Tom King Off Batman?
 

A rumor is brewing that Tom King is being dropped from Batman as of #85. I wasn't a fan of his run and dropped it early on but if this is true, it kind of sucks how quick this happened.

DC/Warner changes its mind quicker than it changes its socks.


https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/05...ue-will-be-85/

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I read this too and heard from several sources the same rumor. I also heard that if this happens, Tom King will ask for changes in the exclusivity of his contract.

Honestly, the Knightmares arc wasn't bad but went on too long. This the big problem with DC using the approach of writing story arcs for 5 issues instead of a natural run of 2-3 issues.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

It seems this is real

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

It has been rumored that Bendis will take over Batman when King's run ended. King's time on Batman has been divisive, especially after the wedding fiasco. Probably too much filler and padding when looking back for 100 planned issues.

Batman is also DC's golden goose. How have sales been lately on Batman? I know many thought the latest arc dragged on and on.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Batman sales dropped from 100K to 88K in the last month. At the same time, Immortal Hulk surpassed Batman in sales. If the bean counters at DC are worried, they need to understand that the Immortal Hulk thing is an anomaly, as Marvel allowed retailers to do their own variants for issues 16, 17 and now 18.

I won't like Bendis on Batman. Bendis is pretty good with own creations but with established characters, he sucks. Bendis' been living on the fame he created with Alias and Ultimate Spider-Man and the revamp of Avengers, but everything he has touched, like X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and now Superman, he has fucked by disrespecting what previous writers established and dismissing it in a whim. I have a feeling more people will drop Batman if Bendis take on the book.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I just read King said the next story arc would set up a new status quo for Batman to wrap up his 100 issue run. Guess DC didn't want to go with than new status quo?

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Bendis cares not for continuity, which is why he's always better off doing something like Ultimate Spider-Man where he can't step on established characters too much.

Some indications now that King is being given a Wally West solo book, and this might somehow tie into Doomsday Clock. I think they are about to already retcon Heroes In Crisis.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Official. Tom King off Batman and moving on to a 12 issue series called Batman and Catwoman. Seriously, fuck DC for doing this.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I was Kings #1 fan until issue #50. And the nightmare issues have been pure garbage. I think King works best in the mini series format, with obscure characters.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Felt the same way. Still, we are 3/4 till the run was supposed to end, so why now? Does DC really think that a replacement now in this part of the run is going to improve the sales of the book? By the way, like I mentioned before, I blame DC marketing and the idiot writer at the NYT more for the Batman #50 debacle than King himself. Issue 50 was the midpoint of the full story, so I can understand King not giving us closure then, but marketing fucked up big time by promoting a wedding that wasn't and then spoiling it for everyone. To me it's similar as when Jim Lee and Dan Didio fucked up the announcement of Justice League #50 (N52) saying that it was going to reveal the Joker's real name/origin and then the issue only revealed that there were 3 Jokers running around DC

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

So now the reason for King being taken off Batman is that he will be writing the New Gods movie for WB, which will be directed by Ava DuVernay

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Yeah. I'm sure that's what happened.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Wait, isn't King the writer for Heroes in Crisis where they destroyed Wally? I hope this Batman and Catwoman book means that he's staying far away from Wally West.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

The Wally thing was a rumor before they announced the Bat/Cat book. I'm thinking it's fake, though all reports are that Wally may get his own book by someone. DC's editorial seems to have changed their plans at some point over the last year, because rumors for a long time had Wally getting shipped to the Suicide Squad after Heroes in Crisis.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

So Wally was supposed to be Penance?

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

This weeks issue was trash. You can either skip it, or skip the entire series and just read it.

Meanwhile:

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

What's with "this week's issue"? I'm not being combative, I'm just one of those people that read the collections as they come out, so I'm a little behind the times. I just read the 9th Batman volume by King and it was essentially just three issues, padded with an annual and another "special" issue.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

It was a recap of the series so far, with a so-so fight scene throughout the issue.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

The only way King could still make a mark on Batman is two different outcomes - Bruce does marry Selina, or he knocks her up and they have a daughter named Helena together.

