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kevinowenkelly's review against another edition
4.0
Great book, and a real bounce-back into top form after the up-and-down of the past two volumes. This book is all about the aftereffects of the wedding in the previous volume (spoilers for which are ahead, so be warned), brilliantly split into two smaller arcs that each make great use of King's signature parallel storytelling.
In the first arc, Bruce Wayne is called for jury duty on the trial of Mr. Freeze, whose recent arrest was, to the surprise of no one, Batman's doing. But what could be a simple gimmick turns into a really thoughtful and clever device by which Bruce can deconstruct both the mythology of Batman and his own relationship to it. Meanwhile, the process is written much like a detective story, where Bruce and the other jurors interrogate the facts of the case, their own assumptions about those details, Fries, and Batman, all while we the audience get interspersed scenes of Batman's own attempts to solve the mystery that led him to Fries in the first place. The subtlety brilliant part is that, nested in these flashbacks nested in this story, is the unspoken fallout from Bruce being left at the alter. Very little time is spent discussing it, but we see the devastation it has left in the brutal savagery of Batman's takedown of Fries, something that we think we've seen a thousand times before, but which is rendered in frighteningly visceral scenes that elevate it to something so much more. Lee Weeks' art is phenomenal, and a perfect fit for both those scenes of violence and the moody courtroom investigation that wraps envelopes them.
The second half is even sneakier. At first blush, it's another short arc where King gets to examine Bruce/Batman's relationship with another character, mining similarities and differences to unearth some fresh observations. A few previous issues exploring Batman and Superman's relationship are among my favorite that King has ever done. And this arc looked like a winner to, with him tackling Nightwing.
And really, who better than Nightwing to try to pull Bruce out of his funk? We have an issue that mirrors Bruce's attempts at helping Dick over his parents' death as a child with Dick's incessant optimism wearing and offers of friendship wearing away at Bruce's cold demeanor, creating some fun and really heartwarming moments. If that were all this were, it'd still be exceptional. But without spoiling it, King uses this as a trojan horse to introduce a new set of trauma into Batman and Nightwing's lives that the reader won't see coming, as it avoids so many of the more cliche'd setups that typically make such things easy to spot.
Both stories are more about setting up future plots than resolving themselves, but they each have so much good stuff in terms of character development and progression that they still feel like complete stories. Great, great book.
In the first arc, Bruce Wayne is called for jury duty on the trial of Mr. Freeze, whose recent arrest was, to the surprise of no one, Batman's doing. But what could be a simple gimmick turns into a really thoughtful and clever device by which Bruce can deconstruct both the mythology of Batman and his own relationship to it. Meanwhile, the process is written much like a detective story, where Bruce and the other jurors interrogate the facts of the case, their own assumptions about those details, Fries, and Batman, all while we the audience get interspersed scenes of Batman's own attempts to solve the mystery that led him to Fries in the first place. The subtlety brilliant part is that, nested in these flashbacks nested in this story, is the unspoken fallout from Bruce being left at the alter. Very little time is spent discussing it, but we see the devastation it has left in the brutal savagery of Batman's takedown of Fries, something that we think we've seen a thousand times before, but which is rendered in frighteningly visceral scenes that elevate it to something so much more. Lee Weeks' art is phenomenal, and a perfect fit for both those scenes of violence and the moody courtroom investigation that wraps envelopes them.
The second half is even sneakier. At first blush, it's another short arc where King gets to examine Bruce/Batman's relationship with another character, mining similarities and differences to unearth some fresh observations. A few previous issues exploring Batman and Superman's relationship are among my favorite that King has ever done. And this arc looked like a winner to, with him tackling Nightwing.
And really, who better than Nightwing to try to pull Bruce out of his funk? We have an issue that mirrors Bruce's attempts at helping Dick over his parents' death as a child with Dick's incessant optimism wearing and offers of friendship wearing away at Bruce's cold demeanor, creating some fun and really heartwarming moments. If that were all this were, it'd still be exceptional. But without spoiling it, King uses this as a trojan horse to introduce a new set of trauma into Batman and Nightwing's lives that the reader won't see coming, as it avoids so many of the more cliche'd setups that typically make such things easy to spot.
Both stories are more about setting up future plots than resolving themselves, but they each have so much good stuff in terms of character development and progression that they still feel like complete stories. Great, great book.
groblinthegoblin624's review against another edition
4.0
I think the Cold Days court arc was my favorite in this run yet, just wonderful writing and art there. The other half of the book didn’t quite reach that for me, but I really enjoyed the writing for Dick here
joshgauthier's review against another edition
4.0
King continues to do excellent work with the characters of Batman and those closest to Bruce Wayne. In the aftermath of vol. 7, King takes us into Batman's emotional turmoil, examining his flaws and struggles in a couple major storylines--with the Mr. Freeze story that starts off the volume being particularly effective.
With characteristic skill, effective art, strong storytelling, humor, and a dash of self-aware humor, King's next installment in his run of Batman is strong and complex, leading us from one of the biggest events in Bruce Wayne's life into the next chapter of his adventures. King's storytelling is always effective, and he brings fresh humanity to the characters under his direction.
With characteristic skill, effective art, strong storytelling, humor, and a dash of self-aware humor, King's next installment in his run of Batman is strong and complex, leading us from one of the biggest events in Bruce Wayne's life into the next chapter of his adventures. King's storytelling is always effective, and he brings fresh humanity to the characters under his direction.
boards_books_and_brews's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
georgezakka's review against another edition
4.0
Damn.. this is the 4th book I’ve given 5 stars this week, I’ve really been enjoying a lot recently.
Anyways. There are three arcs and loved them all.
The first being about mr freeze and how Batman used excessive force against him to force a confession that wasn’t true. Mr freeze lied because he knew he didn’t do it but he wanted Batman to stop. To stop hurting him. You later see Bruce and others in a room and they all think mr freeze killed three 3 ladies because he “confessed” but Bruce convinces them that Batman made him confess because Bruce felt guilty. I really enjoyed the art by lee weeks which was weird at first but gets better after.
The second was a fun issue with nightwing and Batman roaming through Gotham fighting baddies and shows how when dick was young and his parents died he went through a lot of trouble and the issue shows how fun nightwing can be.
The third was about KGBEAST killing nightwing. This arc was really cool because you notice that Batman has already been hurt a lot when Selina Kyle leaves him at the altar but then nightwing is shot in the head. Imagine how much that must hurt. You also see how scary KGBEAST is such as killing his dad and his entire family and killing everyone who knows him.
Overall great book.
Anyways. There are three arcs and loved them all.
The first being about mr freeze and how Batman used excessive force against him to force a confession that wasn’t true. Mr freeze lied because he knew he didn’t do it but he wanted Batman to stop. To stop hurting him. You later see Bruce and others in a room and they all think mr freeze killed three 3 ladies because he “confessed” but Bruce convinces them that Batman made him confess because Bruce felt guilty. I really enjoyed the art by lee weeks which was weird at first but gets better after.
The second was a fun issue with nightwing and Batman roaming through Gotham fighting baddies and shows how when dick was young and his parents died he went through a lot of trouble and the issue shows how fun nightwing can be.
The third was about KGBEAST killing nightwing. This arc was really cool because you notice that Batman has already been hurt a lot when Selina Kyle leaves him at the altar but then nightwing is shot in the head. Imagine how much that must hurt. You also see how scary KGBEAST is such as killing his dad and his entire family and killing everyone who knows him.
Overall great book.
garthranzz's review against another edition
4.0
Finally! King returns to form! After the disappointment of how the wedding arc ended, Cold Days hits the ground running.