Welcome back to Dude, What the Heck?!, a segment where I analyze comics that are praised in places but ridiculed in others. Today we will be looking at the Batman comics story arc that is as divided as its official name; for cover readers it is Batman: The Gift, for advertisers its The Travelers. I’ve heard YouTube commentators, analysts, and io9 bloggers praise this comic all over. But when it comes to both fans and reviewers, it’s a mixed bag.
What’s the Problem with Batman: The Gift?
So what exactly makes this comic so polarizing? Well, my best guess, it is how Tom King writes this mini-arc. Ever since the start of his run, King has portrays Bruce Wayne with layers to his motivations. While the actual Bruce Wayne is effectively dead after the murder of his parents, Batman becomes a legacy of survival through love.
So how does Batman: The Gift continue to demonstrate this? Not with the Dark Knight, the Bat Family, his Rogue’s Gallery, or even Catwoman; but Booster Gold.
The Set-Up
Booster Gold is a character a lot of people recognize from some of DC’s animated series. He’s a time traveler who tries to get a better life through publicity stunts. He’s basically an influencer like the late Billy Mays before people like Mr. Beast. Only problem is, most other heroes don’t take Booster seriously; seeing him as a superhero wannabe in it for the high life. Even after Booster starts to take his role as a time traveler more seriously, it seems even DC Comics goes back and forth on him. In any case, Booster wanted Batman to know first hand that his parent’s death was for the best… By saving them from being shot. So Bruce instead becomes a complacent socialite as the world goes to Hell for no apparent reason.
Apparently this was supposed to be a tribute to For The Man Who Has Everything. …What?
The Reactions
Quite naturally, people are against how underdeveloped the apocalyptic Gotham was after the revelation had people wanting more. Beloved characters like Dick Grayson become shells of their better known selves for the sake of this story. People also have a mixed bag on how desperate Booster is to impress Batman, neglecting his character development.
Time for a Theory
Looking back on reactions to this series of this arc at least and some promo material, the whole thing was a mess. Let me tell you why.
Let’s start with a promo for the first issue of this mini-arc; it has an entirely different premise. In it, Batman is nowhere in sight and the Joker takes over Gotham. But, in the actual series, it’s just the Joker’s legacy that cover Gotham. Does anyone remember that Joker Venom gas that makes people laugh and remove their limitations? If you don’t, it doesn’t matter anyway.
Comic Book Resources reveals that the original “The Travelers” story is fundamentally different. Booster Gold is still part of this but he’s actually recruiting the Bat and Cat because he needs help. Booster’s past self had kidnapped Booster’s even younger self. In order to find the past Boosters, he needs help from the world’s greatest detective. From what DC’s website says, the initial premise already finished and was meant to continue. However it seems that DC’s changed things at the last minute. You can argue they want likely hype going since its Doomsday Clock story kept getting delayed. Regardless everybody involved was flying by the seat of their pants.
This actually isn’t even the first time that this happens. Bruce’s proposal to Selina actually replaced an adventure with Swamp Thing. If that’s where it all started, The Gift is where Executive Meddling started to become a problem. Not just for Tom King’s run, but every run of Batman after this.
Batman: The Gift; Deal With It!
Everything that happened in these three issues is just padding. You might say that there’s worth in setting up Heroes In Crisis. But that series shares The Gift’s flaws: a bunch of slapped together shock values tributing a notable comic. Overall it’s just a bunch of improv that’s taken too seriously. What’s worse is how going further in, King could never really tell the story that he wanted. Which is why he had to change his plans for his intended finale by making the Batman/Catwoman comic separately. If there’s anything to take away from this mini-arc, it’s a cautionary tale of normalizing executive meddling and creative differences based on spectacle and greed.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.