I'd say betting odds favor the latter. I don't think DC will ever allow them to get married in continuity after what happened to Superman's marriage. But they definitely would give Bruce another batcharacter they can use for yet another monthly book.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Well this weeks issue I read in about 3 mins and gave us

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Reports now say that DC has something "special" planned for Batman #100 and wanted King off the book his run wouldn't interfere with those plans. I have no guesses as to what that could mean.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Rumors that Snyder wanted King off the book.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I blame DC more than King for this bullshit. It's their fault for requiring storylines to last 5 issues for the damn TPB, instead of doing stories for 2-3 issues. King is simply using filler to satisfy his bosses.

I don't think that rumor is true at all. Snyder is off Batman for good after Last Crusade. The blame, according to people I've talked, falls squarely on the new management. They are looking at every single property and being bean counters. Yes, there were some people internally not completely happy with King lately, but Snyder wasn't one of them.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Frankly, King's run makes Snyder's Batman work look better. Snyder probably is very happy about how King's run has unfolded.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Hmm... Didn't care for Snyder's work on Batman. Or any of his work truth be told. Not sure anyone could make him look better.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Well based on tomorrows Batman 77 spoilers that have leaked, King better run for the hills.

Huge spoiler image here

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

More or less confirms to me that DC is rebooting within the next 18 months after Doomsday Clock ends. Can't be anything as bad as this coming Legion reset.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Saw that this afternoon and I imagine this is the big change that AT&T was fighting against and why the King run got cut short. Funny thing is that Snyder was supposed to be pulling this off back in the Batman #50 from the New 52 but plans were changed with the Rebirth looming in.

The whole Legion thing is already causing headaches at DC. Instead of getting the characters that people have know for years, Bendis already decided to make some changes to race and they've gone back and forth. The first Legion preview showed Bouncing Boy as a black guy and Lighting Lad as a red-head white boy. Plans changed and now Bouncing Boy is a white kid and Lighting Lad is a black guy. Bendis is going to be Bendis and do things his own way, probably thworing away over 60 years of Legion characterization. It's fine, since the Legion hasn't been truly relevant since 1980 and had their brief moment of glory back when they did the animated series. I don't know if there is going to be a hard reboot or not at DC once again, but it seems that they are heading once more to a Crisis, which is the fucking thing that has held this company back for so long.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

This Alfred is probably a genetically altered actor that Bane hired and at some point, Batman will find the real Alfred while searching for his missing daughter.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

This issue is selling like hotcakes on Ebay right now at way over cover price. Definitely one to look out for tomorrow at the LCBS.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Just read

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

The race-swapping decisions are 100% made with Hollywood adaptations in mind - I imagine someone high up at DC told Bendis that Bouncing Boy had zero shot of making it to live-action, so race-swapping him was pointless.

Lightning Lad of course is one of the most prominent Legion members and certainly would get included in future live-action adaptations. Personally, I haven't been overwhelmed by the Legion costume redesigns. Most of the new designs are ugly and toss out decades of Legion history.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Bouncing Boy is actually pretty prominent on the team and wouldn't be surprised if he shows up in a live action movie (if there is ever one) as he has been on every single animated incarnation that the Legion shows up. I think the change in race is more to make some Legion members be like legacy characters. I wouldn't be surprised if they tie in the new Lightning Lad to Black Lightning. And Bendis does these changes because he really cares about diversity. People can say whatever they want about his writing, but he's honestly pro-diversity. Bendis is one of those guys who really feels that the comic books need to reflect the real world and that kids of all colors and races need to have a hero that looks like them.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

Maybe King is going to bring Alfred back as The Outsider.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...b1229069ba.jpg

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

A friend of mine mentioned this. Last time we saw the Outsider was during Forever Evil.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

After reading King’s last issue of his Batman run, I wonder why would DC let him handle this character once again in the upcoming Batman & Catwoman series. It all really went downhill after issue 50 but this last issue is really bad and it feels like a big fuck you to the readers.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I’m really curious to read this run someday soon. King’s writing has been so incredibly good in the few samples I’ve tried, it’s hard to imagine it being that bad. But I’ll go in unbiased and hopefully remember to report back.

Re: Tom King Off Batman?
 

I was severely let down by "I am Suicide" by King and never went back. To be fair, I was hoping for a little more realistic, Denny O'Neil-inspired or even Christopher Nolan-styled handling, given his intelligence background. That said, I'm very excited to check out his "Mister Miracle" run. I think it was just not what I was wanting from the character after being away for so long. I've vaguely kept up with his run, story-wise and none of it seemed bad, just normal comics.