'Batman, Vol. 5' by Tom King with art by Joëlle Jones, Clay Mann, and Lee Weeks continues in the Tom King era of providing top notch Batman stories.

Batman is engaged to Catwoman. This news is dropped by Albert to a stunned group of protoges hanging out at Wayne Manor. More stunning is that Batman and Catwoman are on their way to confront Damian's mother and Batman's ex-wife, Talia Al Ghul. We aren't ever told why, but it's a fun confrontation between the ex-wife and the new one. Joëlle Jones' art in this story is outstanding and my favorite in this volume.

The second story involves Batman telling Superman about his new fiance. There is a lot of back and forth and a really funny sequence where everyone kind of switches places. It shows what great friends these two are. The art by Clay Mann is also good in this story.

The 3rd story goes back to the early meetings of Catwoman and Batman and their game of cat and mouse. It includes what I thought was a very poignant epilogue. The art by Lee Weeks works well for this.

Overall, I loved this story. I loved the nicknames and the humor. I love how you really care about these characters, and how the ending really got to me. I love the double meaning of the title.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Unfortunately, the downloaded link did not work. I was unavailable to download again because it was archived.

ARC from Netgalley.
The title here says it all... and it is as awkward as you would imagine it would be. Coming right off of Cat saying yes to Bat (references a really great issue at the end where they are an old couple... so adorable) they head out on a trip together to personally inform the one person who could cause an issue for Cat AND the one woman who could destroy everything... Holly Robinson and Talia Al-Ghul. Holly Robinson, friend to Selina, murdered 237 men, and Cat decided to take the rap for it, knowing Batman wouldn't let her die on death row. Cat wants Holly to confess so Selina's record can be expunged. Talia.... well, that's a really long story that's well known to Batman fans. Fights against assassins happen, and the banter is very fun. Talia approves... but will that last until the wedding?
The other major story is one of the funniest things I've ever read in Batman. Now that Bruce is engaged, Selina wonders when he is going to tell Clark, seeing as they are "best friends". They'll need to figure each other out before there can be peace with the whole wedding. So..... Bruce and Selina and Clark and Lois go to a festival. The catch? It's superhero night and they have to be dressed in costume. To avoid being mistaken for their real alter egos, they swap costumes: Batman/Clark, Superman/Bruce, Catwoman/Lois, Selina (meowing in Lois's dress.. LOL) The banter, the jokes, the attitudes... all works out.
As we steamroll towards Wedding Day, what else will happen? LOL
High recommend.

Wow, just wow. Best Batman volume in ages, and a wonderful tear-jerker ending, too. Something not normally seen or expected, but brilliant nonetheless. Great work, Tom King!

Batman/Bruce Wayne proposed to Catwoman/Selina Kyle. She accepted. Now the two are on a desert trip to prove her innocence so she can marry in public. The look on the faces of all the Robins when Alfred broke the news was priceless! And so was their reaction. That storyline was followed by a Superman/Lois Lane outing with Batman/Catwoman at the Smallville fair. Fun times ensue along with good cheer and friendly rivalry. The third storyline traces the relationship of Bruce and Selina from early encounters up to old age. In all, a very nice combination of stories that were not all doom and gloom as so many Batman tales tend to be.

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Batman, Vol 5: Rules of Engagement by Tom King (illustrated by Joëlle Jones) continues the Batman Rebirth story-line. This graphic novel collects Batman #33-37 as well as Batman Annual #2.

When Selina Kyle (Catwoman) acceted the marriage proposal from Bruce Wayne’ (Batman) she realized she would have to deal with his ex – Talia al Ghul in order to be happy. The second story, a whimsical tale of Selina and Bruce going on a double date with Lois and Clark.

Batman, Vol 5: Rules of Engagement by Tom King (illustrated by Joëlle Jones) is another solid entry in the Rebirth series. I must admit that this run is absolutely incredible, all five issues so far hit it out of the park.

In this volume Mr. King continues to explore Batman and Catwoman’s complex relationship through words and deeds (read: action). This is a very humane book, even though the hero and sometimes heroine spend a fair amount of time beating on the baddies.

I loved the spin this volume put on the banal things one has to do when remarrying (meet the ex, talk to the kids, tell friends, etc.), only that Bruce Wayne doesn’t do anything “simple” and Selina Kyle is anything but “banal”. These tasks take on a new meaning in this book, brilliantly told while exploring the relationships of the characters involved.

This volume is all about characters, the story is there but the volume mainly explores how the stoic Batman deals with a real romance taking place with a worthy partner.

I can’t stop saying enough good things about the whole series, which in my opinion will become a classic. I’m sure fans might nitpick this series, but I enjoyed it tremendously

This was cool. We start with a just awesome reaction panel with Dick, Jason, Damian, and Duke's reactions to the news that Batman and Catwoman are engaged. It's awesome. At the time of this revelation. Batman is going to a country with Catwoman where the Justice League has said Villains or Heroes can go. But, they're going in there for a very specific purpose that we do eventually learn of.

