All good mysteries must come to a conclusion, and Batman: Killing Time this week puts an end to its narrative. Every page of this story, which was written by Tom King and David Marquez, is set in a different era and location.
Readers have had to pay close attention while keeping in mind the context of what these time shifts mean for the plot, whether it be a few minutes or a few thousand years. It’s an intriguing concept that has been propelled by a mystery that is now coming to an end. Batman hopes, at any rate.
Batman: Killing Time #6 begins in the past, which is ironic given how frequently the narrative shifts. The last issue ended with the enigmatic object tumbling to Clock King’s feet in a park where a full-scale conflict was going on. This character, who has been mostly missing from the series, is introduced in this last issue. He ends up being the main character in this situation and is involved in the overall scheme to obtain the artifact. The narrative then jumps to Athens, Greece, in the future.
The objective is not that a fan will eventually retell the full narrative in a sequential fashion; that is just a given. King and Marquez are experimenting with the notion of why we do things, why we want to get things, and how, most of the time, the results aren’t the point. The “solution” to what the McGuffin is lends itself to the subject of this longer tale. The reader is given a purpose, though I won’t even try to describe what I think it implies.
It’s difficult to predict whether people would find that response satisfying, especially given how pessimistic and gloomy it looks. It’s still a good enough response for a story about a figure that has been alive for a while and will carry on for a while more.
Batman takes out a helicopter in a wonderful sequence in the art by Marquez with colours by Alejandro Sánchez, which is still as sharp as ever. It’s always quite effective to portray characters using body language. Even if these characters don’t speak a word, you’ll understand how they think. This issue also features some excellent close-up work, like when Batman sprays deadly gas pellets on villains.
It’s intriguing to consider how we got here as the story comes to a close. It turns out that the mystery around it all is unjustified because there are components that we were unaware of until subsequent issues. The decision to give Catwoman some of the primary roles and make Batman more of a supporting character led to a slight unbalance, but Batman is unquestionably the focus of this issue’s finale. Many people will probably read this for the first time when it is collected, which will further alter how the reader interacts with the narrative.
Being a fan of Batman at this time is exciting because this story provides some closure and fulfilment. It’s wonderful to know that for a story that plays with time, independent of the characters, the creators used a novel approach to the comics medium and provoked thought, which is uncommon in Batman comics.
About Batman Killing Time #6
- 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: August 2, 2022
In Batman: Killing Time #6, the mystery is solved by a long series of events that show how Clock King planned to steal the Prize.
Depending on your point of view, Batman: Killing Time #6 could be considered Tom King’s masterpiece for demonstrating how to write a six-part Batman story that has no real goal other than to pass the time. You cannot fall in love with the heroes or despise the villains because there is a lesson to be learnt or because the characters are developed in novel and fascinating ways. This series is “simply something to help pass the time,” as the Clock King notes.
