Batman: Killing Time #6 – Tom King, Writer; David Marquez, Artist; Alejandro Sanchez, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: It’s been a long strange journey across Gotham and the world as Batman battled villains old and new for a mysterious stone eye that may or may not be infused with incredible powers. The battle pulled in a ruthless government agent named Nuri Espinoza and left hundreds of henchmen and police officers dead in a Gotham park before the true mastermind was finally revealed—Clock King, who had been manipulating just about everyone in the series. It makes a lot of sense in retrospect—so much about this series has been about time. The timeline went back and forth, skipping around, with the exact place in the narrative always obsessively noted. It’s a great example of hiding a mystery in plain sight so it fits in perfectly once you can see things clearly. But before Batman gets his hands on the Clock King, he has a few explosive loose ends to take care of.
This final issue is strong, but it has a lot of work to do. There are so many subplots and so many rogues running around that certain characters essentially either have their fate decided off-screen or very abruptly. The Help basically disappears, and I’m hoping that means the charismatic master henchman will be returning in future stories. On the other hand, Nuri Espinoza went from being an agent of the law to being a chaotic villain, and her ultimate fate kind of feels like something out of an Ennis story from the 1990s. Clock King sort of feels like a bit player despite being the mastermind, but King reminds us that he’s really not all that hard to beat once you get his number. Batman pulls off some amazing stunts, but he’s never really been the star of this story. That’s always been Catwoman and Riddler, the two iconic rogues, and their heist comes crashing down on them in epic style this issue. Ultimately, it’s a very strange story but a far more satisfying one than the recently concluded Batman/Catwoman.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