It does make the Superman/Batman relationship a little frosty, and so then we get a really awesome Superfriends story, where they even dress up as each other (as do Selina and Lois).

And finally there's a sorta sat first meeting/last meeting sort story. And my favorite part of that one was that there seemed to be a Helena Wayne as Batwoman. I need that whole story for sure.

I really liked this TPB, and it made me think that perhaps this whole Catwoman/Batman marriage thing may actually work for a little bit.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

In the era of event storytelling, the Batman–Catwoman engagement certainly qualifies. However, Tom King has found a few of the quieter character-driven moments amidst the hoopla, which, it turns out, are better than most of the recent Hush-like knockoff storylines. I much prefer moments like the tacit approval of Batman's ex and the Clark–Lois/Bruce–Selena double date over yet another brawl between Batman and his rogues' gallery.

Through the majority of Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement there's nary a supervillain in sight, and instead we're suddenly enmeshed in a story about Batman and his own identity, his friends and family, and what happens when he dares to do something contrary to anything he's ever done before. King's story here is brilliant and madcap, and I can only hope we're in for more of the same in subsequent volumes. It seems to me the kick in the tights the modern Batman needed. King and Clay Mann offer a double-date that involves costume-switching, Lois and Catwoman sharing an illicit flask, and Superman trying to strike out Batman in a baseball game. In this second part, Mann leans heavily into all these characters' sex appeal, as well as Lois and Catwoman getting hilariously tipsy, and it makes for the kind of mature but respectful take on these characters that we can only hope we also find in DC's forthcoming Black Label line.

A return to form for Tom King's BATMAN.


I've (mostly) loved Tom King's run on BATMAN, except for the last volume, THE WAR OF JOKES AND RIDDLES, an unnecessarily long flashback that consumed a whole trade paperback and accomplished nothing aside from dragging out the tension of the Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle marriage proposal cliffhanger.

BATMAN, VOL. 5: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT is a fine return to form for what has been (again, mostly...) an outstanding take on Batman. This volume collects BATMAN #'s 33-37, and BATMAN ANNUAL #2. The first storyline finds Batman and Catwoman confronting Batman's ex, Talia Al Ghul, who is harboring a mass-murderer responsible for over 200 murders, which have been pinned on Catwoman. The next arc is a double-date night, as Bruce and Selina hit the county fair with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The book wraps up with an emotional, decades-spanning look at the Bat/Cat romance.

I'm a skeptic at heart...I've been reading comics for almost all of my 48 years, and I have VERY strong doubts that DC will let Batman get married, let alone that they'll let it stick. There's a bit in this book where Bruce and Selina disagree on where they first met (Bruce thinks it was on a boat, Selina remembers it as being on the street) that makes me think that this is all going to be swept away in one of DC's multiversal shenanigans, and that suspicion was only strengthened later on in the same story, when a dying, elderly Bruce Wayne advises Selina to seek out Barry Allen, and have him find another Bruce, from another Earth, who was still alone, and have him brought back to take care of Selina.....Could Tom King have been writing about a Batman from another Earth this whole time...? I wouldn't be surprised....after all, we have three different Jokers running around, and there's the whole DOOMSDAY CLOCK series. As someone who has pretty much been squeezed out of most current comic books, I really don't care anymore....Tom King is telling an emotional, touching story here, and I'm going to stick around to see how it plays out. Highly recommended. (I could, however, live without Catwoman constantly saying "Meooooow.")

BATMAN, VOL. 5: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT earns nine out of ten romantic cats:
😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻

Wow! I'm impressed. There's barely a villain in the book and I loved it! Tom King has quickly made me do a 180 on the Batman / Catwoman romance. Their relationship and banter here is so fantastic. He's really gotten into their heads.

First up, Batman and Catwoman head to the desert to talk to Talia. The dialogue in this book even in the midst of sword fights is fantastic. The character moments between Damian and Dick are spot on.
I wish we'd get more moments like this among the Robins. Joelle Jones gets a chance to play with the big boys and her art really shines. I can see some Adam Hughes and Terry Dodson influences while still giving her own distinct look with her swirly line work. DC should snatch her up while she still can. I also dug the easter egg to Jones's Lady Killer series.

Next we move onto Superfriends. I love when they present Batman and Superman in parallel, showcasing how they are opposite sides of the same coin. Both of them are reluctant to make the first move about Bruce's engagement. Tom King just really gets relationships. It takes Lois Lane and Selina Kyle forcing them together, much like my own wife would, for the boys to talk. Then the four of them head out a county fair on a double date and it is glorious.

