Whether you love or hate Catwoman, you have to admit that her engagement to Batman has definitely been a highlight of Rebirth.
Whilst the last couple of graphic novels set up the aspects surrounding the wedding, Volume 6: Bride Or Burglar feels like it is finally starting to pay off the finale of the grand day.
But is it worth picking up?
That’s what I’m here to discuss and throughout this review, I will be breaking down everything that you need to know about Bride Or Burglar.
There will be heavy spoilers so if you don’t want to know anything going into the story then I highly recommend that you skip to the score. For everyone else let’s dive into Batman: Bride Or Burglar!
‘You’re Ashamed Of Me’
Feeling rather sporadic at times, the graphic novel contains multiple storylines and small sequences that flesh out the relationship between Batman, Catwoman and the rest of the DC Universe.
Whilst it is great seeing cameos from characters from the comics, the majority of them feel rather, well, underwhelming.
One follows Batman investigating the murder of two of Gotham’s high ranking citizens. Their son is obsessed with Bruce Wayne and the Dark Knight does all he can to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, the twist is so glaringly obvious that I’d be surprised if every reader didn’t correctly guess it on the first page. This starts the book off on a bad foot and what follows doesn’t exactly redeem it.
Superfriends
Another story that centres around Batman and Wonder Woman feels like it has potential but drops the ball and ends feeling like a missed opportunity.
The Amazonian and Caped Crusader get called to a realm where they must fight off endless hordes and whilst time passes for them they do not age. In total the two spend 37 years together and whilst there are hints at an attraction between them this doesn’t really ever go anywhere.
Being trapped for nearly 4 decades with one of comics most beautiful women would surely tempt anyone however Batman stays true and thus it doesn’t really feel like the spanner in the works that I should have been.
Every Rose Has It’s Thorn
The major arc in the book centres around Poison Ivy finally taking over the world and unleashing her mind control powers on the entire population of the planet except for Batman and Catwoman.
As most readers of King will know, he isn’t good with big action set pieces so instead, Ivy takes a pacifist route and let’s them go about their business as long as they don’t try and stop her. Obviously, they do and the eventual showdown and conclusion are fun even if they feel slightly misguided.
To me, this arc seems like a way to examine the #MeToo movement and recontextualise it. However, in doing so it loses a lot of its meaning because the circumstances are so extreme. Again it leads to a slightly underdeveloped arc that makes me wish the DC mandate would give creators more room to let things develop. With the issues being so short, stories that should be impactful are over far before they get the chance to really hit their mark and this graphic novel suffers heavily because of this.
The Conclusion
The book concludes with what is arguably its saving grace. The finale single issue showcases several meetings between the Bat and Cat and whilst it feels like this has been done before by King, it still is expertly portrayed.
It really gets back to the point of this arc which is the love between the two and by far overshadows the work that comes before it. Making the book end on a high note.
The Verdict
Bride Or Burglar feels like a lot of needless padding in what should be a story where the grand day is finally upon us.
Whilst the stories are not bad necessarily, they just feel misguided and it appears that King does not have his finger on the pulse of what readers want.
Whilst the book isn’t bad it is by far Kings worst one yet and therefore I can only score it at a…
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