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A review by kevinowenkelly
Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement by Tom King
5.0
This is one of those rare books that makes you want to go back and retroactively lower all of the other ratings you've given out.
This book tackles a number of Bat-world dynamics coming off of Selina Kyle accepting Bruce Wayne's marriage proposal.
It starts out fun, a big adventure wrapped around a thin premise that sees Batman and Catwoman heading through the desert to break illegally break into a country and confront his ex, Talia al Ghul. The illegal entry bit gets dropped quickly, the reasons for the confrontation are weak, and the story is So. Fun.
Talia and Catwoman have a sword duel. The Batfamily boys of Dick, Jason, Damian, and Duke process their shock and emotions. Damian in particular has a lot of complex angles on the subject.
But then that arc ends, and I worried it was too soon. Until the next two issues delve into the comes friendship between Batman and Superman, and touch on some surprisingly well developed themes, such as how it can paradoxically be harder to talk to your friends. King is at his absolute best here with how he mines the two heroes' views of each other to find surprising parallels and what it is that makes them such good friends, things that they themselves don't even realize.
And then THAT is topped off with a double date for the ages.
And throughout all of it there's wonderful humor (one of the best jokes is at the expense of the last volume, The War of Jokes and Riddles), really insightful character development, and this wonderful sense of joy to the writing and action and interactions that has been missing or sparse in some of the recent stories.
Naturally, there's then one final issue, an annual that delves into the past and possible future of Batman and Catwoman's relationship that had me almost ugly crying in the middle of a coffee shop.
This book really has it all.
This book tackles a number of Bat-world dynamics coming off of Selina Kyle accepting Bruce Wayne's marriage proposal.
It starts out fun, a big adventure wrapped around a thin premise that sees Batman and Catwoman heading through the desert to break illegally break into a country and confront his ex, Talia al Ghul. The illegal entry bit gets dropped quickly, the reasons for the confrontation are weak, and the story is So. Fun.
Talia and Catwoman have a sword duel. The Batfamily boys of Dick, Jason, Damian, and Duke process their shock and emotions. Damian in particular has a lot of complex angles on the subject.
But then that arc ends, and I worried it was too soon. Until the next two issues delve into the comes friendship between Batman and Superman, and touch on some surprisingly well developed themes, such as how it can paradoxically be harder to talk to your friends. King is at his absolute best here with how he mines the two heroes' views of each other to find surprising parallels and what it is that makes them such good friends, things that they themselves don't even realize.
And then THAT is topped off with a double date for the ages.
And throughout all of it there's wonderful humor (one of the best jokes is at the expense of the last volume, The War of Jokes and Riddles), really insightful character development, and this wonderful sense of joy to the writing and action and interactions that has been missing or sparse in some of the recent stories.
Naturally, there's then one final issue, an annual that delves into the past and possible future of Batman and Catwoman's relationship that had me almost ugly crying in the middle of a coffee shop.
This book really has it all.