Scan barcode
raaachoo's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
genuinely did not enjoy a single thing about this. the war of jokes and riddles was absolutely horrible like…. omfg. i cant even describe. didn’t enjoy reading it. didn’t enjoy looking at it. very happy it’s over. did ALLLLL that buildup bruce talmbout some “oh cat im so horrible decide after this if u rly wanna marry me” bro didnt kill nobody quit actin like it plus this not the first time he has wanted to kill someone this is so fucking stupid and ugly and out of character like i thought maybe id be living for the selina bruce moments bc they are fun but this shit is ass and she is written and drawn poorly? give that poor woman some muscle omfg she scales buildins DAILY idk i really really hated this like i hesistate to call it crap but i was heated with each consecutive page i cant wait to be out of this run. shout outs to the library im so glad im not paying to read this
albertico66's review
2.0
it's hard for me to care for gotham girl... i get that it's batman's ticket to retirement, but i just can't sympathize or feel for this character. also, i don't understand the war of jokes and riddles. with that said, amazing artwork all around.
murphyc1's review
2.0
Absolute garbage. I'll start with the pacing. This series is so "decompressed" that four, five, six issues go by with barely any dialogue and no plot to speak of. Then, in a single issue, King will force a giant twist or status quo change, not through plot development, but with pages and pages of all-but-unreadable, awkwardly worded exposition. The pacing is so erratic that reading this thing at some point becomes MASOCHISTIC. King's dialogue is interminably repetitve and often meaningless. NONE of the characters' motivations track from issue to issue, much less arc to arc. The plots are hopelessly contrived, like glorified fanfic by a fan who's only ever read three comics and thinks they're an expert. Just a miserable read...
jekutree's review
4.0
Closer to 3.5 stars than a 4.
Has some amazing moments and I’m overall impressed with King, but I really can’t get into Mikel Janín. Not a fan of how his characters look like 3D video game models.
Brave and the Mold is still amazing and War of Jokes and Riddles for sure had it’s moments. I liked I Am Bane too.
Has some amazing moments and I’m overall impressed with King, but I really can’t get into Mikel Janín. Not a fan of how his characters look like 3D video game models.
Brave and the Mold is still amazing and War of Jokes and Riddles for sure had it’s moments. I liked I Am Bane too.
cleheny's review
2.0
I'd read a lot of praise for Tom King and his run on Batman before all the publicity about the wedding issue, so I looked forward to starting his run. This is probably closer to 2.5 stars than 2, but I find myself disappointed. My disappointment may be the result of disappointed expectations, and perhaps I would enjoy his work more if I hadn't heard so much about it first.
There are times that King is really effective. He gives Bane a background both parallel and dissimilar to Bruce Wayne's. One episode is devoted to contrasting their development and how they connected their choices to the love they felt for their mothers. The origin of Kite Man is poignant and powerful.
But even in those moments, I felt King could and should have done more. For example, in Bruce's conversation with his mother during I Am Bane, King makes clear that Bruce/Batman is the better man because he chose to act from empathy for others, not his own rage and vulnerability. But Bruce, as King depicts, had the much easier life. He was wealthy and had Alfred to love him, while Bane was a child alone in a hellish prison, left in a setting where he was expected to die every day. No one loved him. No one showed the slightest care for him. Why, exactly, would he develop empathy for anyone?
King is very good with the human moments. Most of Bruce and Selina's interactions are genuine and effective. And I love the lunch/dinner meeting that Bruce holds with his "sons."
But I don't like King's tendency to have something major happen off-panel, and without any explanation for how it happened. In the first volume, Gotham's and Gotham Girl's trauma occurs between issues. They went from being optimistic super-beings who want to help Gotham to terror- and despair-ridden super-powered menaces. That dramatic, off-panel change really weakened the climax of the story for me; these characters were just introduced, meaning that the reader is only just beginning to be invested in them, and then, like magic, Gotham is suddenly a (tragic) villain, and Gotham Girl is a dangerously unbalanced mess.