Finally, we have the annual which showcases the origins of Batman and Catwoman's relationship. Then we get a little addendum set in the future at the end of their lives. It's all very well done.

This is volume five of the Batman’s Detective Comics in the New DC Comics’ Rebirth series/era. This work collects BATMAN #33-37 and BATMAN ANNUAL #2. I finished this volume less than a month after it was officially released and I read several other Batman titles during the same time though I enjoyed this more than the other two works with one of them being Batman: Detective Comics, Volume 5: A Lonely Place of Living which came about a few weeks earlier than this volume.
I enjoyed this work largely for the human dimension of the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. It wasn’t just Batman beating up on bad guys though of course the action and adventure is there. Rather it was about Batman’s complex relationship with Catwoman whom he grown to love. In this work there is a play on words with the title “Rules of Engagement.” Of course rules of engagement can refer to rules of warfare but also engagement also describe a phase in a relationship between two lovers heading towards marriage. It is a brilliant titled for the book and also for the first story. The author Tom King did an excellent job telling three stories in this volume with all of them related to Batman and his relationship to Catwoman. The first story is titled “The Rules of Engagement” that is told over three issues. The second story is “Superfriends” while the third story is titled “Some of These Days.”
This paragraph does give some spoilers as it summarizes and looks at the three stories in this book. In the first story Batman and Catwoman goes to find one of Batman’s ex which is filled with many risks and danger. I love the Middle Eastern and Near East desert feel to this story and artistic background; Batman even wears a hat of sort with googles for sandstorm while riding on horseback! In the second story we transition from the first story where Batman violated an agreement which should bring Batman in confrontation with Superman and other members of the Justice League. But this story didn’t turn out to be two men beating up on each other. Instead you see both men reluctant to confront each other. The story took a pleasant turn for myself as it turns out that King does a wonderful job of showing the ways both Batman and Superman parallel each other and yet also in what ways they are different from one another. What I love about the story is that Superman is a foil of Batman which allows readers to enjoy seeing a richer dimension to the man Batman but also to the ways Batman relates to others whether it is to his love Catwoman or also to his fellow colleague Superman. The artists did a wonderful job mirroring these guys in so many ways. You see both Superman and his love with Batman and his love. You see both the insecurities both men has while both having supporting and loving women in their lives who is pushing them to do the right thing. You also see how both men highly respect each other and yet also see each other as competitors and also friends but friends who know each other’s quirks. I thought this was very rich and the background activity of them going on an outing that require them to dress up as superheroes with them reversing costumes was very rich where readers see the artist and the writer intentionally is putting them into each other shoes (well, costumes) for us to see if it wasn’t clear already. Finally the last story was at first somewhat confusing with how it started out and while it was somewhat disorienting at first in which I was trying to figure out the timeline since Batman is giving chase to Catwoman nevertheless towards the end it turns out this is a story of love but not just cheesy romantic puppy love but what does love looks like over the years and when people get old, even heroes and superheroes. This is an incredible story and I loved it because it wasn’t what I first expected to find in a comic book but it is deep and captured the reality of growing old, dying and love very well. The artwork with the colors and drawings added to the dimension of something of a dark love story but it isn’t dark from sin or others but dark in the sense that we are reminded that the best of us and the heroes among us are mortals and we will all grow weak and die. I also noticed how in all three stories we find that these are not just a love story between Batman and Catwoman only but we see how love have dimensions of others; we can easily forget in our modern world today and in comic book entertainment that love is not just between two people, there is also a dimension of others ranging from friends, family members and friends. Whether it is a colleague like Superman or those in the Batman family such as Robin we see how love is more complicated than how some love story portray. That was very rich and I valued this volume very much. If you read my review up to this point it probably shouldn’t surprise you that I recommend this work and give it a rating of 5 out of 5.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by DC Comics and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

Oh, this could have been a lot better. In a world that needs proof that Batman marrying Catwoman makes any kind of sense, the justification for it is a pointless trip together to meet Talia and some other people in a desert place the JLA have blocked off – completely ineffectively blocked off, mind. And because that was almost wordless in places, with its unnecessary double-spread splash pages and so on, we then get a two-parter with far too many words crammed on to one page, as – well, it's a semi-cute concept, so you'll have to wait and see. But it really is most disposable, whatever its cuteness. What's much better is the annual gathered here alongside the five monthlies, with its much superior look at the potential in the romance, taking us way into the future. If you don't mind a book with no crime to solve, and barely a punch thrown (OK, I got round that by the first three issues being sword-fights), then this might be right up your street. But why should we forget that action IS character, and have both? Three stars and a grudging acceptance, but mostly for the annual – the rest will flush right out my mind come the morning.

Batman, Volume 5: Rules of Engagement combines the incredible storytelling of Tom King with arguably the very best artist in the business; Joelle Jones. This is the lead in set of tales that lay the groundwork for the current big wedding in comic book world. The marriage between the Bat and the Cat.

