A fun, solid start to King’s run. It’s a bit out there, with two new heroes that turn into a more complicated arc. It’s bombastic and tried to expand on the origin story a bit. I think it’s overall shaky at best though. And because it is Batman, mental health is just not a thing of course. Everyone’s “psycho” and “crazy”. In a long standing series that tries to make things gritty because of those things, the lack of nuance undermines it at every turn.

I recieved this from Netgalley and DC Comics in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a okay title. The story itself was hard to follow at times. Gotham and Gotham Girl's story is a bit cheesy and is a bit vague in places. The villians I enjoyed to a certain extent. I would recommend it for those hardcore Batman fans, but more casual readers such as myself may find it confusing.

I don't read much Batman anymore but after reading Tom King's "The Vision" series last year I was curious enough to check this out. It's definitely some good Batman comics. King delves into the Dark Knight's psyche in an interesting way. The art is nice too though generally not mind-blowing.

Hey, this wasn't bad. Well, I haven't loved a Batman story till Death of the Family so that's probably why.

So let's talk about what works. I love Alfred. This is the best he's been since the scene in Injustice Year One when he lays the motherfucking smackdown on Superman. I also enjoyed Gotham and Gotham Girl, both interesting characters (though I'll explain the bad side later). I also thought this had some of my favorite standout moments of Batman so far. The crashing of a plane, the Justice League moment was fantastic, also the "I am Gotham" moment was wonderful. This had a lot of fun/great moments I enjoyed.

So why only a 3? I felt they rushed some things. I would have loved to see Gotham/girl both staying around for 10-12 issues. Expand, give us a reason to care more. I only felt for Gotham girl, and that shouldn't have been like that. With the events that occur I should have cared more and I didn't. Because it felt a little to rushed.

I also found the pacing weird. Similar to Morrison (just not as shitty) it was very jumpy. Which is what I might of had a problem with the emotional moments not sticking. We need to slow it down, breath, let them sink in.

Overall it was fun, it really was. I had a blast reading it but it had some issues, glaring ones. I hope the next one takes it slower and pays off better!

I think the only good thing about this was Gotham Girl's pathos, but it was ruined by a ridiculous story line and the boring-ness of Bruce. I just hate Tom King's writing. It feels generic to me.

I'll tell you what, when D.C. Comics launched their New 52 line back in 2011, I was totally cool with it. I had always wanted to get into some of the superhero titles but was afraid to because of their long histories and my unwillingness to spend thousands of dollars and hours catching up. So I started in New 52 and was reading about five titles including both Batman and The Dark Knight and I really enjoyed them. Then came yet another re-launch with D.C. Rebirth last year and I just couldn't do it. If I were one of the writers/artists from New 52 or the long-running series prior to that, I'd feel like another reboot is just a slap in the face. Like D.C. saying, "We don't like what you've done so we're negating it entirely." So I held off reading ANY of the titles. But I'd heard some good things about Batman and decided, once I found it at the library, to give it a shot. And it's not bad.

Basically, a brother/sister crime fighting duo named Gotham and Gotham Girl (why he couldn't have appended "Boy" to his name to at least keep things equal is beyond me) are returning home to finish what Batman hasn't been able to... the crime problem. But, let's just say, things go awry. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, right? Give it a shot if you haven't already. I don't know if I'll keep going, but this one collected edition was good.

3.5 stars. Really strong first issue and idea that are compressed into a somewhat slapdash, somewhat uninspired arc. More thoughts to come.

Read this review and more on my blog.

I received a free copy of Batman Volume 1: I Am Gotham from DC Comics in exchange for my honest opinion.

Batman Volume 1 is my first read of DC's since they started the Rebirth storyline. Going into it, I expected to to be horrible from all the review that I had read; this potentially made me enjoy it more when I did not find it as bad as they made it seem like.

The art style suited Batman and Gotham City very well. The little details were not missed, but the did not detract and draw me away from the focus of the panel like they are susceptible to do.

For me, my main issue with the first volume of the ongoing Batman Rebirth series is the 1st issue. It did not flow into the rest of the story and when I went on to read the 2nd issue, I thought I was reading something completely different. The first issue was around Calendar Man and Batman trying to stop him stop him messing with the seasons amongst other things which I will not spoil.

The second issue onwards were a very cohesive story that is a direct affect of Batman saving the people of Gotham and how some choose to react.

For my first time reading an ongoing series, I was impressed with I Am Gotham and I suspect that majority of people will enjoy it.

Scott Snyder did an interview with Sal from ComicPop a couple months ago (here's the link for anyone curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_LFeSo1BM). I really, REALLY enjoyed hearing Snyder open up about his life, his personal demons, and how that influenced his work at DC. So at the start of the year I decided it'd be fun to re-read his run on Batman during the New52/DC You publishing era.

The Court of Owls was such a joy to read again, not just because of the art (which is fantastic btw), but because of how Snyder almost makes Gotham City a character in its own right by giving a history to the city, its architecture, and the people that inhabit it. It fleshed out Gotham for me in a way that I had never seen before. Also, LOVE The Court. Some of the best villain designs in years and while we don't get much information about them this volume they have a very imposing and powerful presence anytime they're on panel.

What took the volume down a notch for is the scene in the last half of the book where you have to physically rotate the book in order to keep reading. It became difficult to reorient myself and naturally find which page I was supposed to turn. I see what they going for, but it didn't quite work for me and took me out of the experience. I also wish this and the next volume were just 1 book instead of 2. The next volume is essentially the third act of this story and I don't see the need to separate them other than for the sake making someone pay for 2 trades. Other than that, great read. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to jump into Batman.

There's no one quite like DC to continually remix and rebrand their established heroes – and having already rebooted the entire universe, they've gone at again.
A rebirth, if you will. And we know this because that's what they've called it.
But what's really annoying is that, first book out of the box (at least for me) they seem to have done it again.
The artwork is as vibrant as you'd expect, and we get two new kids to hang out with – Gotham, and Gotham Girl. New supers with powers, a dark secret and a twist.
No, they're not thinking outside of the box here but who cares when it works?
And the story is up to snuff, with added batshittery just for good measure. Want to see Bats riding a crashing plane through two tower blocks? Step right up!
Obviously it's too early to judge how the run is going to shape up, but were off to a flying start.