A review by some_okie_dude27
Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham (Rebirth) by Tom King
(EDITED REVIEW)
I've always had an affinity for the heroes at DC Comics, even more than Marvel Comics, though I do have an affinity for characters from that company as well. There's also the fact that Batman is my favorite superhero to have walked the pages of comics, though I still debate with myself on if Batman's actually a 'superhero' but that doesn't matter much. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but the fun thing about a shared superhero universe is that you can play with different styles, genres, and themes, which is something that the Big Two have struggled with, but have steadily gotten better with as time as gone on. Then there's superhero universes like Valiant that completely embrace the notion that it's a diverse universe and that you can play with different genres, styles, themes, etc and I do wish that DC and Marvel would catch up with them, but like I said, they've been getting better with it as the years have gone on.
Tom King is a writer who is capable of brilliance, having taken the Vertigo method and revamping some underused characters in the Big Two such as The Vision and Mister Miracle, but with those moments of brilliance comes moments of stagnation, such as with his Batman run. This isn't a bad book by any means and I did enjoy what I read of it, but with that comes the nagging problems of his writing, such as him throwing anything that he has to see what sticks, his repetition, and his rather shameless attempts to try and emulate creators who've come before, such as Alan Moore.
Emulation isn't always a bad thing, but with emulation, one can easily fall into the trap of imitation, and as I've said in the past, the problem with imitators is that many of them don't understand what made the things that they're imitating so special, so they make a product that's less skilled and pandering. Fortunately, Tom King seems to have his own voice, but he still hasn't fully embraced it yet and is still emulating too much, in fact there's scenes in here that directly mirror scenes from other, more famous works such as All Star Superman. I suppose that the main complaint that I have of this run is that King emulates too much and is not fully embracing his own voice.
But with the bad, comes the good. I'm always impressed with King's ability to empathize the humanity in these characters that we've known for so long, as well as the new ones that he's invented. He understands that Batman is a normal man who's living amongst gods and, instead of showing the legend, he shows the man under the cape and cowl. Now, I'll concur that there's others who have done it before him, and have even done it well. In fact, the previous writer before him, Scott Snyder, did a brilliant job in exploring Batman's humanity before he went a little off the walls, which makes me see some similarities in King and Snyder. Both are good writers who have their own voices, yet sometimes get carried away, and they also don't mind challenges. There's also David Finch's stunning artwork, with brooding colors and characters who feel alive on the page, and his complimenting King's skill for pathos, which is also something I forgot to mention. King is also extremely good with playing with your emotions as the reader, he gives you characters that you grow to care about and then he takes him or her away from you, like I said, King is capable of brilliance.
In the end, we get a strong beginning to a run that goes all over the place in sense of style and themes, it's a heavily flawed, yet acceptable beginning book from a writer who's not yet found his voice, yet is still looking for it.
(If you're wanting a video explaining my issues with Tom King, here's a helpful video on the subject, no it's not me, but he's someone I do respect and I feel deserves a little more love.)
I've always had an affinity for the heroes at DC Comics, even more than Marvel Comics, though I do have an affinity for characters from that company as well. There's also the fact that Batman is my favorite superhero to have walked the pages of comics, though I still debate with myself on if Batman's actually a 'superhero' but that doesn't matter much. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but the fun thing about a shared superhero universe is that you can play with different styles, genres, and themes, which is something that the Big Two have struggled with, but have steadily gotten better with as time as gone on. Then there's superhero universes like Valiant that completely embrace the notion that it's a diverse universe and that you can play with different genres, styles, themes, etc and I do wish that DC and Marvel would catch up with them, but like I said, they've been getting better with it as the years have gone on.
Tom King is a writer who is capable of brilliance, having taken the Vertigo method and revamping some underused characters in the Big Two such as The Vision and Mister Miracle, but with those moments of brilliance comes moments of stagnation, such as with his Batman run. This isn't a bad book by any means and I did enjoy what I read of it, but with that comes the nagging problems of his writing, such as him throwing anything that he has to see what sticks, his repetition, and his rather shameless attempts to try and emulate creators who've come before, such as Alan Moore.
Emulation isn't always a bad thing, but with emulation, one can easily fall into the trap of imitation, and as I've said in the past, the problem with imitators is that many of them don't understand what made the things that they're imitating so special, so they make a product that's less skilled and pandering. Fortunately, Tom King seems to have his own voice, but he still hasn't fully embraced it yet and is still emulating too much, in fact there's scenes in here that directly mirror scenes from other, more famous works such as All Star Superman. I suppose that the main complaint that I have of this run is that King emulates too much and is not fully embracing his own voice.
But with the bad, comes the good. I'm always impressed with King's ability to empathize the humanity in these characters that we've known for so long, as well as the new ones that he's invented. He understands that Batman is a normal man who's living amongst gods and, instead of showing the legend, he shows the man under the cape and cowl. Now, I'll concur that there's others who have done it before him, and have even done it well. In fact, the previous writer before him, Scott Snyder, did a brilliant job in exploring Batman's humanity before he went a little off the walls, which makes me see some similarities in King and Snyder. Both are good writers who have their own voices, yet sometimes get carried away, and they also don't mind challenges. There's also David Finch's stunning artwork, with brooding colors and characters who feel alive on the page, and his complimenting King's skill for pathos, which is also something I forgot to mention. King is also extremely good with playing with your emotions as the reader, he gives you characters that you grow to care about and then he takes him or her away from you, like I said, King is capable of brilliance.
In the end, we get a strong beginning to a run that goes all over the place in sense of style and themes, it's a heavily flawed, yet acceptable beginning book from a writer who's not yet found his voice, yet is still looking for it.
(If you're wanting a video explaining my issues with Tom King, here's a helpful video on the subject, no it's not me, but he's someone I do respect and I feel deserves a little more love.)