[New to DCU] Book Club Week 3 Batman: The Wedding (Batman (2016-) #48-50 and DC Nation #0)

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Hey everyone! Welcome to our humble abode!! Thanks to everyone who joined us last week and anyone joining us for the first time this week! This club is for those who WANT to get into current comics that are just arriving on DCU. The first 8 weeks will be called The Groundwork. The Groundwork will focus on reading the series which define all the current stuff.

The Groundwork

Week 1: Justice League: No Justice by Scott Snyder
Week 2: Justice League: The Totality by Scott Snyder
Week 3: Batman: The Wedding (and the optional tie-in)
Week 4: Man of Steel by Brian Bendis
Week 5: Flash War by Josh Williamson
Week 6: Flash: Reckoning of the Forces by Josh Williamson
Week 7: Batman: Cold Days by Tom King
Week 8: Justice League: Graveyard of Gods by Scott Snyder

Every week, you get to vote on which stories to keep reading and which ones to drop.

**So let’s talk about Batman: The Wedding

Official Description

In these tales from BATMAN #48-50, Just as the Bat and the Cat are starting to think it might be easier to just elope than go through with their wedding plans, The Joker kidnaps his old foe—but will he try to talk him out of his marriage plans, or just bash his brains in? It all concludes in the historic wedding issue! Includes the wedding prelude story from DC NATION #0.

Plus there is an optional tie-in Preludes to the Wedding

Wedding bells are ringing in Gotham City…and the criminal underworld is determined to silence them! Following The Joker’s discovery that Batman and Catwoman are getting married, Gotham City’s villains jump into action. If they are going to lose one of their own, it’s not going to be so their greatest foe can be happy! This new title collects Robin vs. Ra’s Al Ghul #1, Nightwing vs. Hush #1, Batgirl vs. The Riddler #1, Red Hood vs. Anarky #1 and Harley Quinn vs. The Joker #1.

:books: WHAT TO READ :books:
There are three different series which tell the complete story. For us, we are only reading DC Nation #0 (Story 1) and Batman #48-50. You do NOT need prior knowledge to enjoy it, but it is useful. There is also a fun mini-series tie in which consists of 5 one-shots about a Batman Character fighting an iconic batman villain with a wedding thrown in. Or maybe not? you decide. Chronologically, the preludes come before the Wedding
DC Nation #0 Story #1
Batman #48-50
Optional Tie-in: Batman: Prelude to the Wedding mini-series
:eight_spoked_asterisk: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Is this your first time reading Batman: The Wedding
  2. What was the stand out moment in the main story to you?
  3. Is Holly right that Bruce can’t be Batman and be happy?
  4. What did you think of that ending?
  5. Did you laugh in the joker scenes?
  6. If you are reading Preludes, did it feel like a tie-in or a corporate excuse to make money? What story was best?
  7. Should this club read Vol. 8 of this book when it comes out? (note it’s very accessible like this was)
  • Yes, This series rocks!!
  • No, I don’t want to read more.
0 voters

I would love to hear your general reactions to the story!

2019-11-06T08:00:00Z → 2019-11-13T08:00:00Z

The club members voted on this weeks flair and you chose… Batman #48!!!

P.S. Primer is COMING SOON.

Want to join the club for an exclusive ever-changing flair, notifications, AND early access to reading orders? Join the club by clicking this link: https://community.dcuniverseinfinite.com/g/NewtoDCU

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Questions, Comments, Concerns? Feel free to reach out to me on through messaging.
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New to DCU Wiki

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I reread the series and the moment when the joker holds Batman hostage was Hysterical!

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I have read the original main issues in the past, but I haven’t read the tie-ins, so I’ll definitely go for those!

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Enjoy, they are better than you’d expect!

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Definitely – so far I’ve only read the Robin one, and I rather liked it. It was interesting seeing the exploration of some of the difficulties that Damian might deal with in that “dad’s marrying a new woman, do I have to call her mom?” sort of situation. It’s a real sort of conflict done in this over-the-top superhero format.

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Is this your first time reading Batman: The Wedding?

No, I read it as it came out, but it is my first time rereading it since then.

What was the stand out moment in the main story to you?

I think I would go with issue #49 in general, with Catwoman being stuck with and having this strange repertoire with The Joker. They have this weird, interesting dynamic – tied together I feel since they were introduced in the same issue. It was interesting seeing them talk about how she was in and not in with all the other rogues, and the dynamic of Batman with them all.

Is Holly right that Bruce can’t be Batman and be happy?

Well, first we have to remember that Holly was saying all that under the orders of a psyhotic, steroid-pumping nude luchador with massive envy issues. Bane’s idea of who Batman is, no matter how much the two may have in common (as seen in the previous I Am Bane arc), is definitely warped with Bane’s own experiences.

But can Bruce be Batman and be happy? I guess that depends on what you mean by “happy.” I don’t think Bruce would ever be truly content with a “normal” life. I feel that he was always meant to become a detective. While he is a man who is plagued by his trauma and melancholy, the act of solving the case, stopping the criminal, saving lives…that does make him happy. At least as much happy as he can be.

I think what this whole run is doing is exploring the idea of finding happiness. I don’t think Bruce quite realizes what makes him happy, and he believes the only way he can be happy is being with Selina. While I am definitely a fan of their dynamic together and want them to be together, his problem is believing that he needs her to be happy, when in reality the only way to be happy is to be content with yourself. That’s the weakness Bane utilizes, and that’s what causes Bruce to fall.

