Batman: Killing Time #4: Folly of Greed

Batman: Killing Time is just straight-up fun.

Tom King is usually known for writing deeply emotional, introspective works that really get into the hearts and minds of characters. But from time to time, he lends his hands into books that are more adventurous with twinges of humor like the initial arcs of Batman Rebirth and Grayson respectively. Batman: Killing Time follows in their steps by being an action packed, time jumping romp about a heist gone wrong during Batman’s early years in Gotham.

The book seems to be focused on how greed will lead to utter destruction when the object of desire brings everyone into close proximity to each other. Using the story of King Pentheus as a reference point, it also leads me to believe that someone else is pulling the strings of the story. King weaves the tale through the book with various cuts through time, going back to the story as it was also referenced in the first issue of the mini-series. In the story, the mother of Pentheus, Agave, and her fellow worshippers of Bacchus tear the king apart, thinking him to be a lion, all because Bacchus was upset about having his worship banned and being slighted by his imprisonment by the king. So the question that must be raised is, who is the actual big bad of the book and has King already laid down clues as to whom it might be?

Tom King loves to weave various themes and messages into his books and that’s no different with this one either. This issue expands the scope of players involved in the search for Catwoman and Riddler and tells us that the man that they were meeting in the last issue for the exchange was an agent of the government, showing that even those in the highest level want the object that they stole. Sort of like the hunt for the “Get out of Hell Free Card” in Secret Six, there are many players. Many hands have seen the Eye of Christ and while it doesn’t really seem to have any special properties at the moment (and may not even be an actual eye) the myth of it seems like more than enough to have people crawling out of the woodwork for it and with the many appearances of Ra’s al Ghul in these last two issues, there might be a chance that this whole hunt is a test orchestrated by him for his precious student, Batman; A different sort of greed and desire for an heir.

David Marquez’s art never ceases to amaze. Batman is an inherently goofy character and there’s been a concerted effort to make him less goofy over time, but it takes a special kind of artist to take something that would be insanely goofy, like Batman fighting tigers, and making it look ultra cool. Marquez is exactly that kind of artist. With cinematic wide shots of him uppercutting, dodging and monkey flipping these big cats, Marquez shows exactly how strong and quick on his feet Batman is. On top of that, he’s able to do calm and tense moments, like a tense conversation in a diner between Riddler and his government contact making use of many close up shots at various angles and fantastic facial expressions. These same facial expressions help to convey the horror of Agave’s act of carrying her dead son’s head as, while we don’t see it until much later in the book, the former King, Cadmus, looks on in abject terror as she believes it be a lion’s head.

His line work is amazingly detailed, giving depth and texture to character faces, clothes and backgrounds. This is especially true for The Help whose look is very distinct with his elderly face, creased with various wrinkles and hatches for shading. In the flashback scenes to Agave carrying Pentheus’ head readers get a strong feel for the age of the Greeks through the grand environments, large staircases and manners of dress – Marquez does a great job of giving us a sense of scale. There’s another amazing example with the motorcycle that Batman rides being shown in amazingly dynamic angles, showing off the sheer detail and care that went into the art of a very badass vehicle.

Alejandro Sanchez’s colors help to give this book an awesome sense of vibrancy and helps to show the passage of time over the course of the book despite it taking place over a variety of timelines. Batman’s morning fight against the tigers at their sanctuary has a low yellow tone which helps to bring out the bright oranges of the tigers as well as the grays and blacks of Batman’s costume. Later on, when Riddler is having lunch, the lighting is more reflective of early afternoon, with lots of white pouring through the windows and a nice blue sky. And finally, during the flashback, we see the light oranges of the sun setting and it feels like a full day’s passed despite the immense time differences.

Clayton Cowles’ letters never miss either. One of the things I love most about this issue is its use of transparent sound bubbles across the entire panel as Riddler is slapped across the face, emphasizing the impact and loudness of the sound. This effect is used in an even better manner when Penguin gets up from his hospital bed and screeches AAAAAAAA! In transparent red lettering. Regular word balloons continue to be unobtrusive, filling empty space and the parchment like look of the narration bubbles continue to be a nice aesthetic choice for this book.