Worst of 2012 in Batman Comics

[coveredinbees]

I was loving Winnick's Catwoman. Nocenti made me drop it from my pull list. Issue 0 was pathetic, and now that the Death of the Family tie-in is complete, it's like Nocenti has just gone completely off the rails. I could barely comprehend what was even happening in issue 15.

I hate all Nightwing covers, they make Nightwing my last read on the week it ships, but I'm digging the story.

I didn't read issue 0.
Did you read issues 13 and 14? I thought it made sense.

The ending to Night of the Owls was pretty bad too. Plus making Alfred's dad the Wayne's primary butter really lessens the connection he has with the family.

Right? It was a great build up to a terrible conclusion.

[maxpower00044]

Batman: Earth One was pretty terrible. You can add that to the list.

[Mr. Holmes]

I understand why people don't like Syder's Batman, I just don't get why some people would say it is somehow worse when you add in hype or if you break down the other comics in the line. If I was to factor in failing to live up to the hype surrounding it, Batman Incorporated would have actually went up (or is down like zur en arrah brought up?) on my list for worst Batman comics I read this year and I only read one issue of it!

It's not just hype (though that annoys me too) it's the story's own intentions that make me roll my eyes. Batman to me feels like unintentional camp.

[tylenoljones]

Batman: Earth One was pretty terrible. You can add that to the list.

Oh c'mon! How can you say that was bad compared to The Dark Knight and Catwoman!!!!! Are you kidding!

Sounds like someone has a Geoff Johns sized chip on his shoulder...

[JasonTodd428]

When I judged what was the worst Bat-Book of the year or what is worst in general, I don't go with my feelings or allow the hype or expectations to play into it. I just base my pick on the worst by just looking at aspects presented in the comic and whether or not they actually work.

That's why I consider Batman: The Dark Knight the worst Batman comic (Catwoman's pretty close though), because I broke it down to its basic parts. It had a worse Batman, worse art, worse characters, worse scripting and dialogue, worse pacing, etc. Even when the new writer came aboard and admittedly made things better, it still has plenty of problems. That's why it's the worst Batman comic of this year.

That's what I did with regard to Batman and Robin, which is how it became my worst book of the year. When I broke it down I couldn't find anything about it that I liked except for Alfred's interactions. The breakdown was:

Art: Inconsistant
Writing: Over the top and heavy-handed in a lot of places
Overall story: Extremely predictable and repetitive
Villains: One dimensional and uninteresting
Heroes: Never felt like the writer had a handle on them
Pacing: All over the place

And even though I've read the first B&R DotF tie-in and thought it was loads better than the rest have been I still see the same problems.

[Mr. Holmes]

Earth One is actually pretty good, reminded me of Johns's Wally West Flash run, his better days. I also like it as a deconstruction of the vengeance-driven Batman.

[tylenoljones]

I was mostly indifferent to the prospect of yet another retelling of Batman's origin, but I did skim through Earth One. It wasn't bad compared to what Johns has been putting out lately.

Although I've heard that Justice League is improving with the artist change.

[maxpower00044]

Oh c'mon! How can you say that was bad compared to The Dark Knight and Catwoman!!!!! Are you kidding!

Sounds like someone has a Geoff Johns sized chip on his shoulder...

Yeah, I should've just re-opened the Earth One thread and went on and on for 6 pages about a scene I didn't like. What was I thinking?

[imtav]

I didn't read issue 0.
Did you read issues 13 and 14? I thought it made sense.

13 and 14 were good, but they came under the death of the family. I don't have any faith in Nocenti, solo.

[coveredinbees]

13 and 14 were good, but they came under the death of the family. I don't have any faith in Nocenti, solo.

She just likes to play with dialogue. Sometimes it turns almost to babble, but I mostly like it. I feel like her stories are more unique than Winnick's grotesque Catwoman because they still deal in the dark, but they have a lively charm about them.

[Conway]

Not justifying anything. My opinion contains my biases and I don't expect anyone else to share them.

I expect to read some bad comics. That's why TDK didn't get my vote, I wasn't expecting anything more from it for what I paid. Batman on the other hand left me wishing I had only paid the $1 for the back-up. That extra feeling of being so disappointed that I wanted my money back wasn't something I felt with other titles. Any yes some of that had to do with the excess hype.

[Evxn]

I don't care about anything but Inc. anymore, they're all awful retreads and retrogressive, nostalgic wastes of time. Nothing new happened with the "New 52", and I'm done with it all. The only DC book I buy now is Inc., and the only Marvel book is FF because of the pretty pictures (although i think i just dropped it). I really think the Big Two have lost it, artistically, I seem to be reading the same stories over and over again, with slight variations or "shocking" revelations that reek of market desperation. My favourite comic this week was Saga, which isn't bound by company policy and sales targets but expertly published by a company who simply cares for the content.

When Inc. is over, so am I.

QFT. Couple Marvel books still worth checkin' out. Daredevil, Hulk, Thor and FF. (Not Fantastic Four). Inc is the only one for me at DC. Image has got all the worthwhile books.

[Evxn]

BTW, Earth One is absolute garbage.

[Mr. Holmes]

He has a handle of Batman just fine, he's just doing something new with Batman instead of rehashing Hush/RIP and Joker stories.

[LoneNecromancer]

Lol at all the people raging about Earth One. I can't tell if it's just Johns haters or people hating on someone not making Batman Batgod.

EDIT: It's certainly no Year One or Batman Begins, but it's entertaining, well-told, well-paced, has good art and excellent world-building, and all in all is a fine alternate universe origin for Batman.