This answer became way too big and unwieldy. I hope I made sense. I guess what I’m trying to say is yes, he can be Batman and happy. It may not be the standard, acceptable societal idea of happy, but it’s his, and it doesn’t make it lesser than anyone else’s.

What did you think of that ending?

When it was first revealed that Selina would go runaway bride – because in the age of the internet around comics, all these big revelations are revealed the day before, sadly – I admit I was really bummed out. I was looking forward to the idea of seeing Batman and Catwoman in a committed relationship and trying to make it work – because let’s face it, even if it went off without a hitch, doesn’t mean there still wouldn’t be problems and drama. Hell, what married couple doesn’t have a little of that?

But then when I read it and got to the last page, I saw…Bane? Joker? Riddler? Gotham Girl? Freaking Flashpoint Batman?! I knew there was definitely going to be a lot more story going on and I wanted to see what happens next.

And in retrospect, it’s kind of for the best that the wedding didn’t work out like this, because I personally would much rather see Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle get hitched than Batman and Catwoman.

Did you laugh in the joker scenes?

Yeah, there were some pretty good bits there, though I think some of the funnier bits came from him interacting with Selina, like him trying to convince her to hold his clip so he can reload his gun to kill her, and both agreeing that Riddler’s sideburns are horrible (and they absolutely are – kill it kill it with fire–).

If you are reading Preludes, did it feel like a tie-in or a corporate excuse to make money? What story was best?

Well, if you want to be technical, all comics exist to make money. But as to whether they’re good tie-ins…yes and no. I think they do some pretty interesting character stuff for all the members of the Bat-Family. Like I said in the post above, I liked the conflict Damian had about his father loving another woman other than his mother. I liked the struggle that Dick had about not being the best man. I thought it was interesting that Riddler was obsessing with Batgirl and think that dynamic could be explored in her own book. Red Hood having his strange dynamic with Batman, and Harley Quinn’s over-the-top death traps to finally get rid of her awful ex-boyfriend once and for all. Some all really cool story ideas, some I’d like to see explored in later stories.

However, the problem I have with it is that the wedding that’s talked about in the preludes don’t feel like the same wedding we see in Batman #50. The characters around them talk about it like this is some established thing, that everyone has their roles to play, even if it is unorthodox in being married in their costumed identities. But in the actual issue, it’s like they completely throw all that stuff away and just go “Hey, wanna get married this morning? Cool, let’s meet on this rooftop, I’ll get this blackout drunk judge to officiate, we’ll bring one witness, it’ll be great.” So with that, everything we see in terms of the wedding preparation we saw in these preludes felt…pointless.

Overall, I’m really glad I read these issues here on DCU rather than picking them up when they came out. If I did, I think it would have felt a bit ripped off.

Should this club read Vol. 8 of this book when it comes out? (note it’s very accessible like this was)

I’d be down for it – hopefully others are too, because sadly it seems like this story wasn’t talked about here like it the previous Justice League books in this book club. Which is a shame, because while this arc was definitely controversial, I think it’s definitely worth talking about.

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No, I read them when they came out. Except for some of the Prelude issues, those I just picked up a few that interested me at the time.

Definitely the conversation with Catwoman about the old days. I especially liked when the Joker was wondering if Catwoman agreed if he was crazy or not. That seemed so important to him, it was crazy! (tee hee). Kind of makes you think maybe he isn’t so much, though. There is that old saying that if you think you’re crazy, you’re not.

Is Holly right that Bruce can’t be Batman and be happy?

No, I don’t agree with her or Didio on that. He’s not Batman because he’s unhappy; he’s Batman because he’s driven. He’s driven by his desire to see justice in an unjust world, to try to keep what happened to him as a child happening to others. That drive, that passion, isn’t going to change with Bruce having a healthy, successful love life. And, really, Selina should have known better.

Boy, was I surprised when this came out; I didn’t catch any of the spoilers on the internet beforehand and I didn’t see it coming. I did really love the issue, even with the ending, because I thought it was a great love letter to Batman & Catwoman’s relationship, and the pin-up pages are phenomenal. I wasn’t disappointed in the ending, or mad (I don’t get mad at storylines - it’s not my story) but I did think it was nuts how much they hyped the wedding only to blow it up.

Yes, several times, especially when the Joker decided he better just take himself as the hostage (although, if I was Batman, I’d just let him shoot himself, truthfully).

Like @Jay_Kay said, it’s hard to call any comic a “cash grab” when the point is for them to make money, but, well…yes, I found them unessential and designed more to make money than to please the audience. I thought some were good and some were bad. My favorite was the Harley Quinn issues - I really like her interaction with her ex-Puddin’. My least favorite was the one with Anarky. However, truth be told, I don’t believe I’ve ever read a story with him in it that I did 100% enjoy.

Well, sure! No reason not to.

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@Jay_Kay Loved what you said about about the retrospect. I think on the other side of the window, we know in a sense it is worth it, but we also know it isn’t fully worth it. I still wish they had just gotten married.

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@ralphsix I can’t believe you missed the spoilers for the issue. “I need some tips”

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I don’t know, I tend not not to read reviews or threads about stuff I haven’t read or seen yet, and I picked up the issue the day it came out. Then I grabbed some popcorn and went to see enjoy the fanboy rage afterwards (no offense meant to any fanboys a’ragin’).

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Yeah – I think I’ll probably get into it when we get to Cold Days, but I kind of feel that while there is a lot I like about Tom King’s run, there’s always this little part of my head that thinks “it could be so much better if it went in THIS direction instead of THAT.”