Review: Batman- Preludes to the Wedding
Quick Summary
Pros: There are a couple of solid moments found throughout most of the chapters. The Joker’s appearances here are all pretty entertaining.
Cons: Most of the stories are just average. The Damian Wayne story is rather poor.
Overall: The stories told over the course of this collection have a few great moments and a few poor moments, but mostly end up just being average. They all have some appeal and they all take a look at a unique time in these characters’ lives but, as a whole, they fail to capture attention in a way that feels significant. Readers truly invested in the Bat-family may find moments of this collection to be worthwhile but anyone only casually interested can feel comfortable skipping these adventures.
Story
Batman: Preludes to the Wedding, by Tim Seeley and Tom King, is a mostly average affair that only really manages to have a few noteworthy moments. These noteworthy moments are mostly derived through a few emotional scenes from members of the Bat-family or generally entertaining chaos from the Joker. However, balancing out these moments is a rather poor chapter featuring Damian Wayne and a general sense of mediocrity found in most of the book’s pages. The end result is a book that has some light appeal but nothing so substantial that it would be universally appealing to most readers.
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The majority of the chapters in Batman: Preludes to the Wedding aren’t bad but they aren’t necessarily that good either. Nightwing’s bachelor party adventure is exciting, Batgirl’s hunt for the Riddler is tense and interesting, and Red Hood’s surveillance mission has a nice twist at the end. However, each adventure is so quick and feels so random that the story’s message ends up being diluted a bit.
Luckily, there are some highly entertaining moments in these otherwise mundane chapters that help up the quality a bit. Dick’s heart to heart with Bruce about their relationship is touching and serves as a reminder of how simultaneously close and distant the members of the Bat-family can be. Meanwhile, the Joker’s solo story and his fight against Harley Quinn are both highly entertaining and offer unique perspectives on this villain.
However, there are also a number of significant negatives that end up balancing out these significant positives. The most obvious example of this is the entire “Robin vs. Ra’s al Ghul” story. It has Damian Wayne express a fear that he could never live up to any future children his father would have. It also has Selina Kyle express doubt that she could raise a child of her own. Then, by the end of the chapter, instead of consoling each other, Selina simply states she will never have children and Damian feels secure about his future once more. Neither character was able to grow and both still harbor the same insecurities they brought into the chapter.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The artwork in Preludes to the Wedding ends up sharing a similar level of quality with the story, mostly average with a few standout moments. Clay Mann’s work on the opening chapter is awesome and really helps add to the creepiness and suspense that the story is going for. In addition, Sami Basri’s art and Jessica Kholinne’s colors help the “Harley Quinn vs. The Joker” story tread the thin line between the lighthearted ridiculousness and brutal violence that both of the titular characters require. However, these positive elements are balanced out by somewhat poor visuals in the Robin and Red Hood chapters, both of which end up being a bit unappealing. The end result is, once again, something that is pleasing at times but, as a whole, just feels average.
Continuity
Batman: Preludes to the Wedding continues the story of Batman and Catwoman’s progression toward their wedding day. This started with Batman’s proposal at the conclusion of Batman Vol. 3: I am Bane (Review) and continued over the course of the next three volumes of the series.
The story here directly continues in Batman #48, collected in Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Damian Wayne’s origin story is mentioned here. This origin is detailed across Batman: Batman and Son.
- Damian Wayne’s hallucination of a possible future where he is Batman is a reference to Batman #666, collected in Batman: Batman and Son.
- At one point, a flashback shows the Riddler cutting a question mark in his chest. This happened in Batman Vol. 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles (Review).
- Red Hood began hanging out with a new group of Outlaws in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: Dark Trinity (Review). Bizarro became intelligent in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Bizarro Reborn (Review).