tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post5157305305444429951..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Review: Batman Vol. 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles (Rebirth) trade paperback (DC Comics)collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-34579009055613259182018-01-06T13:07:02.165-06:002018-01-06T13:07:02.165-06:00"For Bruce, that is the ultimate sin ... Bruc..."For Bruce, that is the ultimate sin ... Bruce, though (who is clearly going through some stuff ...), needed absolution to move on. Bruce has been confronting the darker parts of being Batman for King's entire run, and he had to get his worst moment, as defined by him, off his chest."<br /><br />I don't necessarily disagree, and inasmuch as I should go back and read the whole Snyder run straight through, King's run also probably deserves a whole nonjudgmental read-through when all is said and done. What bothers me even given what you're saying is context. Taking King's run all on its own, then sure, we could say this is Bruce's deepest, darkest secret. But given the whole of Batman history (even New 52/Rebirth history), this is so long ago, and so much has happened in the interim, that I think it even stretches believability for Bruce to still be carrying this around and not have processed it in some way. I think the answer, again, is to divorce King's run from all that came before, but I'm not quite in that cognitive place yet.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-52481251199246487622017-12-14T12:34:14.785-06:002017-12-14T12:34:14.785-06:00I liked this arc more than you, but I see your poi...I liked this arc more than you, but I see your points. The one thing that I really got struck by, though, was this:<br />"for his deep, dark secret that he (ludicrously) believes might turn Catwoman away from him to be that one single time when he was young he almost crossed the line but then it turned out OK -- is markedly absurd."<br />I don't think his belief was ludicrous, for Bruce. He didn't almost kill the Riddler in the middle of fight through carelessness or slight over-aggressiveness. It wasn't a sin of inexperience or youthful exuberance. Riddler was monologuing and Bruce, in a rage, decided to murder him. He wasn't stopped by an impassioned plea (as in Infinite Crisis against Deathstroke), but by the Joker saving him from himself. For Bruce, that is the ultimate sin. <br /><br />Now, it's fair, as the reader, to say Selina would never have cared about that. She's covering for a friend that murdered 200+ people, so, you know, her sense of moral outrage is harder to trigger. Bruce, though (who is clearly going through some stuff beyond just the normal nervousness of waiting for the response to a proposal), needed absolution to move on. Bruce has been confronting the darker parts of being Batman for King's entire run, and he had to get his worst moment, as defined by him, off his chest. <br /><br />Also, the Kite-Man stuff was fantastic. I really, truly, enjoyed that twist.Bob Schoonoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15371205595372517089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-49936302275380466652017-12-14T09:41:59.241-06:002017-12-14T09:41:59.241-06:00"...the bare-chested hipster Riddler..."..."...the bare-chested hipster Riddler..."<br /><br />That description brings to mind Shane McCarthy's take on the character from LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, another radical (and quickly abandoned) re-imagining.Leauxbeauxhttp://www.google.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-8894603291029587812017-12-14T07:32:07.418-06:002017-12-14T07:32:07.418-06:00Each arc in Kings Batman run thus far has had some...Each arc in Kings Batman run thus far has had some indication or "seed" leading into the next one which makes me pretty sure that there is some bigger picture he is building too. I just find it difficult to keep track of when everything is so drawn out and repetitive as it is right now.<br /><br />I've never read such a long run by King as this before, everything I've read of his thus far have been much shorter almost miniseries such as 'The Omega Men' or 'Vision', makes me curious how different his work on Batman would be if he was more limited in the space he had to tell it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com