Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the culmination of months of storylines with the wedding of the Bat and the Cat. Do I take Batman #50, to have and to hold, to be as good as I’d hoped? I… don’t.
I know, I’m disappointed too. But this bumper-sized wedding issue is unfortunately very underwhelming. Bruce and Selina prepare for their big night on the rooftops (where else to marry but the place they’ve been chasing each other for decades?) and… then there’s the end. In between? Nothing much.
The rambling monologues of Batman and Catwoman, in the form of letters to one another, fill up most of this comic, most of it without a point, allowing the plethora of big name guest artists to draw unrelated full page illustrations of the couple. Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Paul Pope, Neal Adams, Tim Sale and Amanda Conner are just a few of those who contribute art. Mikel Janin draws the art in-between and it looks as exemplary as it always does.
It’s a really, really pretty comic - I just wish there was more to it. Like a story! There are moments here and there, my favourite being Alfred after Bruce tells him he’s the one from the family joining him up there for the vows (as if anyone else would do!), and the comic is bursting with Easter Eggs not only from Tom King’s Batman run (Kite Man, Porky’s) but from Batman’s entire history, referencing key creators, writers and artists in Gotham locations: Finger Tower, Robinson Blvd, O’Neil Ave, etc.
And then the ending. In hindsight, it’s kinda predictable, but still… And that last page. I can’t pretend I saw that one coming. As much as it got me pumped up for the next story arc, it only underscored how lacking in substance this issue was. It felt less like the climax of a story and more like the unexpected preamble to another.
But it’s worth keeping in mind that Tom King’s Batman run is literally a 100 issue storyline. Meaning we’re at the halfway mark. Meaning this was never really going to be an ending of anything. And it’s worth noting the bait and switch Batman and Catwoman have done earlier in this series with that certain someone from the last page so… who knows what the future holds?
For all the pomp and circumstance leading up to it, Batman #50 is a bit of a let down in some ways though also an encouraging teaser for what’s to come. This one’s more for fans of Batman art than for those expecting a strong narrative, which is a shame as you usually get both with Tom King’s Batman.
And another good thing to come out of this: Catwoman’s new series spins off from King’s Batman, written and drawn by Joelle Jones - if you’ve read her Dark Horse series, Lady Killer, you’ll know she can write as brilliantly as she draws, and her recent art on Batman has been awesome, so that’s one series I’m definitely picking up.
For he’s a jolly good fell… oh.
(As a side note, I was listening to XO purely by chance after reading this and realised Elliott Smith’s I Didn’t Understand is the perfect musical accompaniment to the end of this issue.)
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