In this volume, most of the recruitment of Joker's and Riddler's villainous armies happens off-panel. It's not clear why these various super-criminals are willing to work in Joker's and Riddler's interests. Further, a critical development in The War of Jokes and Riddles happens between issues. It makes no sense that Batman's plan actually works, unless you buy into King's penultimate reveal, that the War was really about something else all along, and everything managed by one character to achieve an improbable result. I didn't find that twist plausible--it felt over-engineered. I do think that the final reveal, why Bruce tells Selina the story, is well-done, even if I question the internal logic behind the villain's action.
I'll continue reading the series because King is almost-always interesting, and when he's good, he's really good. But I wish the pleasure wasn't so frequently mixed with disappointment.
There are times that King is really effective. He gives Bane a background both parallel and dissimilar to Bruce Wayne's. One episode is devoted to contrasting their development and how they connected their choices to the love they felt for their mothers. The origin of Kite Man is poignant and powerful.
But even in those moments, I felt King could and should have done more. For example, in Bruce's conversation with his mother during I Am Bane, King makes clear that Bruce/Batman is the better man because he chose to act from empathy for others, not his own rage and vulnerability. But Bruce, as King depicts, had the much easier life. He was wealthy and had Alfred to love him, while Bane was a child alone in a hellish prison, left in a setting where he was expected to die every day. No one loved him. No one showed the slightest care for him. Why, exactly, would he develop empathy for anyone?
King is very good with the human moments. Most of Bruce and Selina's interactions are genuine and effective. And I love the lunch/dinner meeting that Bruce holds with his "sons."
But I don't like King's tendency to have something major happen off-panel, and without any explanation for how it happened. In the first volume, Gotham's and Gotham Girl's trauma occurs between issues. They went from being optimistic super-beings who want to help Gotham to terror- and despair-ridden super-powered menaces. That dramatic, off-panel change really weakened the climax of the story for me; these characters were just introduced, meaning that the reader is only just beginning to be invested in them, and then, like magic, Gotham is suddenly a (tragic) villain, and Gotham Girl is a dangerously unbalanced mess.
In this volume, most of the recruitment of Joker's and Riddler's villainous armies happens off-panel. It's not clear why these various super-criminals are willing to work in Joker's and Riddler's interests. Further, a critical development in The War of Jokes and Riddles
Spoiler
Batman joining the Riddler's teamI'll continue reading the series because King is almost-always interesting, and when he's good, he's really good. But I wish the pleasure wasn't so frequently mixed with disappointment.
jackphoenix's review
4.0
Though this version of Batman may be atypically chatty, King gives the character heart, soul, and direction while never forgetting to tell a thrilling story; plus never forgetting to include alter ego Bruce Wayne in the equation.
justabookholic's review
5.0
Standout. Fantastic. Will definitely read again.
This was a book filled to the brim with unconventional team-ups and I AM SO FOR IT. The War of Jokes & Riddles was a beautiful disaster dipped in chaos and doused with havoc that I fell in love with. A supervillain turf-war set in Gotham during Batman's first year of crimefighting– need I say more? Action-packed to the point of bloodiness and unpredictable in the best of ways, I throughly enjoyed this arc.
Book 2, aka volumes 3 and 4 of Batman Rebirth, was such a step up from what it followed. There was a cohesiveness between issues that I highly appreciated as a reader which I felt like Book 1 lacked.
This was a book filled to the brim with unconventional team-ups and I AM SO FOR IT. The War of Jokes & Riddles was a beautiful disaster dipped in chaos and doused with havoc that I fell in love with. A supervillain turf-war set in Gotham during Batman's first year of crimefighting– need I say more? Action-packed to the point of bloodiness and unpredictable in the best of ways, I throughly enjoyed this arc.
Book 2, aka volumes 3 and 4 of Batman Rebirth, was such a step up from what it followed. There was a cohesiveness between issues that I highly appreciated as a reader which I felt like Book 1 lacked.
etienne02's review against another edition
4.0
A little bit slow but still good and interesting! Looking forward the next one.