A journey to the heart of darkness and facing Talia ah Ghul which results in a terrific sword fight between Talia and the Cat. Meeting the Bat family and more so, the Boy Scout. Does the Cat when everyone's approval? Does she really care?

What has made this series so good is the subtle changes in the past series that have set up the Batman to be in this position. To be where he questions his own mortality and his own life. His sacrifice of any kind of true happiness in his quest to be the Bat. His denial of his own love life.

Strangely it is not the Cat who goes continually to the Bat for redemption but the reverse. It is the Batman who comes to her. With her, he finds the sanctuary he is denied everywhere else.

Extremely well written with impeccable artwork. This very well maybe some of the best Batman stories that have ever been. It is surely the most human he has ever been.


READING PROGRESS

From the publisher: Author Tom King pens the fifth volume of his critically acclaimed, best-selling Batman series in BATMAN VOL. 5!

Following Catwoman's answer to his marriage proposal, Batman leaves Gotham City on a quest of renewal and redemption in the desert. As he travels and fights, he encounters members of his family--each disturbed by Batman's journey, each ready to stand in his way and push back against his stubborn determination to evolve into something better than a superhero.

Has the Caped Crusader passed the point of no return? He's going to need a little help from his friends, but this help comes with a downside: Batman's true intentions will be exposed.

This spectacular new volume further explores a key question throughout Tom King's entire Batman run: Can Batman be happy? Collects BATMAN #33-37.

Tom King's run on Batman has been terrific, and his latest, Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement, is no exception. Over the past year, King had Bruce Wayne/Batman deciding to be "happy" which led him to propose to Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Then Bruce felt like he needed to confess his biggest secret to Selina (the story in Batman Vol. 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles). This volume picks up with Bruce and Selina journeying to a no-man's land country to visit Talia al Ghul (Batman's ex). This purpose for this journey is to see Holly Robinson, a former friend of Selina's, whom Selina took the blame for 237 murders for. Selina would like to be cleared of this so she is no longer a wanted murderer. King also takes some time to focus on how Bruce's proposal is looked at by Alfred and the various current and former Robins.

King tells two additional stories, as well. This first is a fun dialogue between Selina and Bruce, and also between Clark Kent/Superman and his wife, Lois Lane; the conversation concerns Bruce's engagement. This leads to an entertaining double-date. The final story hits on how Bruce and Selina met and their initial flirting, with a heartfelt postscript touching on their future.

Tom King has quickly become one of my favorite Batman writers. There is just something about how he writes that imbues the characters with heart and soul. He seems to have an excellent grasp on Batman's humanity, and how relationships with others, even for a loner like Bruce, make us whole. He has also taken a huge step with his story of Bruce and Selina being engaged. His Catwoman is a compliment to Bruce, and not at all a lesser figure. There is a balance between the two that seems to make each better than they are on their own. I'm really looking forward to following this story to see how it develops. King also does a great job with the supporting characters. In this particular volume that included the Robins, Superman, and Lois. All were well-rounded and three-dimensional characters.

This was an awesome book, and I highly recommend Batman Vol. 5: Rules of Engagement by Tom King. While it is part of a continuing story, it can also be read on its own. It is a must for Batman fans, and I'd suggest it to readers looking for a sample of King's writing, as well.

I received a preview copy of this book from DC Comics in exchange for an honest review.

I think if I had to summarize my feelings about this volume of Batman, I'd have to simply say it's fun. Is the story as epic or as dangerous as we usually get from a Batman title? No, but I felt like that was a good thing in this case.
This is a story about Bat's love for Catwoman. They're engaged now, and that means a couple critical things need to happen-- she needs to be cleared of a bunch of murders she didn't commit, and also that the news needs to be broken to important people in Batman's life. The stories range from adventurous to just funny and charming, but I felt like the core of this volume was a solid focus on character and sincerity about the couple's relationship.
I really dug it.

I've been rather ambivalent about Tom King's run on Batman so far. It has largely paled in comparison to what Scott Snyder did. But this volume really worked for me. It is largely focused on the engagement of Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne and follows them through 3 rather disparate stories. One concerns a trip to the desert kingdom where Talia al'Ghul is hiding a fugitive and allows the two women in Batman's life to get a measure of each other. Then there's a double date between Clark Kent and Lois Lane with Bruce and Selina where they attend a county fair and spend some time in the batting cages, with Bruce assuring Clark he could hit anything he throws at him. Finally, there's an issue that shows the whole love affair between Bat and Cat from the start to the end. I realize this whole thing is a bit controversial for a lot of Bat-fans, but I love it and this volume just worked like gangbusters for me from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Tom King continues his amazing run on Batman with this collection. The action slows down just a tad in comparison to previous volumes, but the nuance and intrigue explored in this comic is totally entertaining.