Review: Batman Vol. 7- The Wedding

Quick Summary

Pros: One of the volume’s stories is great overall. Aspects of the volume’s final chapter are incredibly sweet and the tease at the volume’s conclusion builds plenty of suspense for the future. The artwork is highly positive throughout the volume and many pages in the final chapter are simply gorgeous.

Cons: The volume’s opening story arc is unappealing and is one of the worst in the series thus far. This collection’s narrative changes the overall narrative of the series in a way that feels inorganic. Aspects of the volume’s final chapter are poorly addressed.

Overall: This volume is seriously mixed when it comes to quality. It has a generally unappealing story arc, a disappointing story, and a shift in the flow of the series that feels weird. However, it also has some great story moments, a highly intriguing conclusion, and some simply beautiful artwork. This collection may appeal to readers interested in the overall narrative of this entire comic but may not appeal to readers jumping in for the historic relevance of this particular event.

Story

Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding (Reading Order), by Tom King, is probably the most divisive volume since this series began. On one hand, two of the book’s three stories are pretty disappointing and one of the two is so bizarre that it ends up being rather unappealing. In addition, the volume’s overall narrative introduces a pretty dramatic shift for the narrative of this series, one that is poorly justified. On the other hand, one of the volume’s stories is highly entertaining and another one has its moments. In addition, the volume’s overall narrative introduces several unexpected but highly intriguing teases for the future. In the end, there are positives and negatives to this book but its overall value will be dependent on how much readers have been enjoying the ongoing Batman/Catwoman saga and the quality of the story extending from the conclusion of this volume.

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The Wedding starts with a story arc that has Booster Gold create a dystopian version of reality by preventing Batman’s parents from being killed. The story juxtaposes its incredibly dark premise against the alternate reality’s Bruce Wayne’s willingness to keep his own reality over one where his parents were killed. It makes a point about the necessity of Batman while acknowledging the pain he is always in.

Unfortunately, the world of the story and the writing surrounding it are unpleasant to the point where they become unappealing. The story feels like it is just trying to be dark for the sake of being dark, by presenting increasingly depressing versions of beloved characters, rather then dark in an intriguing way, like the world of Flashpoint (Review). In addition, Booster Gold’s unending comedy in the face of this darkness ends up coming off extremely strange and often feels out of character for him. This story ended up leaving a bad taste in my mouth and, in my opinion, is a low point for this entire series.

Luckily, the next story in The Wedding fares much better. It follows the Joker’s discovery of Batman’s wedding and shows the violence that follow this discovery. This leads to a unique glimpse at Joker’s character and his connection to Batman. It also offers a humorously weird extended exchange between Joker and Catwoman, which may have been my favorite moment of the book.

Finally, The Wedding ends with the titular wedding, or lack thereof. This volume’s final chapter has Catwoman leave Batman at the altar, ultimately deciding that marrying him would make him happy, which would kill his drive for crimefighting, which would make the world worse. The unfortunate part about this decision is that it feels incredibly unjustified. The two preceding stories hint toward some doubts Catwoman is having about their marriage but the three volumes of stories preceding these are all almost entirely focused on the alleviation of any doubts the two would have had. If these seeds of doubt had been planted earlier, it would have felt more natural, but, as the story stands, this volume ends up being a dramatic and unpleasant shift for the series as a whole.

However, there are a few upsides to the wedding chapter. The couple’s letters to one another and early actions toward each other are sweet and show how much they genuinely care. In addition, the revelation that Bane has been masterminding many aspects of Batman’s life made me want to keep reading this series and see where it goes in the future. Despite the disappointments in this collection, I admit I am still optimistic about this series and will still be reading future volumes with anticipation.

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Art

While the story in The Wedding is a bit mixed, the artwork remains strong throughout. Tony S. Daniel’s visuals and Tomeu Morey’s colors, in the opening story arc, present a wonderfully detailed take on the world of this story. They look good and make the world stand out, even when the story falters a bit. Then, later on, Mikel Janín’s artwork presents a creepy take on the Joker that feels as serious as the story intends it to be.

However, the final chapter in The Wedding is where the real visual treat is found. This chapter presents a ton of beautiful portraits from a variety of talented artists. Each portrait looks great on its own but together they help emphasize the variety of forms Batman and Catwoman have taken on over the years, which works well with the themes developed in this story. The art in this one chapter nearly makes this volume worthwhile on its own.

Continuity

Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding continues the story from Batman Vol. 6: Bride or Burglar (Review).

This volume also contains issues that tie in to a larger story arc surrounding Batman’s wedding. ComicBookWire’s “Batman: The Wedding Reading Order” explains this story arc.

The main story here continues in Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days. (Review). Catwoman’s specific story continues in Catwoman Vol. 1: Copycats (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Booster Gold mentions a story about Superman being “trapped in his mind”. This story took place in “For the Man Who Has Everything…” from Superman Annual #11, collected in Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?.
• Joker mentions that he killed a Robin in the past. This happened in Batman: A Death in the Family.
• Batman’s account of his first meeting with Catwoman comes from Batman #1, collected in Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1. Catwoman’s account of their first meeting comes from Batman: Year One.