Batman's going after Bane ... well, the Psycho Pirate who has sought refuge on Bane's prison island ...
and he's brought his own Suicide Squad with him (Bronze Tiger, Punch and Jewelee, The Ventriloquist, and Catwoman). Solid writing from King.

Picking up on the last story arc, Batman needs Psycho Pirate to  fix Gotham Girl's brain, except he's in an asylum on Santa Prisca. Everyone has to fight everyone and the Bane shows up. The narration on this one gets a little heavy, but I think the callbacks to Knightfall are pretty good.

Verdict: Get it. It's big Batman craziness.

A solid trade that any fan of DC Comics can pick up and enjoy. Rebirth continues to be just that for DC and a breath of fresh air for the superhero genre.

Every now and then, a writer comes along who adds something new to Batman, a bit of extra depth, a hidden dimension. Tom King does that as he continues his outstanding writing on the reborn Batman. He gets into the hero’s head as Batman reflects on his role in society, wonders what his parents might think of him, questions what the world should think of him, a man dressed in a costume, sitting on a gargoyle, waiting to punch crime in the face. This is a Batman with a death wish, a side we haven’t seen before.

In this volume, Batman assembles a team of Arkham inmates, the most notorious of whom is Catwoman. And this is a throwback Catwoman, a nemesis, a foe, not a closet do-gooder with a serious Bat-crush, although there’s some of that. Catwoman finds herself in this volume, and the reader learns more about Catwoman than we learned in the weepy soap opera New 52 version of the character. Selina Kyle isn’t all bad, but she isn’t all good. As they say, opposites attract, and before the volume ends … well, let’s just say Batman finally gets a little kitty.

But before Batman is (literally) up all night to get lucky, he goes after Bane, because he needs Psycho Pirate. The Batman/Bane encounter is stunning in its stark brutality, in its depiction of Batman as an unstoppable force. The team shows up in issue three. The story is remarkable in its characterizations and in its (for DC, anyway) intricate plotting.

DC has wisely turned its best artists loose on its premiere titles. There’s a lot of shaky art elsewhere in the DC line, but the art in this volume has the power to match the story Tom King tells. And best of all, Batman looks like Batman. Every page, every panel. Why can’t all DC’s artists manage that kind of consistency?

Tom King is on the verge of being a great Batman writer if he can get out of his own head. The story here is great, with Batman forming his own Suicide Squad to get Psycho Pirate back from Bane. It's just that Batman takes himself way too seriously, to the point of almost being a caricature of himself. Next he'll have Batman quoting Proust or something equally pretentious. I did like his ode to John Ostrander's Suicide Squad by bringing Bronze Tiger and Punch and Jewelee in to the team. Mikel Janin's art is spectacular. I'm glad we're finally seeing him in one of DC's top tier books.

The second story in the book featuring Catwoman's last night out with Batman before going to prison was MUCH better. He nailed their relationship once they got past the nonsense that she killed 237 people. We all knew that wasn't in her character or Batman wouldn't have been attracted to her in the first place.

Received an advance copy from DC and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly this was not good. I wasn't really sure what was going on throughout the whole comic. It seemed sporadic with going from one thing to the other. The whole Catwoman story seemed bland and unappealing with very little depth to the plot.

Batman hits the road, with a "Suicide Squad" all his own....


I enjoyed this book so much that I overlooked one huge fundamental flaw that every DC collection has: There was no recap page. The events of the first volume are fresh enough in my mind that I remember why it is so important that Batman finds The Psycho-Pirate, but not every reader is going to recall that essential information, or they may not have even read the first volume. (This is a fairly complete stand-alone collection, aside from the aforementioned Psycho-Pirate story motivator...maybe a little prior knowledge of Bane would be useful, too.)


The book begins with Batman going shopping for partners at Arkham Asylum...join him in his little suicide mission, and if you make it back alive, he'll do you a solid. He ends up recruiting quite a motley crew....I had a hard time imagining just why he would need The Bronze Tiger, The Ventriloquist, Punch & Jewelee, and Catwoman, but writer Tom King does an excellent job with giving every team member a unique use, as well as at least one standout scene of their own.


The mission...? Break into Pena Duro prison, on the island nation of Santa Prisca...an inescapable prison on an island ruled by Bane, the man who broke Batman....find and capture The Psych-Pirate, and get out alive. If possible....


