There have been a few moments, reading this series, where I felt the story-line was dragging a bit, but overall, this has been a fascinating glimpse into the relationship between Catwoman and the Batman. This fleshes out the characters a bit more. Worth a read.

Fun grouping of one shots leading up to the big day for Batman and Catwoman. While none of the stories are particularly essential to the main plot line, they are a fun way to break up the story line and fill in the rest of the universe.

I went into this graphic novel, without much knowledge of this story line, with that in mind, I can say I totally enjoyed it! All the story lines, seeing my favorite characters like Riddler have their own storyline definitely made this enjoyable. I went in thinking it was just about the wedding, and I was pleasantly surprised. The art was ASTONISHING!

Preludes to the Wedding collects together the following Batman stories: Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Robin vs. Ra's al Ghul, Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Nightwing vs. Hush, Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Batgirl vs. Riddler, Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Red Hood vs. Anarky, Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Harley Quinn vs. The Joker, DC Nation #0 and #2. I was provided an ARC by DC Comics via NetGalley in exchange for a fair an honest review.

First, I should admit, I haven’t actually been tracking the most recent Batman story lines. It’s been a while since I’ve delved into DC to hang out with the Dark Knight. However, seeing the cover art and reading a bit about the stories contained in this collection, I was excited to jump back in and I was not disappointed.

Written by Tim Seeley, Preludes to the Wedding takes a (TINY!!) step back from the overall DC Rebirth to provide a collection of outtakes and adventures taking places immediately before and entirely due to the actual wedding. Seeley leaned heavily on that feeling of whimsy that would show up from time to time in earlier runs, without deviating from the characters established in DC Rebirth. At the same time there’s a personal depth to the characters, especially within the rotating crew from the rogue’s gallery that show up. Hush and Riddler in particular delve deep into who they are as people and see their own failures. In the case of the Riddler, Nygma has a profound epiphany about his future possibilities without giving up the game.

Visually, Preludes to the Wedding is seamless. Penned by a number of artists, including Otto Schmidt, Brad Walker, Travis Moore, Minkyu Jung, Jose Marzan Jr., Javier Fernandez and Sami Basri, each part works together cohesively with the previous. The panels are highly detailed and true to the characters while maintaining the updated nature of DC Rebirth.

That was cool. It was, as implied in the title, a bunch of one offs that could be considered as preludes to the Catwoman/Batman wedding (it is not a Bruce/Selina wedding though I guess - which was a little confusing).

They were all interesting, mostly because of the through line of the Joker looking for his invite to the wedding and therefore telling a good number of bad guys about the wedding, and they then go after those in the Bat Family because of it.

My favorite story was, surprisingly, the one with Damian/Selina near the beginning of the TPB. Especially the very end of the story, just touching enough, but not too touching. Made me almost like Damian.

The Harley/Joker confrontation as usual was both good at times and depressing at others.

But, overall I liked the stories a lot. Onto the wedding.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

ARC from Netgalley.
With Batman and Catwoman getting married soon, villains have started coming out of the woodwork to challenge, yet none stronger than the Joker. This Volume has an overarching story of Joker searching for his invitation in the mail of many people, but doesn't really focus on him until he is attacked by Harley. (Back to that in a bit...)
- Robin gets chemically and psychologically attacked by Ra's Al Ghul. Primarily focused on being "the heir", the story ultimately ends with Damien and Selina coming to a truce about the marriage.
- A pocket universe has been found for Batman to have a fishing bachelor party, but that gets ruined when Hush crashes the party and pulls Nightwing into it. Fighting Un-Men is not what they had in mind!
- Riddler wants to ruin with a crime spree and only Batgirl can stop it with her high intelligence.
- When Red Hood is asked to watch over Selina's bachelorette party, he didn't count on interference from Anarky!
- Seeing that Joker has gone on a spree, stealing mail and getting villains to run crimes, Harley Quinn attempts to take Joker down a notch, wanting him to feel, comparing his lack of invitation to her being left by "Mistah J" so many times.

... but Joker is going to interfere with the wedding... For Sure.

