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Batman #83
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mikel Janin
Publisher: DC Comics
It's chapter nine of "City of Bane," and it's time for a reckoning in Gotham City! Thomas Wayne has joined forces with Bane, and that alliance threatens to throw a monkey wrench into Batman's plans. And as Bane's evil army begins to crumble, the Caped Crusader must face the real force behind it all. As the end of this epic tale grows near, Batman and his allies have a choice: let Bane stay in power and guarantee the city's survival, or risk everything to break free!
It’s hard to explain exactly what’s wrong with Tom King’s Batman #83. You know when you’re visiting the doctor and there’s that one guy in the corner. And you can just see by the look on his face, he’s in a constant state of pain and discomfort. That’s the experience I had reading Batman #83.
This week King tries to reframe Alfred’s death into one of his worst story themes, the “heroic suicide.” For Tom King to project his romantic notion of the “heroic suicide” on Alfred is..quite frankly unforgivable. It makes me sick to my stomach. And it doesn’t make sense given the scenario or characters involved. Which I’ll cover when I get to that portion of the review. He also uses Alfred’s voice to try and reframe some of his more controversial Batman story choices. Which I also dislike very much.
This story is being released far too late to fully impact Batman readers. Bane murdered Alfred 3 months. Far too much time passed between that event and this comic. Which depicts Bruce’s reaction to Alfred’s death. The Batman #83 is also extremely decompressed, which probably wouldn’t be an issue if Tom King’s run wasn’t plagued by decompressed and filler comics. He’s gone to that well far too often.
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