DC Comics reviews 5/3/22 – Flashpoint Beyond #1, Batman #123

Batman Killing Time #3

This might have been the best and most frustrating issue of Killing Time wrapped up into one installment.

Tom King has had an up and down run while writing the adventures of Catwoman and Batman, but Killing Time feels different. There’s a confidence in his writing that King doesn’t always exhibit. He’s not wavering or dealing with any apparent self-doubts. It’s why he can so doggedly stick to the time shifts on every other page.

Some are just minutes; others are hours while shifts are centuries ago. It makes Killing Time a needlessly annoying reading experience. The series feels somewhat gimmicky as a result. Yet the story itself, without the time shifts, is actually fairly engaging.

Batman faces off with The Help, a character King didn’t lose much sleep naming or designed. The Help is called in by Penguin after being double crossed by Catwoman and Riddler. King has lofty hopes for The Help indicated by a line stating, “Batman and The Help engage in the first of what will become a series of legendary battles.”

The Help is an interesting adversary recognizing the various influences of Batman’s fighting styles. That’s a nice touch although The Help has to be like every new villain and be better than the scores of characters that came before him. This constant need to one up villains gets a little tiresome as they all are super elite fighters incapable of being defeated now.

David Marquez’s art continues to astonish. Marquez has such a strong feel of crafting dynamic layouts. The action sequences flow so organically with a steady sense of movement. Alejandro Sánchez chooses a soothing mix of warm colors giving the pages an almost campfire-like glow.

Disorienting storytelling device aside, Killing Time is keeping my interest. King’s biggest problem with his recent titles is sticking the landing. If he can avoid a lackluster conclusion, this could be one of his better projects in years.

Rating: 8 out of 10