Overall, the Volume felt kind of useless to the story, but it was good to see some of the prep. Can't wait to see how this wedding goes (though I have been spoiled on the end already).
Recommend, but only if you have time and are interested. Not essential.

Batman and Catwoman are getting married! And Joker is obsessed with getting an invitation to the wedding! He hunts high and low, sending out various foes to try and disrupt the ceremony. Robin faces off with his grandfather, Nightwing confronts/teams-up with Hush, Red Hood keeps an eye on Selina at her bachelorette party, and Harley Quinn faces down the Joker. A fun collection of set scenes leading to a confrontation at the wedding itself!

While this volume is filled with largely nonessential stories revolving around the forthcoming wedding of Batman and Catwoman, there are some good things in here. Particularly strong was the story involving Damian Wayne and his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, during which Damian and Selina come to an understanding about how to deal with each other going forward. The art in these issues is all quite strong and in some cases outstanding. It's just kind of sad that this stuff is primarily filler, with little impact on what's going on in the greater story. To put this level of effort into largely throwaway work always makes me feel kind of bad for the creators.

When it comes to the wedding idea, I’m like yeah, okay, whatever. But some of these prelude stories are pretty good.

The Joker kills someone randomly while allegedly waiting for an invitation to Batman’s wedding. This prelude is strange but gets a thumbs up for being sort of interesting.

Robin Damian battles the son of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. Wait, they have a full-grown son? How’d that happen? We also learn that Ra’s al Ghul doesn’t think much of Catwoman. Maybe he’s never seen her in her skintight outfit. Anyway, the point of the prelude is that Damian makes nice with Selina. Ain’t that sweet?

Hush turns up in the next prelude and promptly gets dispatched to the Betwixt with Nighwing. I really like the idea of the Betwixt. Pretty sure that’s where I’ll end up.

Batgirl takes on the Riddler when she’s not busy gossiping about boys (yawn). I’m a Riddler fan but the riddles lack pizzazz, the attempts at philosophy are tedious, and the story substitutes a bunch of 2-to-4 panel fight scenes for a plot. That story is only made worse by the appearance of the unfortunate Harley Quinn at the end.

Catwoman has a bachelorette party but Red Hood is there to keep an eye on her (Batman’s idea, he’s always been the controlling type). Somehow Bizarro is also assigned surveillance duty, which just seems like a bad idea. The villain is Anarky, who seems like a lightweight. For reasons that are probably related to his post-death brain damage, Red Hood thinks that liberals are anti-feminist, which doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense.

Next, Harley fights the Joker for no apparent reason. Joker is still mad that he wasn’t invited to the wedding so Harley tries to drown him in pudding because she wants to get even for Joker being a bad boyfriend. Lame? Yes, lame.

The Batgirl and Harley stories I could have done without. The others are fun time-passers, but I hope DC gets this ridiculous wedding idea out of the way and returns to the Bat-roots that make Batman great. Less Harley, less everyone else, more Batman (and Alfred) would be good for me.

I'm a sucker for books like Batman: Preludes to the Wedding that line up major Batman events with their ancillary titles.

I like Tom King's take on the Joker, which we get here in the form of that DC Nation #0 story, less the grotesque horror of Scott Snyder's books and more insane clown, somewhat corny and even desperate for laughs until the moment a gun goes off in his hand. Tim Seeley's Joker is in line with this, but demonstrates a braininess that I thought particularly clever; Joker seems to bang his head against a wall at random, but Harley reveals she knows he's testing the strength of the wall toward escaping a deathtrap. Artist Sami Basri draws exactly Jared Leto's Suicide Squad Joker in the Harley Quinn vs. the Joker special, making the story look particularly of-the-moment.

Best of the stories in this book is probably the Harley/Joker one, but Batgirl vs. Riddler offers a pairing we don't see very often, and I thought the Riddler's analog gauntlet was a smart idea. Seeley's Red Hood vs. Anarky also has a lot of great bits -- Selina Kyle's New 52-inspired bachelorette party, plenty of metaphors for Jason and Batman's relationship in Anarky's motivations, even a shout-out to Alan Grant's 1990s Anarky series.

