First published at 20:50 UTC on November 12th, 2019.
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Batman #82
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mikel Janin
Publisher: DC Comics
"City of Bane" part eight! Batman and his allies wage war on the City of Bane, but an unexpected turn of events will send everyone reeling. Will there be another death in the family, or can the Dark Knight break Bane's iron grip over Gotham City?
After a year and a half of meandering, pretentious, nonsensical comic issues, Batman finally confronts Bane. The villain who destroyed his marriage, tortured him and killed his beloved father figure Alfred. This should be the thrilling culmination to Tom King’s 3-plus year on DC Comics flagship series. Highlighting the evolution of his story arcs, as King readies to move on to the Batman Catwoman and Strange Adventures maxi-series.
Tom King’s Batman has been a smorgasbord of bad storytelling techniques. I prayed for the days he stopped jamming in copious amounts of poetry and classic literature. That served nothing but making Batman feel like an oasis of self-indulgence. King stopped than nonsense a while ago, but honestly the storytelling hasn’t improved. It remains exceptionally mediocre on the best issues and all but unreadable on the worst. Batman #82 firmly sits in the worst of bucket in Tom King’s Batman.
I’m well past going in depth about the art in Tom King’s Batman. It’s Mikel Janin’s turn in the rotation this week. Mikel Janin’s illustrated a lot of the final half of Tom King’s Batman. His style is very clean but normally has a static feel. Not the best choice for a comic that is essentially one elongated fight sequence. Mikel Janin’s art isn’t nearly as pristine as normal in Batman #82. I’m not sure if that’s by design or he was rushed.
Catwoman is always shimmering in gold. She’s always portrayed..
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