Batman #84 Review: Tom King Taking the Piss from DC Comics

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Tom King's Failed Batman Writing Technique: Literary Trauma
   • Tom King's Failed Batman Writing Tech...  

Batman #84
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Jorge Fornes
Publisher: DC Comics

"City of Bane" chapter eleven! The end is near as one victory leads to another defeat. As Batman reclaims his city from Bane, can he regain his sense of family? More specifically, when a man who is your father from another dimension has torn everything down around you, what will it take to build it back up? Especially when that man is currently staring you in the face and threatening to punch it. The final battle for Gotham City...and the cowl of the Caped Crusader...starts here!

Tom King is taking the piss out of DC Comics. They cut his Batman run short by about 20 issues. From what I’ve heard DC editorial made large scale changes to his planned City of Bane story. Alfred isn’t supposed to be dead. It was supposed to be a trick played by Psycho Pirate. Which, if you’ve read the issue, makes a hell of a lot more sense than Alfred actually being dead.

Frustration is 100% showing in Tom King’s writing as he wraps up City of Bane. There have been multiple issues retroactively trying to make the last several years of Batman make sense. This week he attempts to fix one of the biggest Elephants in the room. Flashpoint Batman aka Thomas Wayne aka Bruce’s not real father. How did Flashpoint Batman get here? And why was he helping Bane destroy Bruce?

Tom King’s Batman #84 simply tells the story backwards to do it. It offers nothing of value to the narrative. The story actually reads far better from back to front. There’s some weird stuff in this comic as well. And I highly suggest everyone who hasn’t go back and watch my “Tom King’s Failed Batman Writing Technique” vid with Larry Bernard. He was even more on the money than I realized at the time.

Jorge Fornes’ art in Batman #84 is really good. But if you want to read a comic that actually lives up to his wonderful visuals you’ll have to wait for the next Daredevil story arc. He’s following Marco Checchetto starting next month, I believe.

Tom King and DC editorial have gone above and beyond destroying the last couple years of his Batman run. The people who actually remember Tom King’s Batman will do so for all the wrong reasons. Batman #84 is a perfect example. Convoluted tripe…check. Worst timing possible for this particular story?...check. A complete waste of excellent art…check. Terrible characterization…check. Batman #84 is a Syliva Plath sonnet and Gotham Girl appearance away from being a Tom King masterpiece….in garbage comic writing. Don’t read this. It’s awful.

#batman #cityofbane #dccomics
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