Batman #47 (Second Opinion)

Written by: Tom King
Art by: Tony Daniel
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: May 16, 2018
Review by:  Dispatchdcu (Check out all of his awesome reviews!)


Ok, so here goes. Let’s unwrap up this gift, shall we!?! We open with Bruce, and probably some of his Waynetech peeps, trying to fix Skeets so they can go back in time. Skeets reboots only to find that Boosters voice is the only voice that will operate Skeets. So, Bruce goes to unlock Booster who has been locked up in chains for over a year in (possibly) what would be the Batcave.... that’s how I took it. 


Bruce cleans up Booster, while he gives his backstory, and a Bruce Wayne who drastically looks like the Punisher wants to go back in time to 10 minutes before his parent's murder and stop his parent's death. Well, that works perfectly for Booster because they travel back in time to the moment Booster originally saved his parents.... just 10 minutes before. 

Bruce realizes that he’s been screwed and starts kicking Booster time traveling butt. Skeets gets shot again so he can’t work but from behind comes the past Booster that originally saved his parents (two Boosters in the past now). Ok so, I could be wrong but here is how I see it; “older” Booster grabs Bruce’s gun having it miss fire shooting “younger” Booster that just arrived the first time to save Bruce’s parents. It hits Booster in the heart killing him. This leaves us with a “younger” working Skeets and an “older” Booster.... the one that was tied up.... if that makes sense..... 

Bruce’s parents hear the gunshot and decide to go down the alley where they are murdered. Both “little boy” Bruce and “alt-timeline” Bruce watch his parent’s death. “Alt Timeline” Bruce can’t take it and shoots himself in the head committing suicide. Being only one Booster and one Skeets as well as the timeline is restored, Booster heads to the future ( our present) and tells Batman and Catwoman the entire story. Ok, now for my thoughts. Like I said in my last two reviews, I like this Booster. This is the Booster I watched on TV. He’s zany, goofy, and is the least likely person to be a hero or save the day. He’s also the character that gets himself and others into danger as well as horrible situations. To others that have read recent Booster, that Booster and this Booster don’t match. I get that... or do they?

I’m personally cool with it because I like this Booster. But if you wanted to explain it, this Booster could be an earlier Booster in time from the one we saw in Action Comics. This could be an alternate timeline Booster entirely. There could be multiple Boosters in the timeline at this point. Point is: Instead of whining and complaining about a Booster that has been gone for YEARS until we finally dust him off from the toy box for Action Comics and now Batman, why don’t you ask Dan Jurgens if he’s ok with it? If the creator of the character doesn’t mind the rendition, then why should you care? Personally, I don’t care. I liked this Booster. And, I like this story a ton! The next Booster topic is time travel related. If the past Booster died, how could future Booster be there? Wouldn’t he erase from the time stream? First of all, way to knit-pick,right? So, sure, maybe he would but the point was to have a Booster go back to explain the story to Batman and to tell him what happen.

Why create a story that only the reader knows... not even Booster? Also, it is possible that Booster is basically outside the time stream, or an anomaly at this point like I stated earlier. Therefore, he wouldn’t erase like Back to the Future. And again, it doesn’t matter to the story. In one comic, Thawne can come back 18,000 times. For all we know, there are multiple Thawne’s throughout time. Well, couldn’t this be the same with Booster by this point?

Next thing people will have a field day with is Bruce Wayne using guns and shooting himself in the head. Again, I’m cool with it. Here’s why: this Bruce Wayne is a different person than “our” Bruce Wayne. That’s the main point of the story. His parent's death made him the caring, smart, detective, tactician who specialized in multiple methods of martial arts. For all we know, this “alt” Bruce never experienced that and is probably a total douche and a stuck up rich-boy jerk.

To say Bruce Wayne would still be the same and have the same characteristics with or without his parents murder is absurd. Think Red Son Superman. Without the Kent’s, who does Superman become? The nurture of Bruce’s parents changed his character completely. He never learns any of the items he did before. And to say he’d never commit suicide... I agree. “Our” Bruce wouldn’t. This one.... maybe. In one years time, you witness your parents murdered twice. What would that do to you?

He also just killed a time-traveling man from the future that’s also sitting right beside him. Has he ever done that before? I don’t know what it takes to get pushed over the edge but this could be it. These items can change anyone. My point is: this is all possible. Lastly, are people going to be ok with Batman’s parent's death forever being changed? Because now, Bruce himself sent his parents down that alley. Not only did little Bruce get scared and left the theatre early, but now “alt” Bruce shot a gun which guided them into an alley to be murdered in the first place. Are we cool with that? It’s kind of like saying the lightning that made Barry Allen the Flash, was actually Barry Allen... we cool with that? That one..... I don’t know if that one sits well with me. If I have too, I can deal with it. But I don’t like it. The idea is clever for a “what if” story but in main continuity.... I don’t know if I like it.

Overall, the art was fantastic as always. Top notch all the way! We get to see Tom King kill Batman... again... and kill Bruce Wayne all in the same arc. So, if we tally it up, we get 3 Batman/ Bruce Wayne deaths now.... I think. And, we get a fun story which shows us a huge “What if” story that gets to play with tons of cool ideas but ultimately go back to normal continuity. And that’s what made the story so amazing to me. The toy box was opened with some amazing ideas and they can all get thrown back in without impacting our character forever.... other than the gunshot guide to the alley that is..... Why complain about an issue or issues that mean nothing to continuity for the most part? The story was meant to be fun, creative, clever, exciting, have tons of action, and to give the readers explanation. So many readers complain that he leaves things open-ended. This wasn’t at all. We get a beginning, middle, and end. We get a why?

If you like what you heard, love talking all types of comics, and are interested in joining a comic chat group, hit me up at dispatchdcu@gmail.com or @dispatchdcu on twitter. Catch you all later!

Bits and Pieces:

We get what so many wanted yet still we complain. Haters are gonna hate. T-Swift said that but I’m sure Jesus said it first..... anyway... I had fun with it and think it was amazing. I hope you all look at his arc with your glass being both half full and half empty because technically.. it’s both.

8.5/10