'Batman: Preludes to the Wedding' by DC Comics collects a lot of one shots leading up to the big event.

The prelude story, written by Tom King, is about an anxious Joker waiting for his wedding invite, and it sets a tone that isn't quite met for the rest of the book. The remainder of the book is a series of vs. confrontations between the Bat-Family and some of the various Batman villains. Tim Seeley does the writing with various artists doing good work.

Damian gets paired off against his grandfather. Nightwing gets to mix it up with Hush. All the stories lead up to the wedding with events happening like an abnormal bachelor party being thrown by Superman, and a fairly normal Bride's party with a stop in Catwoman's past.

The Tom King prelude is very good. A couple of the stories aren't bad. I liked the Batgirl/Riddler story and the Nightwing/Hush story. The others were adequate. I liked this collection, and it's a fun tie-in to the wedding event of the year.

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

What a great premise. The Joker is offended he didn't get an invitation to the Bat and the Cat's wedding and sicks Batman's rogues out to ruin it. The Bat-Family steps in to stop each of the villains. I had a lot of fun with this. All of the one-shots are by capable artists. A recommended read prior to the wedding.

I love Batman and Catwoman. Two of my fav graphic novel characters out there and I SHIP them. So when this and the "Wedding Album" came out, I was ALL over requesting them. Since this one has the word "Preludes" in the title, I read this one first. I also assumed it would tie in with the "Wedding Album", but not so much, more's the pity, because this one was really quite great and I think the other one would have done better if it had followed the storyline in this one.

I don't want to get too much into spoiler territory, but let me say a few words.

1) Joker is mad creepy and I do not like him at all. Also, how the heck was he able to do what he did in order to get to the bad guys that he was able to get to? Did I miss the comic where he became super-human? So yeah, I don't like him.

2) I HEART Batman and Catwoman in this one, as well as all of the secondary characters. The first storyline was one of the best and the end of it was SO SWEET! I like how real and human they were all portrayed.

The artwork was, in my untrained eye, great. I loved the colors, the drawing, the storylines, all of it. This was a really great read and I completely recommend it if you are into Batman and Catwoman.

4, I really hate the Joker and he creeped me out dropping this to four, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and DC Entertainment/DC Comics for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

The relationship between Batman and Catwoman is of the stuff that makes comic book romance, conceived at the very inception of Batman’s mythos and nearly 80 years old in counting. Everyone is excited about the impending nuptials, and such a core event reverberates to each member of the Bat-Family. Tim Seeley and Tom King are giving us a story told from the inside out. Our Bride and Groom are everywhere yet really nowhere, as we get a chance to really see what everyone else is up to just before the Big Day, and how everyone is taking it.

But this isn’t merely about the Bat-Family. Sure, we see Damian and Dick, Barbara and Jason, but in all actuality, the main character we follow is the Batman’s other longtime partner since 1940, Issue One — the Clown Prince of Crime himself. Joker is slowly making his way to the wedding, leaving a stream of chaos in his wake. He is apparently furious at not receiving an invitation, and just plain jealous of the relationship Catwoman has achieved with the Dark Knight, slandering it to really anyone who will listen (even at gunpoint).

Joker also serves as a representative for the rest of Gotham’s less than stellar citizens. Several other villains resurface, all with something to say about the marriage, its effect on each personally, and what it means for Batman in the future.

And this is really what makes this string of small stories compelling. It seems as if no one can escape the draw of this union. Powerful relationships affect everybody in its wake. These stories serve as a neat compliment to Tom King’s current arc.

Characterization is pretty solid here, which is always a concern. These plots may be interesting in theory and the pictures sure are fun, but are the characters behaving like themselves? If not, we might as well watch a DC movie on cable and spare ourselves the time. But no fear, the writing is sound .
Harley is a personal highlight.
Joker’s insanity is exhaustingly pervasive, as always.
Now, all that’s left is to see if Bats and Cats actually jump the broom… I’ve got a great feeling about this, don’t you?