I'm a sucker for a good "Getting the gang together" montage scene, and King delivers that in spades, as Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Dr. Arkham make the rounds of the asylum looking for Batman's recruits. (There's even a neat little easter egg appearance from someone who seems destined to play a major part in DC's "Rebirth" storyline.)


King digs deep into the psyches of Bane, Batman, and Catwoman, giving all three depth and motivation aplenty, as well as revealing some previously unseen psychological factors that drive them. King seems to be getting a lot of flack for his BATMAN run, but I'm really enjoying it. (Aside from the colossal blunder that was BATMAN: NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN, and I can hardly blame King for that atrocity.) The reason that Catwoman was incarcerated at Arkham Asylum seemed a little out-there, but it was all explained in the end, even if the explanation was a bit far-fetched.


Bane has always been a favorite character of mine- I consider KNIGHTFALL to be one of the quintessential Batman stories- and it was great seeing him throw down with his arch-nemesis one more time. (From the title of the next volume- I AM BANE- I don't think the two are quite done fighting yet.) I loved how this volume ended, and I'm eager to see what, if anything, The Psycho-Pirate can do to help mend the broken Gotham Girl. Vol. 3 can't come quick enough.


BATMAN, VOL. 2: I AM SUICIDE collects BATMAN #'s 9-15, complete with covers and variants, and earns a healthy eight out of ten bats:

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇


DC Comics provided a review copy.

This is a strange Batman adventure. To cure Gotham Girl, Batman assembles a team out of Arkham Asylum to help him acquire the Psycho-Pirate from Bane. It is a cray plan that seems to go off the rails from the beginning. But they manage it. And everyone lives happily ever-after. Not likely in the DC universe! But Batman and Catwoman do share a night together before she scampers off into the darkness.

I have been a fan of Batman since I first started to read. Being able to follow this series has been very exciting. Thank you to Netgalley and DC Comics for letting me read this for a review. Batman is desperately trying to help Gotham Girl after she was whammied by Psycho-Pirate . In order to try and get to him he has to go through Bane.

To do this job Batman has to enlist the help of some strange characters. Batmaan creates his own version of Suicide Squad. The biggest shock in his decision isn't who he picks for his team but why she is locked up. Catwoman has been locked up for killing 237 people. I'm not going to lie, I still have the last 2 books of the Batman series to read before Rebirth took over. Rebirth was so exciting I jumped ahead so I could get started right away so I have no idea what is going on. Apparently Catwoman is awaiting lethal injection for killing the terrorists that wiped out the Orphanage she grew up in killing everyone inside.

I will admit that the story for this book wasn't as good as volume 1 nor was the art work up to the standard either. A good portion of this book is just a letter from Catwoman to Batman and then a letter from Batman to her. I have always enjoyed the relationship between Batman and Catwoman so I enjoyed the letters but it didn't fit with the action going on in the panels so I was a little distracted.

The art work was good but not as detailed in most of the book. There were some good panels that had a good bit of detail to show just how Gotham can be. Batman has some good pages too but I just felt that this could have been better. I know the artists tend to change issue to issue but when Vol 1 had such amazingly detailed art I was a little let down.

So all this negativity I am sure you are guessing I didn't like this. Well you would be wrong, this book may not have lived up to what I expected but it was still very well done. I wish there was more to the story instead of the letters over the action, but I loved the characters. Bane is a changed villain which added more depth to his character and made me want to see where his story will go in the future. Seeing Batman and Catwoman deepen their relationship was great, and I would love to see more in future books. I have always wished those two could make it work. This was an enjoyable story and I can't wait for the next volume. This is a 4 out of 5 star read.

Tom King continues to shine in his "Batman" run. In this volume, Batman assembles his own Suicide Squad from Arkham Asylum, to help an ally. Great dialogue and artwork make this a highly recommended addition to any Bat-fan's collection.

In which our author proves there is something worse than monotonous fighting interspersed with effectless psychobabble – namely, monotonous fighting interspersed with two simultaneous threads of effectless psychobabble. The awful characters that leaven the leaden drama here don't help at all, and it's really a waste of space. There is a bit more whimsy, and a lot more character, in the add-on two-parter, even if that too has flaws. Predictably, given this is a Rebirth comic, it's got a lot of room for improvement.

