trauma Booster is supposed to experience that leads him to treatment at Sanctuary in the new miniseries, Heroes in Crisis. Neither that story nor Sanctuary are mentioned in these issues of Batman, but I just can’t find any other reason for its inclusion here.

But by and large, my biggest issue with this trade is the final issue, Batman No. 50, in which the wedding falls apart. First the Joker, then Holly Robinson, manage to convince Catwoman that marrying Batman would be a mistake. If she marries him, he will be happy, and a happy Bruce Wayne cannot be Batman, they reason.

I find that logic flawed. Bruce Wayne is a traumatized individual and there is a lot of anger and vengeance wrapped up in the origins and the workings of Batman. But to say that he can never be happy and continue to function as Batman is to insult the relationships he has with his surrogate family — Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Jim, Jason, Tim, Damian, Clark, Diana, etc. Are those relationships strained at times? Yes. Adult relationships are sometimes strained. But there is genuine love and affection at the root of those relationships or they would have fallen apart long ago.

This doesn’t ruin the stories presented here. Joker and Holly make these arguments, but neither of them is the most sound or logical of minds. Selina comes to accept their arguments; but that doesn’t make them right. People often act on false information or incorrect assumptions. They don’t always do what is right.

I enjoyed reading this trade, and think it is worth checking out if you are a Tom King, Batman or Joker fan. It’s worth a read even if you’re just a comics fan in general. I just wanted to point out my take on some of what happened between the panels.

This is a crossover done right

“Sink Atlantis” from Suicide Squad (2016) Nos. 45-46 and Aquaman (2016) Nos. 39-40
DC Comics
Creators: Dan Abnett, Rob Williams, Jose Luis, Jordi Tarragona, Vicente Cifuentes, Adriano Lucas, Pat Brosseau, Joe Bennett and Steve Wands
Release date: 2018

I was very pleased with how smoothly this crossover between two DC titles came together. It stems from events in a previous miniseries and one of the ongoing titles and leads directly into another major upcoming crossover event. Still, this story contains its own definite beginning, middle and end. And it also reads pretty smoothly from issue to issue.

A major story line in the Aquaman comic came to its conclusion with issue No. 38 of that title. A new monarch was named in the wake of a vicious tyrant being deposed. At the very end of that issue, due in part to events depicted in the Dark Night: Metal miniseries, Atlantis was raised partially above the surface of the Atlantic. Relations between Atlantis and the United States were somewhat strained before despite efforts to cement peace on both sides. Having the mysterious underwater nation suddenly appear above water just off the U.S. coastline has further strained relations as well as thrown Atlantean culture into upheaval.

A new Task Force X (Suicide Squad) is formed to restore the previous status quo. But tensions are high among old and new members of Task Force X even before the mission parameters begin to change mid-stream. And don’t expect the Atlanteans to make the mission go any more swimmingly.

Tensions remain high even though all-out war is averted in this crossover event, which I’m sure will lead directly into the next Aquaman/Justice League crossover, “Drowned Earth.” But “Sink Atlantis” is still a self-contained story as all plot elements raised within these four issues are also resolved within these four issues.

I have to think that is at least in part due to collaboration between the writers of these two respective titles. Dan Abnett is the regular Aquaman writer and Rob Williams is the Suicide Squad scribe. Both men are given story credits in each issue. That is not normally the case with crossovers of this kind. The writers collaborate, sure, they plan and coordinate story beats. But rarely are both writers credited with each chapter of the whole. That leads me to believe there was a greater level of collaboration in this instance. There are certainly just as many Aquaman-centric scenes in the opening Suicide Squad chapter and vice-verse in the second Aquaman chapter.

The result is a much-more cohesive narrative. Kudos to all involved!

Great characterization makes for a great narrative

Kill or be Killed Volume Four
Image Comics
Creators: Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser
Release date: August 2018

 I have come to trust this creative team. Ed Brubaker is a great writer with a number of my favorite stories under his belt from Captain America to Detective Comics to Gotham Central to Velvet. He and Sean Phillips have also proven themselves an adept duo with past collaborations such as Scene of the Crime, Criminal, Fatale and Fade Out. And Elizabeth Breitweiser has also been an important ingredient in many of the above successes, adding nuance and mood with her colors. So it is no wonder I enjoyed Kill or be Killed, an incredible series by this creative powerhouse team.

But I’ve always been more of a story guy even though I certainly like the mix of words and art that comics provide. And as good as Phillips’ art and Breitweiser’s colors are in this series — and they are valuable contributions to the whole — the writing is what clinched the deal with me when I got and read the first trade collection of this series.

I liken Kill or be Killed to “Ozark,” a Netflix original series that dropped its second season a few months ago. In a nutshell, “Ozark” is the story of an accountant and his family caught up in working for a Mexican drug cartel and trying to stay alive while doing some truly horrible things along the way. Jason Bateman plays the father, and Laura Linney plays his wife. Neither were perfect people before they got caught up laundering money for the cartel they come to work with. There is validity in saying there are no likable characters on the show. And yet you find yourself rooting for various characters to succeed in what they are trying to accomplish. They are so well written, it is possible to see yourself in them just enough to wonder, “What would I do in that situation?” or “Would I be able to commit murder or have someone killed to protect my family?”

That is how Brubaker writes Dylan Cross, the main character in Kill or be Killed. Readers’ introduction to Dylan — before we even know his name — is of him catching not one but two men by surprise and killing them with a shotgun. This is on the first page. The next two pages show the masked gunman proceeding to kill several more people in the same office, home, we don’t know where. There is very little dialog beyond the startled shouts of the men Dylan kills and caption boxes with Dylan’s narration, spoken directly to the reader. Obviously, the pictures are showing a violent person committing horrible acts of violence. But that narration draws the reader in, shows them a friend who has a story to tell, a story they want to continue reading despite the violence depicted.

I liken Brubaker’s writing skills, at least in this narrative, to Stephen King’s. King does not always follow the conventional rules of writing prose. His sentences are not perfect. His structure is sometimes lacking. But King creates characters readers want to know, want to learn about. He creates characters people want to read about. Ones they relate to. That is part of Brubaker’s skill as well. Dylan doesn’t always do the “right” thing or the “smart” thing. He isn’t even that sympathetic a character sometimes. But you still care what happens to him.

Dylan’s story — mixing elements of crime fiction and commentary on social ills, mental health issues, relationships and life — grabbed my imagination, and I had no hesitation in ordering the second, third and fourth volumes as they were solicited. I did not know the fourth volume was the final arc until a few weeks before it hit the stands. I avoided spoilers, but I saw an article that indicated the series had ended with issue No. 20, as planned, and that the forthcoming fourth trade would contain the final issues. That only added to my anticipation of reading the final chapters. That fact, combined with the long six-month delay between trades, made me decide to re-read the first three trades right before reading the final one. I wanted to refresh my memory of all the parts of the story as I read the ending, and the earlier portions were a quick but enjoyable read the second time around.

A lot of writers mess up the ending these days. Television programs leave loopholes for future story possibilities in the hopes they get renewed. Limited comic series merely lead into the next limited comic series. And I understand the profit motive behind that mentality. But it makes us afraid to end a story, to put a final period on something. That doesn’t happen here. Dylan’s story has an end. And it is a good, solid ending. One well worth reading.