Tom King’s Batman Is Actually One of the Best for the Character, And I Can Prove It

Batman is, in a lot of ways, the most important DC character of them all. Batman comics sell the best and the character is beloved even by people who don’t care at all about the rest of the DC Universe. He’s the star, and the publisher usually does their best to put the best talents on his books. Over the years, many of the biggest names in comics have all wrote Batman, but the most controversial in recent years was Tom King. King is a writer who has always been contentious for fans, more because of his past as a CIA agent than for his actual work. His time on Batman is easily his most maligned work. But I’m here to say something that not everyone is going to agree with: King’s Batman is one of the best conceptions of the character.

Tom King’s writing style is unique, and I think it fit perfectly for the Dark Knight. The writer is known for digging into the psychology of a character, and this was the perfect way of writing Batman. I can understand some of the complaints about his run on the character, but I own every single issue, and relish them. It’s an amazing run, and I think it’s about time the rest of you realized it.

Tom King Focused on Batman’s Trauma and It Was Sensational

If you want to know why I think King’s run on Batman works so well, look no further than “I Am Suicide”. The writer’s first story arc dealt with the Dark Knight taking on two new sidekicks, Gotham and Gotham Girl, both of whom were driven crazy by the Venom derivative that gave them their powers. “I Am Suicide” saw the hero bring his own Suicide Squad to Santa Prisca to get his hands on the Psycho-Pirate, who Bane was holding, to save Gotham Girl from the fear that had consumed her.

The plot and art are fun, but what really makes the story so great is that it laid the groundwork for the what would become the core of King’s run: the trauma that had created Batman. The writer established something that made complete sense about the character — that becoming Batman was long form suicide, all motivated by the trauma of the death of his parents. This would become a major part of the run — the trauma that defined Bruce Wayne’s life and whether he could overcome it. For me, the entire run is a highlight of the DC Rebirth era.

King played up Batman’s relationship with Catwoman, using it as something to humanize the character and show that he was more than trauma, and I honestly think the way that relationship was treated is a huge reason people don’t like the run. DC didn’t want to pull the trigger on their marriage, and a lot of people rage quit the book because the scribe had done an amazing job of setting up their love for each other. However, we all knew that he had planned on a long run. Fans got mad at a story that wasn’t even over yet. I also love the way he wrote Bane and Flashpoint Batman.

Bane is a major Bat-villain, and King really showed how badly the character had been bungled since his time in Secret Six. Bane was behind the events of the entire run, along with Flashpoint Batman, and it all made sense. Speaking of Flashpoint Batman, King did an amazing job of showing how much he cared for the man who should have been his son, even if he went about it in the complete wrong way, which is the most Batman way to do anything. Villains are always an important part of Batman comics, and an argument can be made that the writer didn’t do a great job with a lot of them. However, the way he used the two main villains of his run showed that he had the goods when it came to the Dark Knight.

King Understood Batman Perfectly

There are a lot of bad things about reading Batman comics for a long time. Too often do we get this unassailable titan who can beat everything, who never loses, and always figures out a way to destroy every problem he has. However, King went in entirely different way and it was awesome. Focusing on Batman’s trauma was the way to go for the character, and it gave us some awesome stories. The way the writer wrote Batman and Catwoman together was brilliant. The way that the entire run was all part of a plan by Bane and Flashpoint Batman was a cool reveal. For me, the whole thing worked.

King killed off the Batgod conception of the character, something that became the default setting of Batman over the years. He gave us a Batman that was upfront about his trauma with himself, and it made perfect sense. The relationship between Catwoman and Batman could be annoying at times, but it worked in a way that it never did before. This wasn’t your typical Batman run, and that’s why it’s great. Seriously, go and read “I Am Suicide”. It’s an all-time classic Batman story, and the proof you need that King’s Batman is one of the best.

What do you think of King’s Batman? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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