ARC from Netgalley.
Batman has a plan. In order to restore the mind of Gotham Girl, he must form a team to help him rescue Psycho Pirate, who apparently is the only person able to control emotions in the DCU. Forming a type of Suicide Squad of his own (Ventriloquist, Bronze Tiger, Jewelee and Punchee (are these Silver Age Harley/Joker rejects??LOL), and Catwoman (who is on Death Row for supposedly killing 137 people!)), and heads off to Santa Prisca, home of Bane.
Upon arrival, Catwoman seems to ruin Batman's plan (but obviously is actually helping him) and we see a de-Venomed Bane throw down with Batman resulting another (but obviously not as bad or completely paralyzing) back-breaker move. It works out in the end due to Catwoman's ruse, and her delivering a back-breaker move to Bane, who then begs to be put back on the Venom. (very cool scene!)
In "Rooftops", the second arc of this book, we see a rekindling of the romance between Bruce and Selina, or Bat and Cat as they call each other. A night filled with rooftop sex, patrolling and taking down criminals, then more rooftop sex, obviously puts Cat in a position to run away again, which she does. "Find me on one of these rooftops," she says with a smile. Batman pursues, finding out that Selina didn't commit any of those murders, but is covering for childhood friend, Holly. Batman approaches Holly and tries to get her to take back the blame for Selina, but Holly slashes his throat and Batman is rescued by Catwoman. Will she come to his aid in the next Volume when Bane returns to Gotham for revenge?
I like the direction Tom King is going with Batman, but miss Scott Snyder's run. Still a good outing. Recommend.

Although I didn't love Gotham Girl in Tom King's volume 1 of this series, and it was Gotham Girl who initiated this volume's caper, I still appreciated the end result. Batman handpicks his own "Suicide Squad" to infiltrate Bane's stronghold to get Gotham Girl the help she needs. (Although with Batman leading this squad instead of Amanda Waller, you never get the feeling that anyone's life was on the line.) As an added bonus, we get plenty of background on the Rebirth version of Catwoman. A solid entry in the new Batman series that provides plenty of action and introspection.

I am Suicide was a terrific adventure yarn. But the Catwoman coda was brilliant. Having Selina remember their first meeting from the modern day Batman Year One while Bruce harkens back to the tale from Batman #1 was a thing of beauty. The complex relationship between the two has never been so finely etched. The artwork deserves a special hand for making Selina sensual without the overt T&A artwork that characterizes some comic art. I fell in love with her all over again.

This TPB had two main stories. First, there was a story that on its face was about Batman trying to get a very specific person to help fix Gotham Girl. But, really, what it seemed to turn out to be was yet another Bane vs. Batman sorta epic story with twists and turns.

Then there was 'Rooftops', a story of the Cat and the Bat and their very complicated and twisty relationship.

I think that the writer got their relationship put down on the page perfectly. The pull by both of them, the give and take, and especially the ending too!

This Rebirth'd Batman story so far I think is doing so so much better than the New 52 ever did.

I got this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment.

Bane the one who broke Batman is back . Along with Catwoman. This time Batman needs something From Bane and goes out on a dangerous mission. This was an exciting different story with familiar favorites

The turkeys keep on coming. I think it's time to give up on the Batman Rebirth series. It's a disaster - I've read two or three volumes (probably not in the correct order) and each one has been a bigger shocker than the last. It astounds me that the man behind The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man, Tom King, is behind these awful plots and even worse dialogue.

It doesn't help that the Netgalley copy had pages missing text. It's evident some text was supposed to be there - but it didn't make it in time for the galley copy. Which made the volume even less decipherable.

The story - what story. Who cares? Essentially, it is that Bats has to find someone called Psycho Pirate (what a name) so that he can undo the damage done on Useless Gotham Girl's head. He decides to get hold of a bunch of crazies from Iron Heights and they head over to Bane's place to capture Pirate.

No one can trust anyone and it feels terribly derivative of The Dark Knight Rises. Lots of endless repetitive talking goes on. Honestly, most of the dialogue is repetitive babbling. Everyone says the same things over and over - it's like they ran out of ideas. Catwoman is in there for ostensibly one reason only (I think she's useful to the story, but no longer care).

