33 thoughts on “Batman: City of Bane Part 2 by Tom King”
What can I say, Lashaan? I’m sorry you had to slog through the whole series of King slaughtering the best in Batman 😜 I won’t stoop to telling you “I told you so,” because I’m magnanimous that way 🤣🤣🤣
Great review, as always! 😀
I dearly hope Tynion’s run will restore my optimism in Rebirth. I’m still waiting for a new exceptional story, like Long Halloween or Hush…
Pfft hahahaha Nothing surprising there. If you had continued, you’d probably have loss a couple of IQ points too. 😛
Oh man, I feel like those long-run story-arcs are less likely to happen today and that there are better chances of them happening in stand-alone self-contained stories…
Speaking of which, have you heard, or allow me to tell you that Tom King will be writing a stand-alone 12-issues story for Rorschach? Set 35 years after Alan Moore’s story. If only there was a way to make you try it out. 😛
I saw the 2stars and was like “Uh oh, this wasn’t any better”. I don’t even know who Tom King is, but whenever I read his name from your blog, I know what to expect, at least in terms of Batman. It would seem you have met your Frank Miller/Superman combo.
Who is Flashpoint Batman and what badguy does he turn into?
Yep. With Batman, he’s been a real hit and miss, exactly like Frank Miller is, although Miller gradually worsened and never delivers anything good today hahaha
As you’ve mentioned, he’s Thomas Wayne who, in the Flashpoint story-arc/universe saw his son get murdered and his wife turn into the Joker. Unlike Bruce Wayne, he prefers guns and wouldn’t mind killing people to serve justice. 😉
Based on my experience of what I’ve read Tynion IV accomplish with Batman, I think it’s safe to say that he’s less likely to deliver something mediocre. Thanks for reading, Todd!
I gave up on King’s Batman just before the “Knightmares” story line. I just got tired of reading a Batman book that no longer felt like a Batman book, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed the Mister Freeze and KGBeast stories in Volume 8: “Cold Days”, but felt the quality drop after that. Well done for sticking with it!
Can’t blame you. I hated the Knightmare story-arc. I just didn’t like how it was just Knightfall flipped upside down with repetitive Batman-dialogue that made no sense. Thanks for reading, good sir! 😀
Ouch…haha…yep, this is pretty much how I thought you’d feel about the remainder of “City of Bane” Lashaan! The whole arc failed to live up to my expectations as well and wasn’t helped by the wild inconsistency in terms of the art. With the choppy writing, I think Tom King simply ran out of time and number of issues with the truncated early finish of his run. I enjoyed most of King’s run but I agree that he’s perhaps better able to deliver with the self-contained maxi series (I’m looking forward to Strange Adventures when collected and Batman/Catwoman…although that’s now supposedly going to be out of continuity).
Tynion’s Batman has been enjoyable so far but a bit more run-of-the-mill, give King his due he certainly has some out-of-the-box ideas. Man, I love Jorge Fornes – he should have done a LOT more Batman (he did a few issues of Daredevil over at Marvel though son no huge loss of his talent)…psyched that he’s re-teaming with Tom King for the 12-issue Rorschach series (have you heard about that?).
I too think that something was off and that the sudden decision to cut short his run became so much more obvious. I too still look forward to those stories too, especially Strange Adventures and Rorschach though. I do hope he can continue to build on his experience and his past successes,
I have said it before and I’ll say it again – the way you sneak harsh criticism in between the lines and then cloak it with your glorious writing is COMMENDABLE!! 😍😍🤣🤣😍
SERIOUSLY! If I was in your place my review would’ve looked something like this –
Aw, that’s too bad that this was such a letdown, but I always really appreciate the honesty you put into your reviews. 🙂
I’m pushing through a novel I’m reading right now that I want to abandon due to wayyyyy too slow of a plot and very “meh” characters so I feel your pain! 😛
Thank you so much! I appreciate it a lot. 🥰 I totally understand that desire to DNF. I don’t ever do it too, even when I know it can’t redeem itself before the end. 😂 Hope you’ll be able to pick up something better afterward though! 😁
In this particular case, I knew what I was going into but I am definitely sad that the whole Tom King run wasn’t a masterpiece from start to finish. 😭😂
Bookidote 
What can I say, Lashaan? I’m sorry you had to slog through the whole series of King slaughtering the best in Batman 😜 I won’t stoop to telling you “I told you so,” because I’m magnanimous that way 🤣🤣🤣
Great review, as always! 😀
I dearly hope Tynion’s run will restore my optimism in Rebirth. I’m still waiting for a new exceptional story, like Long Halloween or Hush…
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Pfft hahahaha Nothing surprising there. If you had continued, you’d probably have loss a couple of IQ points too. 😛
Oh man, I feel like those long-run story-arcs are less likely to happen today and that there are better chances of them happening in stand-alone self-contained stories…
Speaking of which, have you heard, or allow me to tell you that Tom King will be writing a stand-alone 12-issues story for Rorschach? Set 35 years after Alan Moore’s story. If only there was a way to make you try it out. 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aaargh! NOOOO… 🥺🥺😫😭😭😭
Now you’ve done it and robbed me of even the last dregs of hope that DC management knows what they’re doing… 😛
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This cracked me up hahahahaha hearing you miserable upon learning about upcoming King projects is hilarious for some reason 🙈
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We’ll, thanks so much, Lashaan! So glad to hear my misery make you happy 😜😜
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I saw the 2stars and was like “Uh oh, this wasn’t any better”. I don’t even know who Tom King is, but whenever I read his name from your blog, I know what to expect, at least in terms of Batman. It would seem you have met your Frank Miller/Superman combo.
