Maybe it’s a commentary on the nature of superhero comics, that are all middle story and no real conclusion, that gets repeated over and over again ad infinitum. One of those tricks is his use of non-linear storytelling, which for the most part has been successful, and yet when it comes to a certain Dark Knight Detective, of whom King has done many great things, that type of storytelling doesn’t really work well. Mostly, this is a heist story with Riddler and Catwoman stealing a MacGuffin from Batman and going on the run as they try to sell it to the mysterious mastermind behind the whole affair.

Still, Catwoman and Riddler's back and forth is fun, the Help -- a new villain with deep retcon roots -- is cool, and the art of David Marquez is magnificent. I’ve read too much of his work not to expect at least some subtextual musings on the nature of the characters present. When you look at his work of numerous Spider-Man comics, Marquez can illustrate action and that applies here with Batman being a figure of theatrics through his cape. I really liked this, but there were many times where the script seems to have been added to the panels as narration and that bugged the hell out of me.Time will tell what the story ultimately says about Batman, but even in this first issue which focuses mostly on the villains, there are seeds of rich thematic potential. And if you are looking for a longer version of what happens in Batman: Killing Time, read on for a much more detailed version of the events as we travel through time.

None of these explanations though are especially satisfying for me and that’s partly why I found the final act disappointing. Before we close, I do want to critique one aspect of this book, and that’s the fact that Batman feels more like a supporting character than the main hero. Five Years Before Year Two: February 11: Ra’s al Ghul trains Bruce with swords, knowing Bruce is leaving that night and giving him the box, the product of great slaughter. He often relies on his experience as an ex-CIA agent and experiences during the recent conflicts in the Middle East in his writing. His suit, his vehicles, his superhero poses, all serve the narrative but also have the makings of a poster book.In Batman's second year of his crusade against crime, while he is still changing and perfecting his craft and the art of the vigilante, the cowardly lot of criminals in the city are changing as well-giving rise to darker, specialized rogues. The Help gives Vera (Croc’s flame) the money for being Penguin’s patsy, telling her not to spend it. If you want to add narration like that, at least have it in braile so it's actually useful to someone. Or perhaps it’s simply a story meant to kill time, as the title suggests, and that it’s not really about anything more than what we see on the surface. April 17: Batman fights Ra’s, seeking the Help, who vanished, and explains why he kept the Eye Ra’s gave him, tormented by it.