Also, everyone is white. DC is so white and straight and primarily male, it makes me wonder if the execs inhabit the same world the readers do. It is right painful to see this. I don't get it - no wonder Marvel is laughing it's way to the bank (or not).

This entire series is a lost cause. I think I'm going to give up on Bats now.

Tom King's Batman Vol. 2: I Am Suicide is astonishingly good. The kind of thing one has come to expect from a Tom King comic, and even then, what a book. I Am Suicide marks the true opening salvo of Tom King's run, the point in which King's Batman begins to define the Rebirth era. It's one of these books that when you begin to suspect everything that could ever be said about Batman has already been said, here comes a volume that decimates that idea completely. King also suggests a Catwoman deadlier and more formidable than she's ever been portrayed before, able to stand toe-to-toe with Batman's most psychotic enemies. King equally offers one of the most cogent explanations for the Batman/Catwoman relationship yet.

This second volume was way more enjoyable than the first volume, I Am Gotham. After the events of I Am Gotham and Night Of The Monster Men, we find Batman trying to find a cure for Gotham Girl after the events of Night Of The Monster Men.

The story, once establishing this, is very Batman and Catwoman centric. We find out Bruce and Selina’s relationship and how it looks like it will affect the rest of this storyline. We also get a quick rundown on Selina Kyle’s backstory, which considering that I only know it from The Dark Knight Rises movie, was very useful and for me gave a better understanding as to why she act the way that she does.

Whilst other things do occur, and some of them are probably vital to the ongoing storyline of Batman vs Bane, I personally found them dull compared to whatever was going on with Bruce and Selina. We do get what to me seemed like some backstory for Bane, and we do get a good set up for what I hope to be an epic fight between Batman and Bane.

Once again, the art style is what I enjoyed about this volume. Like in the first volume, the minor details were not missed but they did not take my attention away from what was going on.

I cannot wait to see how the events of I Am Gotham and I Am Suicide are brought to a conclusion in the third volume, I Am Bane.

Batman, Volume 2: I Am Suicide by Tom King is the second storyline in the Rebirth line of this Batman book and I have to say it has taken leaps and bounds from where I Am Gotham left off. If you did not read I Am Gotham, you may want to before beginning this collection. This is a different Batman, somewhat vulnerable and the main reason for the storyline is the new heroine, Gotham Girl who lays dying in the Batcave.

Gotham Girl is dying and to save her, Batman must find the Psycho-Pirate in the belief that the damage he has done with his mind altering powers can somehow be reversed and save Gotham's newest heroine. Only Psycho-Pirate is being held on the island of Santa Prisca and to reach him, Batman must go through the only foe that has ever truly broken him. He must go through Bane.

To accomplish this feat, Batman turns to people he knows in his heart, he cannot trust. Amanda Waller. The Ventriloquist. Bronze Tiger. Jewlee. Punchee. Catwoman. Batman must face his darkest moments and take on Bane. But this is also a different Bane, no longer addicted to the powerful drug Venom which gave him his super strength, this is a Bane who rules, naked on his throne, with an army surrounding him and his prison kingdom.

Much will and has been made about the title to this storyline and if Batman is suicidal. While it can be said that this edition of the Dark Knight is much more morose than in the past and it certainly seems that he has a death wish, I have to disagree. Batman is simply looking for a good death. He seems to be at a point in his life where death seems inevitable and he wants his to be a good death. A death that has value. A death that has meaning. A grand sacrifice. We spend a lot of time in the Dark Knight's mind in this one, he is introspective and forlorn. But not about his life or his choices. No, what we find her is that Batman simply does not wish to be alone any longer.

That is the problem because the one person he would share his life with he cannot. She is serving a life sentence for the murder of hundreds of people. She is Selena Kyle, the Catwoman. In I Am Suicide we are drawn into the love affair denied in ways no writer before has tried. There are love letters written to one another that we become privy to and moments of heartache and regret.

Tom King steps it up huge in this storyline, he has developed a Batman that is not only a hero, but intensely human. There is plot and subplot. There is cross and double-cross and there is a side of Batman not often seen. A Batman who aches for the love he must deny himself. A Batman who must face the foe that broke him and in doing so, break Bane.

This one is one of the better Batman stories to come along for sometime.

The Batman in I Am Suicide is not a Batman who is searching for his death; but instead, the reassurance of a life well lived.