Review: Batman Vol. 13- City of Bane Part 2

Quick Summary

Pros: The book is intense and gripping from the very start and gets even more so as the book moves into its finale. The emotions between the characters are well-written and add additional weight to everything that is happening. The majority of the book’s conclusion is satisfying and works well in bringing this Batman run to a close. The majority of the artwork looks great.

Cons: Some aspects of the finale feel a little rushed. The artwork in the opening chapters is lackluster.

Overall: This is the epic conclusion to a highly-entertaining run on Batman. It lives up to expectations from a suspense standpoint by providing a thrilling conclusion to a battle between Batman and his enemies. It also lives up to expectations from an emotional standpoint by building on all of the development coming before this book. Though some pieces of the conclusion feel rushed, it mostly brings things to a close in a satisfying way. Anyone who has been enjoying Tom King’s Batman or who simply wants to see the most dramatic development since the Wedding should read this book.

Story

Batman Vol. 12: City of Bane Part 2 works as a thrilling extension of the current story arc and as a mostly satisfying conclusion to Tom King’s long-running stretch writing Batman. The volume delivers on high-intensity action and unexpected twists as the confrontation between Batman and Bane moves into its final stages. However, the volume also comes through heavily when it comes to emotion, dealing with lingering feelings between Batman and Catwoman, the animosity between Batman and Flashpoint Batman, and the fallout from what happened to Alfred in the previous book. All of this comes to a head as the finale comes around and this chapter in Batman’s history comes to a close. The only downside is that some aspects of the finale feel a little rushed. Overall though, this is a solid volume that most fans will enjoy.

(spoilers start here)

City of Bane Part 2 opens with Batman, Catwoman, and members of the Bat-family returning to Gotham. They immediately mount an impressive strategic comeback that puts Batman and Catwoman face to face with Bane. Then, in a great twist, right as it appears Batman will win and Bane will be defeated, Batman is shot by his father and seemingly defeated. The rapid changes to the balance of power here are fun to see play out and make the read gripping and intense right from the start.

From here, things switch from action-focused to emotion-focused. The read has Batman discover Alfred’s death and, thus, has the hero of the story react to the death of the man who has truly been his father. This is accompanied by an absolutely tear-jerking farewell letter from Alfred. Then, readers learn more about the horrible life Flashpoint Batman has lived through and begin to understand why he has been so adamant about “breaking” Batman, even if his motives are misguided. This leads to a final confrontation where Batman has the tactical upper hand, due to another solid twist, but where he wins by simply talking to Flashpoint Batman and having him understand that what he is doing cannot and will not work. The entire confrontation is awesome and works as a dramatic and thematically-relevant conclusion to King’s work on the series.

With the conflict over, City of Bane moves into an epilogue. Readers see Batman and Catwoman reunited and see Gotham Girl achieve a measure of happiness, both of which are wonderfully optimistic features to conclude on.

My biggest complaint with this portion of the read is that it felt like Bane and Gotham Girl were dealt with far too quickly. With Bane as the organizer behind nearly everything that has happened to Batman over the last twelve volumes, I would have expected a more epic battle between them. I also expected to see more than a quick farewell appearance from Gotham Girl, especially considering how much she appeared in the previous book.

Finally, City of Bane Part 2 closes with a quick retrospective of several times Batman saved Gotham, the world, or the universe. It is a solid montage of Batman moments that really play to some of his strengths, like his propensity for defending the innocent or his ability to win against insurmountable odds. It also works as a solid close to Tom King’s run on Batman.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in City of Bane Part 2 is mostly positive, with a notable exception. The volume opens with John Romita, Jr.’s somewhat disappointing entry into the series. First off, Romita’s work is a dramatic shift in visual style, taking the series from a predominately realistic approach to something far more stylized. I found this shift a little jarring, given that a dramatic shift like this is occurring at the opening of the comic’s final arc. In addition, Romita’s work isn’t as good as usual and ends up making several characters look particularly strange, with a few Catwoman panels standing out in a seriously unfortunate way.

Luckily, City of Bane Part 2 improves significantly after the first few chapters. Here, Mikel Janín takes over on visuals and does some impressive work. The characters, backgrounds, and general flow of the comic all look great. It allows emotion to come through on faces while ensuring the action is dynamic. As mentioned in previous reviews, I particularly enjoy Janín’s visuals when they are paired with Jordie Bellaire’s colors, which prove to be a formidable pairing throughout this book. I also enjoyed Jorge Fornés’ work on the flashback chapters and felt that the style change-up seen here the retrospective nature of these chapters. All in all, this collection features some great artwork, enough to easily make up for the blunders in the book’s opening chapters.

Continuity

Batman Vol. 13: City of Bane Part 2 continues the story from Batman Vol. 12: City of Bane Part 1 (Review).

The Batman series continues with Batman Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs. Tom King’s work on Batman continues with the Batman and Catwoman series.

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The volume heavily references the entire series thus far, which started with Batman Vol. 1: I am Gotham (Review). See our “Batman by Tom King Reading Order” for more information.
• The Flashpoint Batman is from the Flashpoint (Review) (Reading Order) event. The explanation behind what happened to his wife is told in the Flashpoint: Batman- Knight of Vengeance series, collected in Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring Batman (Review).
• Porky’s Bar was introduced in Batman/Elmer Fudd #1, collected in DC Meets Loony Tunes.