COMIC BOOKS: Batman/Catwoman

Jan. 21—The Dark Knight's relationship with Catwoman was the centerpiece of Tom King's writing run on "Batman" comics.

He even teetered close to marrying off Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. So close there was a wedding album issue.

But as King left the regular monthly comics, Batman didn't marry Catwoman and Batman returned to his regularly scheduled vendetta against the criminals of Gotham City.

In the 12-issue miniseries "Batman/Catwoman," King picks up the threads from where his "Batman" run ended. Batman and Catwoman get back together, marry and live — not necessarily happily ever after but into old age.

"Batman/Catwoman" tells its story by overlapping three timelines: the past when the couple first fell in love, the present when one of Bruce's past loves, who is also the Phantasm, threatens the married couple, and the future when Bruce is dead and an older Catwoman opts to override her dead husband's rule not to kill, much to the opposition of their crime-fighting daughter.

Though the book is titled "Batman/Catwoman," it reads more like "Catwoman/Joker." As during his regular run in the monthly "Batman" title, King creates a complex relationship between Catwoman and Joker. That theme is deepened here.

While "Batman/Catwoman" is interesting, it lacks the fun that King brought to his "Batman" run. In "Batman," King reveled in all aspects of the Dark Knight and his rogues gallery's decades-long careers. He sent Bruce and Selina on a double date with Clark and Lois, for example, a costume gathering where Clark dressed as Batman and Bruce dressed as Superman.

King also exhibited tremendous self-control then by waiting more than two years before introducing the Joker to his "Batman" run.

But those extra bits are missing here and the Joker is all too present in "Batman/Catwoman."

It's a great story but any readers waiting for the miniseries full run to be released as a collection should wait a little longer for the less-expensive paperback version.