Batman: Killing Time

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The convoluted chronological storyline chosen by King and justified by the use of Clock King as the narrator (and the reveal in issue five of exactly WHO is narrating is one of King’s best-constructed reveals) moves brilliantly from second to second, hammering home emotions and information with polished skill. Mostly, this is a heist story with Riddler and Catwoman stealing a MacGuffin from Batman and going on the run as they try to sell it to the mysterious mastermind behind the whole affair. Or perhaps it’s simply a story meant to kill time, as the title suggests, and that it’s not really about anything more than what we see on the surface. Batman captures all the criminals responsible, but Clock King gives the Eye of God away since it was all just a way for him to kill time.

Batman: Killing Time Takes Its Title and Makes It Meta - CBR Batman: Killing Time Takes Its Title and Makes It Meta - CBR

He seems to have hoped, just as anyone else did, that it might bring him special power or good fortune. Despite Batman being the titular character, in which he has been the Caped Crusader for a couple of years, he isn’t really the main character, continuing a recent streak of King not that interested in Batman as a character. Killing Time is also a Tom King special in that the narrative timeline is goofy as hell (though easier to follow than Batman/Catwoman) and the "final villain" is purposefully lame (I think). Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman meet in Central Park that night; Riddler beats Penguin savagely with his own umbrella, leaving an address in Morse code in the bruises. And after all the squabbling over the eye, including a pitched battle between every gang of henchmen in Gotham and the American government, it rolls down to the bottom of a hill -- only for Clock King to pick it up.The story jumps around moments in time and coincidentally focuses on the same characters who appeared in The Batman (save for Killer Croc), starring actor Robert Pattinson and directed by Matt Reeves. David Marquez's artwork is fantastic and King's storytelling chops are sufficient to keep you engaged, even as you begin to realize that none of Killing Time will really matter in the long run. The final issue does reveal some answers, but reading through the other issues is a chore to get through. There are myriad storylines intersecting throughout and jumping back and forth in time, a bit like Pulp Fiction, but the overall narration has this pattern of noting very specific times, which feels tedious to read after a spell, not least because who’s really taking in specific dates in relation to the story?

Batman: Killing Time on the way from King and Marquez Batman: Killing Time on the way from King and Marquez

The most likely candidate to pick up these threads for King, his old Grayson writing partner Tim Seeley, isn’t working regularly for DC, so it doesn’t seem that likely in the near future. 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.The Batman Universe is a "fan site" and is not affiliated in any way with DC Comics, DC Entertainment or Warner Bros. He tells Batman that Ra’s showed him the box seventy-five years prior, bragging that by owning it, he’d conquered the world. Similar to his onscreen portrayal by actor Paul Dano and unlike how he is seen in Killing Time, the Riddler has been speaking directly to Gotham City's citizens over the radio and televised broadcasts in the book. This book is paced in a very weird way to accomodate the reveal at the end, there’s a few great issues in the middle of the series but it ends very poorly and takes a while to really get going.

Batman: Killing Time by Tom King: 9781779516985 Batman: Killing Time by Tom King: 9781779516985

The Help gives Vera (Croc’s flame) the money for being Penguin’s patsy, telling her not to spend it. I've been a bit tepid with some of King's recent output—except for his and Bilquis Evely's Supergirl, which is excellent—but reading this reminded me why I love his take on the Batman and Gotham as much as I do. For the past several years, Tom King has been writing Batman in one way or the other, be it the main title, miniseries, or one-shots featuring Elmer Fudd that stand up as some of the finest Batman content the world has to offer, full stop.In Year Two, facing the new threat of Batman, the group of Catwoman, Riddler, Clock King, and Penguin conspire to steal the Eye of God from Bruce Wayne and sell it to the government, interfacing with ludicrously foul-mouthed agent Nuri Espinoza. That pure idealism shines even in darker stories like Batman: Killing Time and One Bad Day: Riddler (where Batman spends a crucial, beautiful page comforting the widow of a man slaughtered for no reason by the Riddler). In the title's premiere issue, the Riddler/Edward Nygma betrayed the Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, who had bankrolled a shared job between the two villains, Catwoman and Killer Croc in obtaining the mystery item from the bank.