[World of Bats] Batman Vol 3 #9-15 & Annual #2 "I Am Suicide/Rooftops & Date Nights/Last Rites"

Welcome to another installment of the World of Bats, the Batman Book Club! This week, in anticipation of the Batman/Catwoman maxi-series by Tom King and Clay Mann coming out this coming Tuesday, we’ll be going back to the Tom King run of Batman and exploring a few stories more explicitly focused on that relationship.

First, issues #9-13, “I Am Suicide,” with art by Mikal Janin.

Batman has always been crazy…but this? This is suicide! In order to retrieve Psycho-Pirate and save Gotham Girl, Batman must recruit a team from Amanda Waller to break into the most impenetrable prison in the world and steal from one of the Dark Knight’s greatest foes…Bane. The next great Batman story begins here!

Then in #14-15, we have “Rooftops,” with art by Mitch Geralds:

Back in Gotham City, Batman and Catwoman confront their past and make a decision about their future that may change their city forever.

Finally, we’ll go through Annual #2, “Date Nights/Last Rites” with art by Lee Weeks and Michael Lark.

Travel back in time with us to see the early days of the Bat and the Cat. What was Bruce and Selina’s first date? How did this rivalry blossom into romance, and then go right back to being a rivalry again? Tom King reteams with his BATMAN/ELMER FUDD collaborator Lee Weeks to show us a little young love with capes and cowls. And a little crimefighting, too.

This week’s reading will go from 2020-11-28T06:00:00Z2020-12-04T06:00:00Z, but since this is a lot of issues, this is a reminder that anyone reading these past the “deadline” can always come back to share their thoughts. :slight_smile:

For questions or concerns, contact @BatJamags or @Jay_Kay.

Click here to learn more about World of Bats.

Click here to join and get cool flair!

1 Like

And if this isn’t enough Batman for you this week, I’ll give a shout out to some of the other Batman related clubs here on DCU:

As we had before, we’re continuing our ongoing collab with the Renegade Robins club to cover the weekly series “Batman Eternal.” They are also detailing the last arc of the Scott Lobdell New 52 run of Red Hood & The Outlaws, as well as Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II.

Harley’s Crew is also covering the last half of the mini-series Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life & Death, as well as issues 21-25 of the New 52 run of Suicide Squad.

And finally, the Dick Grayson Fan Club is continuing to cover the story Nightwing: Year One!

3 Likes

Ah, the reveal from that first issue is so amusing. King keeps hinting and hinting that it will be the Joker, and then we get the Killing Joke line, and…well, you’ll just have to see for yourselves, kiddies. :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes

Speaking of, one thing I really liked about that first issue of I Am Suicide was how it kind of felt like an anti-Rebirth story, to some degree.

By that I mean that when Rebirth started, a lot of it was kind of just DC going back to the status quo to try and win back the old guard. Nightwing was going back to Bludhaven, Batgirl got back her history as Oracle, Wonder Woman literally had all her New 52 history revealed as a lie and reverted back to Perez but boring.

Issue 9 of Batman does the opposite in not only having this big revelation, but also revealing completely new history, like casually namedropping “The War of Jokes & Riddles.” The actual arc showcasing that story is…mixed, but when it came out, I was so curious to find out what that was.

3 Likes

The villain cameos in issue 14 left me way too giddy.

Then issue 15 embraced my view of continuity. :wink:

3 Likes

Scary

Scarier

Terrifying

4 Likes

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
For the bubblegum raft.

3 Likes

Right? They seem to be genuinely in love, but I’d hate to see the kid that comes out of that union! :open_mouth:

And yeah, the bubblegum raft was cool. :smiley:

Cool new avatar, by the way! It’s from Batman & Mister Freeze: Subzero, right?

3 Likes

Yes! Thank you. It’s one of my favorites. Maybe rivaling public enemies.

2 Likes

So, Salina goes through the whole B&E charade to give Bruce millions in diamonds; and they just leave them scattered on the rooftop?
I guess she is not in it for the money and he doesn’t need it.
Nice work if you can get it.

3 Likes

So “I Am Suicide” is an interesting story, in that you go into it thinking it’s going to be something specific – a sort of Ocean’s 11 caper with these supervillains who will probably scheme and betray each other and die. While you do get a little bit of that, a big part of what this story is more of a series of confessions between two people who are in love but are torn by their allegiances and duty. I think issue 12, which has Batman’s letter to Selina is really poetic and I think really encapsulates the inner tragedy and inner strength of the character.

That said, with hindsight of what happens in the series, some of the changes done with Catwoman and her past feel…pointless. Like, okay, Catwoman being in Arkham and the reason why is a hell of a cliffhanger, but is it really necessary for the character? Having not reread Rooftops yet, I would say it also really throws away Holly Robinson’s history in such a pointless way. Like, before the New 52, she was a great character, this former addict who picked herself back up, gained a new life, and even became Catwoman herself for a while. Now she’s just a crazy mass killer. I’m hoping after some time passes some new writer will find some way to mend that a little bit.

1 Like

And before that, she died. :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like

Is it really a suicide squad if nobody dies?

I enjoyed the reading. I am Suicide was a fun caper that really did have some nice writing between Batman and Catwoman. The idea that Batman and Catwoman have basically killed themselves by putting on the costumes is an interesting, poetic choices and it does make it feel a little more tragic that they can never really be together since they seem such a good match. Rooftops felt elegiac and in the same vein. It was also a good read.

1 Like

Huh, that’s an interesting read because I almost got the exact opposite reading from it. Like since they’re both “dead,” they’re the only people who they can really be with for the rest of their lives. Things might happen that push them away, but they’re always drawn back to each other.

2 Likes

I think the tragic part is that they truly are the only ones for each other but any relationship they have will ultimately be fleeting. Batman’s moral compass ultimately won’t let him consort with a criminal and Catwoman’s nature won’t let her go totally straight. I agree that they will always be drawn to each other, but they will never settle down together. (I’m assuming the story in the annual where they grew old together isn’t in continuity. If it was that completely blows up my point.)

I don’t think we necessarily disagree but are just taking a different perspective on it

1 Like

This was pretty interesting read. @john.21795 I think catwoman always has to have the upper hand because its there and if she didn’t take it, it would be sort of an loss.
Catwoman “stole the night” and had a great time with batman. Its like “buying a cake and eating it too” sort of think I think.
Also catwoman looks Old. Are they suppose to be in their 40s and 50s at this point?
its also pretty funny, batman got decked out by a woman with one punch. must of been a monstrous punch!

1 Like

Do you mean in the Annual? Because the second half of the book is definitely the two as older.

Glad you enjoyed! :slight_smile:

1 Like

No I meant on Batman #14-15 because her hairstyle and her look makes her look like older trinity from the matrix.

Ah, I see what you mean. Perhaps. I think DC at this point is a little more okay with some of their bigger heroes being older, like Batman and Superman. I’m not sure if they’re willing to do that for their popular female characters like Catwoman, though, since there’s sadly still a stigma with older women.

I also think that could just be Mitch Gerads’ style in general. While his women characters like say Catwoman here, or his other works with King like Big Barda or Alanna Strange, are definitely gorgeous, they’re also way more realistically drawn, or allowed to have less standard features or flaws.

2 Likes