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cavvythecat's review
2.0
would be one star but it has cassandra cain so two it is but everything else... girl
captain_katherine's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
zestquest's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Another fascinating Batman comic. Bruce is acting strangely through out it and it only adds to the wild mystery of it all
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Violence
bloodravenlib's review
5.0
This was a very good read. I practically could not put it down once I picked it up. Bruce Wayne is accused of murder, and all the evidence points to him. Was he framed? Did he really do it? The pace is quick, and once it picks up, it does not really let you go. His allies strive to clear his name even as he alienates them for some reason. I am definitely reading the continuation of the story. Great mystery story. Good art also. This is definitely one to read for Batman fans.
dumblydore's review
4.0
What I love most about this is the portrayal of Bruce as being completely wound up in his tangle of deception and self-righteousness to his downfall (so it seems). Not many writers have explored the nature of a man with dual identities and the liabilities they each present to the other. It's frightening that Batman can cut himself from Bruce entirely, as though he's fully convinced himself that they are two separate entities, with clinical clarity.
Another strength is the interaction between the extended Bat family—Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Tim, Stephanie, Cassandra following Bruce's arrest. They're set up cleverly so that they each have their own doubts or otherwise, thereby making the reader just as wary. It's not so much who the true villain of the piece is, but the implications it has for those left behind that make this gripping storytelling.
Also, some great art along the way from a multitude of pencillers.
Another strength is the interaction between the extended Bat family—Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Tim, Stephanie, Cassandra following Bruce's arrest. They're set up cleverly so that they each have their own doubts or otherwise, thereby making the reader just as wary. It's not so much who the true villain of the piece is, but the implications it has for those left behind that make this gripping storytelling.
Also, some great art along the way from a multitude of pencillers.
ladydewinter's review
4.0
I don't know exactly what I expected, but this was much darker than I thought it would be. And I figured it might be dark. Holy shit, this is kind of fucked up. Bruce Wayne is accused of murder, and as a result, well. Things really get bad.
What got to me most - what probably always will get to me most - was the relationship(s) between Bruce, Alfred and Dick. Bruce and Dick especially.
In the end, Batman is doing his best to lose his connections to his "human" side, and well, I'm curious to see where this is going.
This was painful to read at times, but at the same time I was glued to the pages, so. At this time, I shouldn't be surprised at how dark this gets at times, but this is a little too much. It's surprising how believable it is at the same time, though. He's not out of character, he's just in a direction one doesn't necessarily want to see him go.
This book also did the seemingly impossible: it made me love Dick Grayson even more. Oh boy.
What got to me most - what probably always will get to me most - was the relationship(s) between Bruce, Alfred and Dick. Bruce and Dick especially.
In the end, Batman is doing his best to lose his connections to his "human" side, and well, I'm curious to see where this is going.
This was painful to read at times, but at the same time I was glued to the pages, so. At this time, I shouldn't be surprised at how dark this gets at times, but this is a little too much. It's surprising how believable it is at the same time, though. He's not out of character, he's just in a direction one doesn't necessarily want to see him go.
This book also did the seemingly impossible: it made me love Dick Grayson even more. Oh boy.
captwinghead's review
2.0
Oh dear. *sighs*
It appears DC looked at their extremely overlong No Man's Land arc and thought "Oh boy, let's do that again!" I looked at the entirety of this storyline and it's Bruce Wayne: Murderer? Followed by Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, which is even longer. Followed by Aftermath, a short epilogue of sorts. I don't understand any of this considering the Bruce Wayne: Murder storyline was 8 issues too long.
So much of this felt like filler and I started to wonder who greenlit this. It feels like they should've just done a short book about this storyline instead of running it through all the Gotham centric series. Also, I saw a complaint that Bruce Wayne's name is in the title of this "event", but the majority of this book doesn't include him.
- I liked Rucka's work, for the most part. I enjoyed the Gotham Central parts with Renee Montoya, although her continued attempts to get Sasha to turn didn't make her look great. Also, her investigating Bruce Wayne and not knowing the story about his parents was just ignorant. What kind of detective wouldn't know the biggest event in her suspect's life? How did no one even mention it on the ride to Wayne Manor?
- The police play Vesper's 911 tape as though it was clear evidence that Bruce was guilty, but it didn't look like she ever said his name so I didn't get how it was clear and convincing evidence Bruce was guilty.
