Comic Review: Batman (2016-) #50

Batman #50

DC Comics

Writer: Tom King

Artists: Just So Many, But Mostly Mikel Janin

The first part of this review is going to be as spoiler-free as I can make it. I’ll tell you about the art and I’ll tell you if you should read it. The second part is going to be an absolute Smash Bros Switch of spoilers, which is to say: Everyone is here. But enough preface! There’s too much to talk about! There’s no time to waste! I’ve got a lot to say, so let’s get to it!

I loved a lot of the art. But sort of for the wrong reasons. See, a lot of pages in this issue are actually just variant covers or special art pieces of Bruce and Selina with narration-box monologues over them. It’s a whos-who of people that I would prefer over Mikel Janin, who has the honor of the art for the main story. The variant covers, however, do not tell a continuous story. They’re not a cute flashback sequence, despite the fact that some of them have Bruce and Selina in their bronze age designs. And here’s my main problem: they’re not sequential. They don’t tell a story on their own or interact with the main story being told on a visual level. They don’t even line up with their respective narration boxes! And I think that is 1) a missed opportunity and 2) a huge, huge blow to the immersion of the issue. They don’t feel like a part of the story. They’re simply there so that DC can say “yeah, check out all these artists in Batman #50! Buy it!” But it’s just not handled correctly in the least. Are these pages good? Yes, sure, they’re well-drawn. They’re nice to look at. But a comic has to be continuous. A comic has to be sequential. A comic is not an art gallery with words pasted on top, a comic is a free-flowing narrative structure where the words and images work together to tell a story. These pages act as dams to the flow of the story, blocking it up and forcing us to wind through the hydroelectric turbines of the narration boxes like small fishes before we get spat out into the river of regular comic again on the other side, a river which has been robbed of its momentum and must start to build it up all over again. Not to mention that sometimes there are two or more of these pages in a row, which damages the story’s pacing even further. So there’s that.

The rest of the art is Janin’s, which I also think is a missed opportunity. Yes, he’s the main guy for this run. But is Janin really the man you pick to draw one of the most character-based scenarios possible? Does he really have the ability to express the range of emotions necessary here? He does fine, but this was Batman #50. DC could have gotten anyone to do the main pieces of sequential art. Hell, they could have gotten all of these variant-cover folks to do a page of sequential art each instead of this art-gallery tomfoolery. In fact, precisely two of them do that. Credit where it’s due. Doesn’t fix my complaints, though, since they’re both isolated pages. My gripes aside, Janin is more proficient than usual here. In the few instances of action, he does have a motion line or two, so I’ll give him credit for that. Sometimes his facial expressions do look somewhat expressive. In terms of panel work, there is a pretty cool splash page that looks like it was shot with a fisheye lens. The rest of the book has mirrored panel layouts for each respective Bruce and Selina page, which does create a good effect – but I’ve also seen that strategy used more effectively elsewhere. The art is all very proficient, but the fact is that the art has got to interact with the story more in order for me to say that the art is good from a comics standpoint. DC could have done so much more with the art in this issue and I am tremendously disappointed in their lack of imagination.

So, before I get into the spoilers, here’s my recommendation for whether you should read Batman #50: Yes. If only so you can be a part of the conversation, yes. It’s far from terrible, and King does have some legitimately great characterization in there. I would say it’s worth your time. You might end up pretty frickin’ mad about it, but it’s still worth your time. Anyway, spoiler train is leaving the station. If you haven’t read the issue, this is your stop.

Welcome to Spoiler City, folks.

Again, SPOILERS ARE AHEAD

Everyone knows about the big spoiler: Selina leaves Bruce at the altar. More accurately, she doesn’t even show up at the altar, which I think is a small but important distinction. There’s a difference between getting up there and going “uhh nevermind” and just not getting there at all. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story takes place the night of the wedding and consists entirely of two things: monologues (as I have mentioned) and the couple getting prepared. I have a number of questions. Didn’t they have their wedding planned? Wasn’t it an event? Both Bruce and Selina had bachelor/bachelorette parties! People were invited! Dick was Bruce’s best man! And yet, somehow, at the beginning of the issue, Bruce and Selina are like “yo uhhhh let’s just do it at dawn.” Which maybe people do. I’m willing to accept that people do that sort of thing. I could even accept that Bruce and Selina would do that sort of thing. What I am not willing to accept is that they would make that decision without mentioning or considering their friends and family in the least. And, even if they didn’t, I don’t accept that Alfred would allow Bruce to get married without at least putting up a fuss about Dick not being there. I don’t think this is necessarily a plot hole, but I think it’s a fairly sizeable oversight in terms of the characters and a pretty big disappointment for me that we didn’t get to see the actual wedding event occur. I was really looking forward to seeing all the characters interacting – there’s nowhere better than a wedding to get to know a character. But oh well.

Then there are the monologues. I’m gonna say something silly. I liked them. I liked the monologues more than I liked the dialogue! I think they’re the single best deep-dive into Bruce and Selina’s relationship that we may have ever had! Which makes me all the more frustrated that all we had behind them was the art-gallery stuff! Those pages could have been used to deepen the relationship between the text and the characters! They could have shown us the exact moments that the monologues were talking about; we could have seen Batman as Selina sees him, Selina as Bruce sees her! It could have taken our understanding of their relationship to a completely different level! The monologues are brilliant because Tom King understands how to write subtext. He understands how to write a person’s deepest feelings. He’s not great at writing people who are trying to express those feelings, but I still give him major credit for the quality of these monologues. It’s very strong character work, and he gives Selina a not-completely-terrible reason to leave, but good lord it’s such a missed opportunity.

Let’s talk about the leaving. Selina says she leaves because if she makes Batman happy, he can no longer be Batman and therefore he can no longer save the world. I think this is dumb but believable. Selina is greedy and a thief but she’s always come through as a hero when she’s had to, and this thought process is one I can see her realistically having. I don’t think I agree with her, I think that Bruce could definitely be happy and still be Batman, but I can see where King is coming from. But here’s my big problem with this issue. And it is huge. On the last page, it is implied that Bane is behind the wedding going sour. That SOMEHOW, Selina leaving is Bane’s plan. What? What the hell? Is this a prank? King, you’re gonna take an incredibly emotional and difficult personal decision and go straight to “It was I, BANE!” a few pages later?? Come on, my guy. At least leave us guessing until the next issue! This isn’t a cliffhanger! You spoiled your own damn storyline! This doesn’t make me sit up and go, “whoa! Bane did this! Cool!” It makes me go “Why the hell is Bane here and, also, by the way, just wondering, just curious, don’t mind me, just was thinking, why is Flashpoint Batman standing next to Bane?????” Because Flashpoint Batman is standing next to Bane and I do not like it and I do not understand. King wrote a really good story here! I really liked a lot of this issue! And I was surprisingly not too bothered by Selina leaving Bruce at the altar, because I bought her reasoning. But this? This is an insult. This is a joke. This is telling us that Selina has absolutely no personal accountability or agency. This is just an “oops I was brainwashed” storyline. Unless of course, you’re telling me that Bane isn’t actually behind it, he just… Knew it was going to happen?? How’d he even know they were getting married in the first place? I don’t think I like either option very much. But here’s the thing about King’s Batman run: he says it’s one big 100-issue arc. I think the ending of this issue is pure garbage, but I don’t think we can judge any of it accurately until his run is over. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until that point. The issue as a whole is better than I expected despite all of its flaws, but the ending of this issue is frankly stupid.