Batman: Killing Time

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Analysis: In 2022, two and a half years after he completed his 85-issue run on the main Batman title (though just overlapping the conclusion of his 13-issue Batman/Catwoman series), Tom King returned to Batman for Batman: Killing Time. Probably commissioned as part of the promotion of The Batman film released in March 2022, King focuses heavily on Batman as a solo crimefighter, Catwoman and Riddler as the main visible antagonists with a strong Penguin presence, all elements directly mirroring the film. For the past several years, Tom King has been writing Batman in one way or the other, be it the main title, miniseries, or one-shots featuring Elmer Fudd that stand up as some of the finest Batman content the world has to offer, full stop. King’s presence in the Batman world will continue in 2022, as a new six-issue miniseries titled Batman: Killing Time has been announced.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME | DC BATMAN: KILLING TIME | DC

There’s a new villain introduced called The Help, who’s like a slightly zombified mash-up of Alfred and Batman. He’s terrifying - some of the scenes put me in mind of Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men - and I liked how his past ties into Batman’s. He’s a very capable match for Bruce too. I think he’s the best new addition to Batman’s rogues gallery we’ve had in a while and hope to see him in more stuff in the future. Killer Croc kills the guard. Batman arrives and engages, but Riddler has already gotten what he wanted across the city, using Croc and Catwoman as his distractions and leverage. Riddler and Catwoman drive off with a tiny box. Despite Batman being the titular character, in which he has been the Caped Crusader for a couple of years, he isn’t really the main character, continuing a recent streak of King not that interested in Batman as a character. King is clearly more interested in the villains who are always double-crossing one another and no doubt there is some fun with the banter between them, but because the comic is so fixated on being non-linear, it’s ultimately hard to care.

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Having made Kite Man interesting, Tom King tries to burnish the reputation of another of Batman's lesser rogues but with much less success since he goes for grimness instead of humor. Mostly, this is a heist story with Riddler and Catwoman stealing a MacGuffin from Batman and going on the run as they try to sell it to the mysterious mastermind behind the whole affair. That night, Penguin tells a huge crowd of Gotham gangsters about the meet at the Iceberg Lounge. One of Batman’s informers texts him but is murdered as a result. January 22: In Arkham, Riddler plans the job, saying it needs four people – Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin (money), and a Coordinator who makes the trains run on time. And if you are looking for a longer version of what happens in Batman: Killing Time, read on for a much more detailed version of the events as we travel through time. Despite the beautiful, incredibly sexy, and energetic art by veteran superstar artist David Marquez (a new collaborator with King), the message of this miniseries is much, much more nihilistic than the messages of both his main Batman run and his Batman/Catwoman run, both of which try to show the meaning and help that love and family can bring to a life of trauma (A small link between Catwoman and the Joker early in the chronology of the run provides an Easter egg for fans of King’s Batman/Catwoman series, which shows that relationship developing throughout their lifetimes.). This story has none of that to levan the flat misery that the four villains unleash on Gotham – but King and Marquez’s brilliant storytelling makes the dark pill slide home much more easily.

Batman: Killing Time by Tom King: 9781779516985 Batman: Killing Time by Tom King: 9781779516985

Oh, and David” Let Him Draw Everything” Marquez and Alejandro “Let Him Color Everything” Sánchez are involved too? Yeah, I’m in even more. The hardcover release of Batman: Killing Time uses David Marquez’s main cover for the first issue, a standard but still quite a fun composition featuring Batman looming over Riddler, a slinky Catwoman, Killer Croc, Penguin, a racing car, and an open bank vault. The Direct Market (local comic shops) hardcover has an exclusive variant cover by Marquez, showing Batman surrounded by the breaking glass of a watch face, Riddler, Catwoman, Croc, Penguin, and the Help reflected in flying shards. Tom King · David Marquez Batman: Killing Time (Volume 1) was a limited series, published by DC Comics. It ran from 2022 until 2022. It starred Batman, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, and Killer Croc. It could be that the story is about the transient nature of power, how the item passes from one to another, each briefly empowered before losing it to another, and so on. Or perhaps the stupidity of superstition. Or perhaps it’s simply a story meant to kill time, as the title suggests, and that it’s not really about anything more than what we see on the surface. Maybe it’s a commentary on the nature of superhero comics, that are all middle story and no real conclusion, that gets repeated over and over again ad infinitum. As Riddler intones at the end, “What did we… solve? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.” Maybe it’s a superhero retelling of The Bacchae. For 3000 years, the Eye of God traveled from Ancient Greece to Gotham, surrounded by the legend that if you held it, you controlled the world. But in reality, it held the power to unleash the bloodiest, most depraved frenzy on those around it.

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April 8: In Morocco, Batman captures Riddler and Catwoman, having been led there by an angry Riddler. Penguin screams at all those who betrayed him. Later, he hires Two-Face’s gang, as well as many others, to avenge himself. Riddler is seeing a resurgence in comics following The Batman. After Detective Comics wrapped up its 12-part "Shadows of the Bat" event, it was revealed that the Riddler would be the focus of the title's next arc. Similar to his onscreen portrayal by actor Paul Dano and unlike how he is seen in Killing Time, the Riddler has been speaking directly to Gotham City's citizens over the radio and televised broadcasts in the book. The plot is fairly simple: Catwoman gets a tip from the Joker about the MacGuffin. She recruits the Riddler to set up a buy for the MacGuffin. Batman catches wind of the heist and is especially upset the MacGuffin has been stolen. Penguin, who has been double-crossed in the midst of all this, calls in reinforcements in the form of The Help, who also becomes interested in the MacGuffin. These narratives converge in a big kerfuffle.

Batman: Killing Time (2022—2022) | DC Database | Fandom

Synopsis (spoilers ahead) : There is a lot that happens in Batman: Killing Time, and there really is no way to condense it to a standard-size synopsis without missing elements important to the story. So here is the very short condensed version of what happens first. April 17: Batman fights Ra’s, seeking the Help, who vanished, and explains why he kept the Eye Ra’s gave him, tormented by it. The comics is also CRAZY beautiful, like just amazing. With art by David Marquez and colours by Alejandro Sánchez you know you're in for a wonderful journey!Throughout the six issues, whilst you may have the main narrative of these villains trying to resolve this heist that has gone wrong, as well as a plethora of new characters such as the Help, who seems like a formidable foe for everyone he confronts, the story keeps going off in these detours. There’s a whole subplot about Killer Croc’s fiancée, which I don’t think is a big deal, but there’s also sections where we cut to periods of ancient history, which supposedly ties in with the current heist. The final issue does reveal some answers, but reading through the other issues is a chore to get through. Overview: In Batman: Killing Time, during year two of Batman’s career, Batman stands against Catwoman, Riddler, the newly created villain, the Help, and the US Government in a plot to control a mystical artifact connected to the slaughter of hundreds. The ending is... brave. At first I thought it was just okay and a bit silly but seeing how many people feel INSULTED by it... yeah, i appreciated it more :D None of these explanations though are especially satisfying for me and that’s partly why I found the final act disappointing. It’s also not the most memorable story. A bank heist, a chase, lots of fighting - it’s well done, but it’s all stuff we’ve seen Batman do before numerous times. May 5: In St. Catherine’s Church in Gdansk, Poland, Jon Protva steals the so-called “Eye of Christ” to try to heal his sister. She dies.