Among the comics I purchased this weekend, my favorite has to Batman Annual#4 with a story titled "Every Day".
I'm following the Batman title written by Tom King and I've got to say that Tom has been really trying my patience. Batman's breakdown after Catwoman left him at the altar and Nightwing was shot in the head has been a slow motion car wreck. The interminable Nightmares arc which were a series of standalone issues linked by them all being in Batman's head was almost enough to make me yank this title off of my pull list.
But the City of Bane arc has done enough damage control to make me stick around for a little longer.
However it's Batman Annual#4 that really redeems Tom King in my eyes.
It's a series of journal entries by Alfred Pennyworth (who may or may not be dead in the City of Bane story line.) It begins with an entry on March 7th and ends with an entry on April 24th (which is my birthday). In between, there is an entry for every single day recounting Batman dealing with one damn thing after another.
March 7th, Batman vs. crooks robbing Gotham City on horseback.
March 8th, Batman fights a dragon.
March 9th, Batman must solve a murder mystery.
Subsequent entries for each and every day show Batman dealing with petty crooks, super villains, an inter-dimensional demi-god, going into space, more monsters, super spies, Kalibak of the freaking New Gods and so on and so on.
It is a story with heart as Alfred's concerns and observations of Bruce are noted in his journal entries, especially when Alfred juxtaposes Batman's current adventures with memories of Bruce as a young child.
What Tom does is employ the reader as co-writer, to ponder the details of certain adventures and exploits. It's a clever concept and one that I had a lot of fun with. Artists Jorge Fornes and Mike Norton do an excellent job of portraying Batman in these multiple vignettes, portraying the Caped Crusader at home in a dizzying array of genres.
Batman Annual#4 is a very cool book.
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