Batman Vol. 6: Bride or Burglar

One of Batman’s most interesting books!!

Yes, time to address the elephant in the room. Even with the (in my opinion) reveal of the twist ending of the wedding themed Batman #50 issue casting a shadow over this volume, Tom King's Batman run remains one of the best interpretations of the Dark Knight in recent memory. Starting with a dark one shot about a trust fund kid who wants to emulate Bruce Wayne in all the worst ways, then an inter dimensional story co starring Wonder Woman, next a solid story starring Poison Ivy, and finally a charming one shot about Catwoman's search for a wedding dress. The writing is top notch all the way through, though the weaker story arc for me was the one starring Wonder Woman. In this arc Diana and Bruce are sent to another dimension to fight an unending horde usually held at bay by a lone warrior (they decide to literally give him a break) only for it to turn out that time passes slowly there and one of our hours is almost a decade for them. The entire arc is seemingly meant to tease a will they won't they between Diana and Batman that doesn't go anywhere. The Poison Ivy story is stronger thanks to the great exploration of Batman's crazy ability to plan his way out of anything; Ivy manages to take over the entire world with mind controlling spores in the world's food supply only to have Batman and Catwoman hold out against her. The story also seeks to answer the recent conundrum of whether Ivy is more of an anti-hero than an outright villain. The artwork is solid throughout, but the standout issues are those drawn by Joelle Jones (who provided the cover art to the volume and the one shot about Selina "shopping" for her dress). Spoilers, but yes, even knowing that for now the Cat and Bat won't tie the knot the book remains a great read.

Tom Kings' Batman stories are my favorite books to read right now. No teenage angst story or dark brooding love of the villain story like other comics. This is a well written story with characters we care about. I look forward to reading more of his books.

I hate that there is so much media coverage around this storyline and that the trades are coming out late, but none of that is the fault of the writer and artists. King keeps churning out one excellent story after another. I absolutely love every page from the beautiful art to the fantastic lettering.

A strong build up to the wedding. The art is among the best that’s come out from DC. If you know what happens in 50, don’t let the result curve your opinion. 50 was just one issue. Everything before and after are more important. This builds to Catwoman in ways no other writer has done before

Another fun ride with these characters. I love the art style of this set. I also loved seeing the characters as they grew.

I'm in the minority in that - while I love Court of Owls - I find Scott Snyder's previous Batman comics to be too pretentiously wordy, gross, bleak, and macho. Consequently, this Tom King storyline is the perfect course correction. Emotional, character-driven, less relebtlessly grimdark, with a more sympathetic Batman and well-written women characters. Fantastic.

really good art with an okey story