Batman: Killing Time (2022-) #1

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If Killing Time is viewed as an extension on King’s Batman run, I think it represents the best parts of the character when they’re allowed to flourish. Amid the mayhem and chaos, the "prize" is knocked from the holder's hand into the field, eventually claimed by the waiting narrator. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

I’ve talked quite a bit about how much I’m generally enjoying David Marquez’s art over the course of this series, but I wanted to also talk about Clayton Cowles’ letters this issue.For 3000 years, the Eye of God traveled from Ancient Greece to Gotham, surrounded by the legend that if you held it, you controlled the world. It's very much a Tom King book, with all the poetic narration, semi-untraditional narrative structure, and literary references he's known for at this point, but they're all in top form.

Luckily the brilliantly twisty plot, solid art, and phenomenal action make this a Batman story that I'm sure will be a win in any Batman fan's book.It definitely doesn’t follow King’s Batman run as the Batman/Catwoman relationship is completely non-existent here. However, here they are accompanied by time-stamps via narration that allows the book to create concrete expectations and payoffs for each time-line. He spends this whole series trying to get it back, but his own motivation for having and keeping it isn’t nearly as fleshed out as I’d want it to be. Though perhaps a marketing commission from DC to support The Batman film, Tom King pours every ounce of his intellectual craft into Killing Time, creating a pitch-black thematic exploration of the evil men do to each other, illustrated with incredible skill and appeal by David Marquez. With infectiously fun writing and stunning visuals, Batman: Killing Time sees King channeling Soderbergh into the Dark Knight with a superbly fun and intriguing first chapter.

We get to finally learn who’s been narrating this whole adventure, and more importantly how they’ve been able to narrate events as well as they have. This month it’s just me reviewing the title, as Casper is on vacation, so this review won’t contain it’s usual dual tone both in color and conversation. Editor’s Note: This collected edition includes all six issues of the miniseries Batman: Killing Time, which had its first issue released in March 2022 and the final issue released in August 2022.

When Tom King pitched this comic as sidestepping the philosophical questions of Batman for something more fun, I wasn’t convinced he had that in him. He often relies on his experience as an ex-CIA agent and experiences during the recent conflicts in the Middle East in his writing. A new villain is introduced, the execution was fine—but it’s definitely too convoluted and has little pay off, despite the constant drawing out of the mystery and its parallels, making it feel underwhelming and a bit forgettable. The hardcover release of Batman: Killing Time uses David Marquez’s main cover for the first issue, a standard but still quite a fun composition featuring Batman looming over Riddler, a slinky Catwoman, Killer Croc, Penguin, a racing car, and an open bank vault. And if you are looking for a longer version of what happens in Batman: Killing Time, read on for a much more detailed version of the events as we travel through time.