I had a lot of fun reading Preludes to the Wedding. It took me on a wild ride through Gotham. Lots of familiar foes from this rogues gallery show up, and a few faces that were not as well known to me. It was great to see a different member of the Bat family take them on, and do their part to make sure this wedding happens. One of Batman’s oldest foes goes on their own deranged journey, wondering why they weren’t invited to this event. In the end, they make a choice that will change this event for Batman and Catwoman, and probably not in a good way.

As someone not wholly immersed in the batman universe, im more of a marvel girl, I found the short side stories enjoyable and easy to follow. The art was great. I liked the characters but I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have background knowledge of their other incarnations to compare the current style with. I’m definitely interested in following the story.

I enjoyed this prelude to the Batman/Catwoman wedding. It was interesting to see how the criminal world responded to Batman's upcoming nuptials, from increased destructive chaos to self-evaluation in the face of a hero and reformed villian finding love in one another. This novel gave us a chance to review some of Batman's most important relstionships, good and bad alike, and how they would be affected in the days to come.

I recommend this book to any Batman fan. The art is wonderful and the story is captivating. Enjoy!

I really enjoyed this. Joker knows about the wedding, and he's furious that he hasn't been invited, so he cuts his way through Gotham's underbelly looking for it, all the while leaving wedding presents by letting other villains know about the upcoming nuptials. It's a great Joker story, and also really hits the spot with stories featuring much of the Bat-family as well. It's one of the best Batman collections in Rebirth and has, for what feels like the fifth time, taken me so close to the wedding that I can practically hear the organ playing, but doesn't give me the wedding itself.
With all this buildup, it better be beyond amazing. I'm just saying.

Given the obvious reasons for publishing this volume (making as much money off of the upcoming Bat-Cat wedding), I'm not sure that it met the mark.

Out of the lot, I enjoyed the Batgirl/Riddler chapter the best, and really disliked the Robin/al Ghul chapter. Seriously, what happened?

Overall, the artwork was very good, with the Harley/Joker chapter coming in with the best artwork.

Please note: I will publish the review closer to the release date.

Batman: Preludes to the Wedding by Tim Seeley is a collection of stories where side characters in the Batman universe react to his upcoming wedding to Catwoman. This graphic novel collects Robin vs. Ra's Al Ghul #1, Nightwing vs. Hush #1,Batgirl vs. The Riddler #1, Red Hood vs. Anarky #1 and Harley Quinn vs. The Joker #1.

This graphic novel tells separate stories, all connected to the upcoming wedding of Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Catwoman (Selina Kyle). The Joker desperately wants an invitation to Batman’s wedding, but his partner in a very one-sided and dysfunctional relationship, Harley Quinn, will have none of that.
Nightwing (Dick Grayson), the best man, is picking up the engagement ring when Hush shows up. Ra's Al Ghul is trying to get Damian Wayne (Robin) back, since he’s now worried about his new step-mother, while Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) and the Riddler play a game of wits. On top of all that Anarky makes fun of Red Hood because he is a “failed” Robin.

The lead up to the Batman/Catwoman wedding is fantastic, one of the best graphic novel reads in the past several years. I was looking forward to read Batman: Preludes to the Wedding by Tim Seeley since I really enjoyed Tom King’s storyline.
I knew this would be a pointless wedding cash grab before I even got this graphic novel, I have been reading comics for decades and know how this works. But you know, sometimes these cash grabs are very enjoyable, silly, and just pure fun.
This collection, five issues which differ in quality, is a mixed bag. I didn’t think any story was absolutely stunning and certainly this isn’t a “must” to read to stay in the comic-loop. That being said, I enjoyed the book and didn’t feel as if is completely useless like many other tie-ins.
The art differs in every issue since they are drawn by different artists, still it’s solid and I enjoyed the panels very much. Even though these are separate runs, I did feel the art was cohesive, I have no idea how that work out, but it did.
Even though this is a marketing ploy, I still enjoyed this book – I credit Tim Seeley for raising this collection up a notch above a mere money grab. A mixed bag, but a fun graphic novel leading up to the wedding.