Batman: Killing Time (2022-) #1

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King and Marquez have set up an intriguing first issue, as it embraces non-linear storytelling and takes advantage of it in the mystery genre.

King does a good job wrapping up loose ends, we get to see nearly all the major players at least one more time, with the exception of The Help.

Without these, it would just read like another Batman story where there’s a MacGuffin in the form of a treasure. But if DC has a signature strength, it's their ability to release a constant stream of universally approachable books, and in a perfect world screenings of The Batman would come with a copy of Killing Time.

In Batman's second year of his crusade against crime, while he is still changing and perfecting his craft and the art of the vigilante, the cowardly lot of criminals in the city are changing as well-giving rise to darker, specialised rogues.However, the hiccups mentioned earlier about where and how this fits within what King already wrote, as well as some character details had me pumping the breaks a bit. But things quickly go wrong as Riddler's penchant for leaving clues tips off both Batman and less savory aspects of Gotham's criminal underworld. Aun así es un tebeo espectacular en cuanto a dibujo y color, y ojalá David Marquez y Alejandro Sánchez repitan pronto con King. 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.

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. Over nearly 100 issues from the main book, one-shots, annuals, and Batman/Catwoman, Batman was taken to some of his darkest places and challenged to overcome his fears at every turn. This issue continues the trend of narration, time jumps, and building off elements we’ve seen previously, focusing on Clock King’s point of view –which it’s always followed, but we the reader understand now.However, I am starting to think the man is coasting on the quality of the art in his books because the writing is getting a tad…how shall we say, bad. As much as I go back and forth on the little things that aren’t perfect about this series, I have to admit that I like it.

Por mí que King siga escribiendo miniseries de este palo con el murciélago y la gata siempre que quiera. And as they move about the city they're hunted by an inexperienced Batman who knows two things: One, he'll need to be better than he's ever been to catch these two psychopaths; two, Penguin survived and if he gets to them first, it'll be a bloodbath like Gotham's never seen. 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. February 26: Croc, motivated by his former girlfriend Vera Angleton’s disgust at his current form, decides to be the patsy for Riddler’s plan. Focusing on Catwoman and Riddler was really exciting, but I’m super intrigued by The Help and I’d love to see more from him (especially his time with Ra’s Al Ghul and Penguin).

The Help gives Vera (Croc’s flame) the money for being Penguin’s patsy, telling her not to spend it. The timing is so well executed and immersive, I caught myself rooting for Riddler as he tries to crack a safe and I was riveted by the Catwoman plot that perfectly lines up with Riddler’s carefully laid out timing. A bit more violent than your typical Batman story but has some aspects of Indiana Jones/Pulp Fiction. But here both Marquez and King portray a Batman that lives up to the original concept of someone who has mastered every human skill.