Who is Flashpoint Batman and what badguy does he turn into?
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I don’t know what bad-guy he becomes, but the identity of Flashpoint Batman is amazing.
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Oh wait a second, is he Thomas Wayne? I seem to remember there being a Batman who was Batman’s Dad. Dadman I’d call him….
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😆😂🤣
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Dadman does not sound like a threat though hahahaha
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Yep. With Batman, he’s been a real hit and miss, exactly like Frank Miller is, although Miller gradually worsened and never delivers anything good today hahaha
As you’ve mentioned, he’s Thomas Wayne who, in the Flashpoint story-arc/universe saw his son get murdered and his wife turn into the Joker. Unlike Bruce Wayne, he prefers guns and wouldn’t mind killing people to serve justice. 😉
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Fab review Lashaan but such a shame it was so disappointing!
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Thanks, Nicki! It was but, hopefully, the next one with a new creative team will deliver a better story! 😀
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Well, that’s unfortunate. I hope the next team is able to revive the storyline.
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Based on my experience of what I’ve read Tynion IV accomplish with Batman, I think it’s safe to say that he’s less likely to deliver something mediocre. Thanks for reading, Todd!
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Sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! Hope your next read is better!
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I appreciate it! Thanks for reading! 🙂
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I gave up on King’s Batman just before the “Knightmares” story line. I just got tired of reading a Batman book that no longer felt like a Batman book, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed the Mister Freeze and KGBeast stories in Volume 8: “Cold Days”, but felt the quality drop after that. Well done for sticking with it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Can’t blame you. I hated the Knightmare story-arc. I just didn’t like how it was just Knightfall flipped upside down with repetitive Batman-dialogue that made no sense. Thanks for reading, good sir! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ouch…haha…yep, this is pretty much how I thought you’d feel about the remainder of “City of Bane” Lashaan! The whole arc failed to live up to my expectations as well and wasn’t helped by the wild inconsistency in terms of the art. With the choppy writing, I think Tom King simply ran out of time and number of issues with the truncated early finish of his run. I enjoyed most of King’s run but I agree that he’s perhaps better able to deliver with the self-contained maxi series (I’m looking forward to Strange Adventures when collected and Batman/Catwoman…although that’s now supposedly going to be out of continuity).
Tynion’s Batman has been enjoyable so far but a bit more run-of-the-mill, give King his due he certainly has some out-of-the-box ideas. Man, I love Jorge Fornes – he should have done a LOT more Batman (he did a few issues of Daredevil over at Marvel though son no huge loss of his talent)…psyched that he’s re-teaming with Tom King for the 12-issue Rorschach series (have you heard about that?).
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I too think that something was off and that the sudden decision to cut short his run became so much more obvious. I too still look forward to those stories too, especially Strange Adventures and Rorschach though. I do hope he can continue to build on his experience and his past successes,
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Ouch!!!! I am sorry you had to go through this!
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It’s okay! 😀 I went into it knowing what I was getting into too. 😉
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I have said it before and I’ll say it again – the way you sneak harsh criticism in between the lines and then cloak it with your glorious writing is COMMENDABLE!! 😍😍🤣🤣😍
SERIOUSLY! If I was in your place my review would’ve looked something like this –
ABSOLUTE TRASH. DON’T READ. EVER. 🤷🏻♀️🤣
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Hahahahhaha yep, I’ve learned to do that over the years and find it quite fun to destroy books “professionally” 😂😂😂😂 Thanks for reading, Rain! 😁
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Aw, that’s too bad that this was such a letdown, but I always really appreciate the honesty you put into your reviews. 🙂
I’m pushing through a novel I’m reading right now that I want to abandon due to wayyyyy too slow of a plot and very “meh” characters so I feel your pain! 😛
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Thank you so much! I appreciate it a lot. 🥰 I totally understand that desire to DNF. I don’t ever do it too, even when I know it can’t redeem itself before the end. 😂 Hope you’ll be able to pick up something better afterward though! 😁
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As a fan of Batman, do those failed pieces break your heart more than non-Batman related ones?
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In this particular case, I knew what I was going into but I am definitely sad that the whole Tom King run wasn’t a masterpiece from start to finish. 😭😂
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Sounds like a pass on this one.
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Absolutely. There are far better Batman stories to pick up that this finale. Unfortunately. 😦
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