Batman: I am Suicide picks up where I am Gotham ended with Gotham Girl struggling and Batman on the hunt for Bane and the Psycho-Pirate.
Overview
Contents
I am Suicide carries on immediately after the events of I am Gotham and sees Gotham girl still struggling to come to to terms with the events of the first book, she has what appears to be a nervous break down following the effects of Psycho-Pirate – she shaves her head and dons her tattered costume and hits the streets to fight crime. Batman needs to find the Psycho-Piarte to be able to make Gotham Girl better and hatches the plan by working with Amanda Waller and a new B-team Task Force X which includes Arnold Wesker, Punch and Jewelee, Bronze Tiger and Catwoman. The latter being a major part of the plot for the last third.
- King, Tom (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 168 Pages - 04/18/2017 (Publication Date) - Dc Comics (Publisher)
Batman: I am Suicide Review
The book picks up quickly into action and gives us a glimpse of Bane’s past during his time at Santa Prisca who now appears to be the king of the prison. Because of Gotham Girl’s mental state Batman knows he needs the Psycho Pirate briefly introduced in I am Gotham to break his hold on her, he is being held voluntarily or agains his will in Santa Prisca by Bane; so that’s that then – Batman needs to go there and break him out. Sounds simple at this point doesn’t it?
Not quite. Amanda Waller has clearly played a hand in all of this, the book explains that if we wanted to know more about this plan we’d need to buy Justice League vs. Suicide Squad. I haven’t got that book nor was I intending to at the time, and I’m still not sure if I am going to, although in the past many characters crossed over from time to time you never felt that you needed to buy any others to know what’s going so I wasn’t a fan of being told to buy more. However, the book carried on the storyline and I didn’t end up feeling lost.
Batman does a tour of Arkham and seems obvious he already knew who wanted for this specific mission: Punch and Jewelee, Bronze Tiger, Arnold Wesker and Catwoman. A very random bunch without any of the
A-tier villains involved. As the assault commences on Santa Prisca every member plays their part and follows instructions given, Batman, however, seems to have given himself the task of going down Route 1 and punches his way through hordes of soldiers while repeating (irritatingly) “I will break your damn back” over and over – the first time it was kind of cool but after the 10th time it had lost of all its effect and was just a bit silly.
The siege continues in what looks like organised chaos but is unveiled as a perfectly executed Batman strategy. It was so ludicrous that I found it a slightly hilarious rather than cunning. At times it was nonsense. It could have almost been made this way because the bosses at DC told Tim King “I don’t care how you do it but Bronze Tiger, Punch and Jewelee,
Catwoman and Arnold Wesker need to be involved”. That’s how I felt anyway.
During the infiltration there were some great moments and especially great artwork (which I thought was the standout feature of I am Suicide) from Mikel Janin but ultimately, for me, came down as a farcical time filled with lines that sounded cool in Tom King’s head but not so much on paper.
The final third of I am Suicide explores the relationship between Batman and Catwoman as they return to Gotham for one night before Catwoman is sent back. At times it felt tender and real but again marred by repeating words over and over again, artwork was pretty much on point with only the words letting it down. Overall, I felt quite glad this part was over (as was the book) as we’ve seen Batman and Catwoman come close many times before and this time didn’t feel any different and certainly not a ‘rebirth’.
- King, Tom (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 168 Pages - 04/18/2017 (Publication Date) - Dc Comics (Publisher)
Summary
I am Suicide is a book that wanted to be a million things but never excelling. The artwork is by far the strongest point of the book with the writing letting it down by throwing repeated one liners at you while being packaged in a storyline that can only be described as farcical, pointless and rushed.
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