Batman: Killing Time

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Editor’s Note: This collected edition includes all six issues of the miniseries Batman: Killing Time, which had its first issue released in March 2022 and the final issue released in August 2022. This review focuses on the story as a whole rather than the individual issues that made up the limited series. Killer Croc enters the bank in the rain, and the guard lets him in without challenge. He begins the robbery. New Commissioner Jim Gordon is alerted and turns on the Bat-signal. Riddler approaches Mr. Barrington, bank president. Batman: Killing Time is the latest Batman-related project from prolific writer Tom King. The comic book author, who penned The Vision, Mister Miracle, and The Sherriff of Babylon, wrote 85 issues of DC's main Batman title, taking over for Scott Snyder. Following the run's conclusion, he's worked on a follow-up Batman/Catwoman maxiseries alongside Clay Mann, Liam Sharp, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles. King is also currently writing Supergirl alongside Bilquis Evely, and Human Target with Greg Smallwood. Meanwhile, David Marquez has done the art for Justice League alongside Brian Michael Bendis as well as Batman/Superman with Joshua Williamson. That night, Penguin tells a huge crowd of Gotham gangsters about the meet at the Iceberg Lounge. One of Batman’s informers texts him but is murdered as a result. And if you are looking for a longer version of what happens in Batman: Killing Time, read on for a much more detailed version of the events as we travel through time.

Batman: Killing Time on the way from King and Marquez Batman: Killing Time on the way from King and Marquez

Analysis: In 2022, two and a half years after he completed his 85-issue run on the main Batman title (though just overlapping the conclusion of his 13-issue Batman/Catwoman series), Tom King returned to Batman for Batman: Killing Time. Probably commissioned as part of the promotion of The Batman film released in March 2022, King focuses heavily on Batman as a solo crimefighter, Catwoman and Riddler as the main visible antagonists with a strong Penguin presence, all elements directly mirroring the film. January 18: Catwoman and Riddler, robbing a jewelry store, talk about their frustration with Batman’s constant capturing of them. Having made a name for himself at DC as one of the best Batman artists, David Marquez’s work is top-notch here, presenting hyper-realistic, hugely detailed art. When you look at his work of numerous Spider-Man comics, Marquez can illustrate action and that applies here with Batman being a figure of theatrics through his cape. May 5: In St. Catherine’s Church in Gdansk, Poland, Jon Protva steals the so-called “Eye of Christ” to try to heal his sister. She dies.

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February 26: Croc, motivated by his former girlfriend Vera Angleton’s disgust at his current form, decides to be the patsy for Riddler’s plan. The hardcover release of Batman: Killing Time uses David Marquez’s main cover for the first issue, a standard but still quite a fun composition featuring Batman looming over Riddler, a slinky Catwoman, Killer Croc, Penguin, a racing car, and an open bank vault. The Direct Market (local comic shops) hardcover has an exclusive variant cover by Marquez, showing Batman surrounded by the breaking glass of a watch face, Riddler, Catwoman, Croc, Penguin, and the Help reflected in flying shards. Penguin screams at all those who betrayed him. Later, he hires Two-Face’s gang, as well as many others, to avenge himself. November 7: Vera buys the Eye in a pawn shop, who got it from a stewardess, who got it on another flight.

Batman: Killing Time The Penguin Tries to Kill [SPOILER] in Batman: Killing Time

Synopsis (spoilers ahead) : There is a lot that happens in Batman: Killing Time, and there really is no way to condense it to a standard-size synopsis without missing elements important to the story. So here is the very short condensed version of what happens first. March 4: Catwoman (disguised as a blonde) teaches Mrs. Barrington (the bank president’s wife) tennis, has tea with her, then changes into Catwoman and holds her hostage, taking down the guards brutally. April 8: In Morocco, Batman captures Riddler and Catwoman, having been led there by an angry Riddler. The call for Riddler's head isn't without warrant. In the title's premiere issue, the Riddler/Edward Nygma betrayed the Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, who had bankrolled a shared job between the two villains, Catwoman and Killer Croc in obtaining the mystery item from the bank. When Penguin requested the item at their meeting spot, Nygma instead beat Oswald with his own umbrella 46 times, leaving him battered and bruised in the hospital. Despite Batman being the titular character, in which he has been the Caped Crusader for a couple of years, he isn’t really the main character, continuing a recent streak of King not that interested in Batman as a character. King is clearly more interested in the villains who are always double-crossing one another and no doubt there is some fun with the banter between them, but because the comic is so fixated on being non-linear, it’s ultimately hard to care.After the disappointing Batman/Catwoman, which served as King’s conclusion to his ongoing narrative during the main Batman title whilst playing with non-linear storytelling, Batman: Killing Time is basically a repeat of that storytelling. When Catwoman, The Riddler and The Penguin join forces to pull off the greatest robbery in the history of Gotham City, Batman investigates the deadly heist that goes wrong.

DC Reveals New Batman: Killing Time Miniseries From King/Marquez

In Batman’s second year of his crusade against crime, while he is still changing and perfecting his craft and the art of the vigilante, the cowardly lot of criminals in the city are changing as well—giving rise to darker, specialized rogues. January 22: In Arkham, Riddler plans the job, saying it needs four people – Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin (money), and a Coordinator who makes the trains run on time.

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Overview: In Batman: Killing Time, during year two of Batman’s career, Batman stands against Catwoman, Riddler, the newly created villain, the Help, and the US Government in a plot to control a mystical artifact connected to the slaughter of hundreds. Tom King and David Marquez’s Killing Time is a decent done-in-one Batman book that’s always unpredictable and never boring, with fantastic art throughout, though ultimately the story is a forgettable one with a very underwhelming finale.