- I can only imagine how cool Dinah, Steph and Babs working together could've been if Dixon hadn't been writing those Birds of Prey issues. He thought it was much more compelling to write them arguing with each other instead. The scene where Babs tries to get the scoop from Sasha also would've been good if someone other than Dixon had written it. How nice that both Steph and Cass have a reason to try to help Bruce, but instead of working together, Dixon makes Steph rude and dismissive of Cass.
- Brubaker's Batman in Blackgate issue is pretty good. It's the only real issue that gets at how Bruce feels about the press digging into his life, junk scientists speculating that it's crazy Bruce didn't kill anyone else after the trauma he witnessed, and Bruce being upset over people trampling over his parents' graves. The action scenes feel like this would make a pretty cool episode of television.
- I loved Dinah saying Tim and Steph make a cute couple in that Robin issue. Mostly because no, no they don't. All Tim does is yell at, criticize and belittle Steph. And this book was full of people acting like Tim's anger at Bruce for outing him as Robin to Steph made him deserving of sympathy. At this point, it's just annoying that Tim hasn't let it go. Kinda hilarious he's that upset at having his secrets revealed when the only reason Tim ended up as Robin was by digging into Bruce and Dick's lives and revealing them as Batman and Robin. But no one will ever call Tim out for being a hypocrite.
- Brubaker's last issue reminds me that, at some point, writers thought it'd be best to have Bruce hit his kids for drama. It doesn't make a scene more exciting. It just makes Bruce look like the kind of asshole that hits his kids.
- One last thing, they reference a Hudson University and I started laughing because anyone who watches Law and Order knows that all the bad guys usually end up going to school there.
So, long story short: this is not a recommend from me. If you're reading Rucka's Batman, you get most of what's good from there. If you read Puckett's Batgirl (and I recommend that everyone does) you're getting what's good from there. There's nothing about this storyline that I found worth checking out. You can skip this entire thing.
It appears DC looked at their extremely overlong No Man's Land arc and thought "Oh boy, let's do that again!" I looked at the entirety of this storyline and it's Bruce Wayne: Murderer? Followed by Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, which is even longer. Followed by Aftermath, a short epilogue of sorts. I don't understand any of this considering the Bruce Wayne: Murder storyline was 8 issues too long.
So much of this felt like filler and I started to wonder who greenlit this. It feels like they should've just done a short book about this storyline instead of running it through all the Gotham centric series. Also, I saw a complaint that Bruce Wayne's name is in the title of this "event", but the majority of this book doesn't include him.
- I liked Rucka's work, for the most part. I enjoyed the Gotham Central parts with Renee Montoya, although her continued attempts to get Sasha to turn didn't make her look great. Also, her investigating Bruce Wayne and not knowing the story about his parents was just ignorant. What kind of detective wouldn't know the biggest event in her suspect's life? How did no one even mention it on the ride to Wayne Manor?
- I can only imagine how cool Dinah, Steph and Babs working together could've been if Dixon hadn't been writing those Birds of Prey issues. He thought it was much more compelling to write them arguing with each other instead. The scene where Babs tries to get the scoop from Sasha also would've been good if someone other than Dixon had written it. How nice that both Steph and Cass have a reason to try to help Bruce, but instead of working together, Dixon makes Steph rude and dismissive of Cass.
- Brubaker's Batman in Blackgate issue is pretty good. It's the only real issue that gets at how Bruce feels about the press digging into his life, junk scientists speculating that it's crazy Bruce didn't kill anyone else after the trauma he witnessed, and Bruce being upset over people trampling over his parents' graves. The action scenes feel like this would make a pretty cool episode of television.
- I loved Dinah saying Tim and Steph make a cute couple in that Robin issue. Mostly because no, no they don't. All Tim does is yell at, criticize and belittle Steph. And this book was full of people acting like Tim's anger at Bruce for outing him as Robin to Steph made him deserving of sympathy. At this point, it's just annoying that Tim hasn't let it go. Kinda hilarious he's that upset at having his secrets revealed when the only reason Tim ended up as Robin was by digging into Bruce and Dick's lives and revealing them as Batman and Robin. But no one will ever call Tim out for being a hypocrite.
- One last thing, they reference a Hudson University and I started laughing because anyone who watches Law and Order knows that all the bad guys usually end up going to school there.
So, long story short: this is not a recommend from me. If you're reading Rucka's Batman, you get most of what's good from there. If you read Puckett's Batgirl (and I recommend that everyone does) you're getting what's good from there. There's nothing about this storyline that I found worth checking out. You can skip this entire thing.
daed_eskai's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
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