[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers!]
Writer: Tom King
Artists: Amanda Conner, Dan Panosian, John Timms, Mikel Janin
Colors: Paul Mounts, John Timms, Jordie Bellaire
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Summary
It’s the bachelor party for Bruce Wayne’s wedding! Clark and Bruce are enjoying a quiet night at the manor, having dinner and watching football. However Lois and Selina are up to something as well–the two ladies with the help of Supergirl have broken into the Fortress of Solitude! As these two couples enjoy their nights out separately everything seems almost ideal–almost.
Positives
I always enjoy a good story that shows our heroes lives outside of the cape, and this was one of those. With the wedding between Bruce and Selina coming up, a bachelor party was bound to happen. Although I expected more characters at the party, it seems as if Bruce preferred to keep things simple. A simple dinner with his best friend Clark, a game of chess, and watching the football game on TV. Along the way Clark seems to try to give Bruce advice about marriage, but Bruce isn’t too receptive. The dialog between the two out of the uniform is as funny as always, as Clark is trying to get Bruce to relax, and Bruce really isn’t having it. In the Fortress of Solitude, Lois and Selina are having a whole different bachelorette party! Thanks to Supergirl, the two break into the fortress and Lois uses Superman’s robots to lead them to his vault, which contains over 37,000 different wines from across the universe! Although the Man of Steel isn’t a drinker, it seems that he has quite the collection–and the women sample them all! I was literally laughing out loud at the two laying on the floor, surrounded by wine glasses!
Negatives
I have absolutely no negatives about this issue! The entire book itself is about the bachelor party and it shows the bond between the two couples, especially the friendship that builds between Lois and Selina. Although very opposite in many ways, the two are both strong-willed and determined women, and a bond was made in this book. However the ending is the real twist–we find Batman strapped to a chair, unable to move at all. With his mind still linked to the machine, everything that he’s experiencing is all just fantasy, and a very good one at that. After seeing Batman still trapped at the end of this book I thought only two immediate things– the first being that I felt sorry for him, to experience all of this joy and to find out it’s not real is going to be an emotional rollercoaster for him to process. The second being that whenever Batman does get free, I feel sorry for Bane and the others that put him through this.
Verdict
Overall Batman #68 was a good read and I can’t wait to see how this run ends! Batman has endured so much in these issues that I wonder what his mind will be like once he gets free. Will he be able to tell what’s real and what’s not? Will his mind be scarred or altered by what he endured? I have so many questions and Tom King is the only one with the answers!
