Batman: Killing Time #2 Review

Back-and-Forth and Back-and-Forth

Written by: Tom King

Art by: David Marquez

Colors by: Alejandro Sánchez

Letters by: Clayton Cowles

Cover art by: David Marquez, Alejandro Sánchez

Cover price:  $4.99

Release date: April 5, 2022

Batman: Killing Time #2 follows Riddler and Catwoman as their plan heads toward a big payoff, assuming nothing goes wrong.  Meanwhile, Croc's girlfriend revels in her newfound wealth.  Plus, more tales of Ancient Greece fill in the gaps.

Was It Good?

Oof!  This issue was a slog to get through.  I was impressed and intrigued by the first issue with an Ocean's 11-styled caper filled with twists and misdirections.  In Batman: Killing Time #2, the back and forth time jumps nearly double, sometimes for no reason, and the entire issue is composed of hints of exposition building toward the big reveal of the buyer interested in whatever Riddler and Catwoman stole that's of grave importance for Batman.

In fairness, you learn quite a bit in this issue.  We find out who first acquired knowledge of the "object" from Batman.  We also learn how the Riddler and Catwoman came up with the plan.  We also follow Batman as he follows the trail, which may be a trap.

In between the tedious time-hopping, we see the secondary story play out in Ancient Greece as King Pentheus meets a grisly fate at the hands of the Maenads.  What does Ancient Greece have to do with the heist?  It's a mystery as (so far) nothing about the flashback has anything to do with an "object."

You get the impression that King is trying an experiment to see how non-linear and complicated he can make the story's timeline and still have a coherent story.  Well, it's relatively coherent, but you're going to get whiplash moving back and forth so many times, making the whole reading experience a chore.

The saving grace of this issue is the art by Marquez, Sánchez, and Cowles.  The book is practically stunning and a visual treat.

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Bits and Pieces

 

Batman: Killing Time #2 took all the goodwill from a super-strong first issue and nearly squandered all of it with tedious and unnecessarily complicated time jumps, very little plot development or action, and a build-up to a mystery that already doesn't seem interesting.  On the positive side, the art is gorgeous and almost worth the cover price.  Almost.

6.5/10