If there’s one difference the comic book medium has from the likes of movies and television, it’s that the big publishers like to spoil key plot points in advance in order to boost sales. In recent years, we’ve seen various deaths and resurrections revealed to the media ahead of time, which is something that’d never happen elsewhere. Really, could you imagine if trailers for Avengers: Infinity War blew the lid off the last ten minutes of the film?
As you may recall, Batman‘s proposal to Catwoman was another example of this practice, as it was highly publicized about a year ago. Similarly, the cat has been let out of the bag when it comes to Batman #50 just days before it hits stands and, believe me, not many people seem to be happy about it, a point I’ll revisit momentarily.
First, let’s talk about what ignited this controversy, and that’s the New York Times confirming what comic book readers thought would be the Wedding of the Century won’t be taking place. Now, we have to tread carefully as not to reveal anything that wasn’t in their report (I am, in fact, a critic who had the pleasure of reading an advance copy), so you’re going to get your meat and potatoes in this instance, nothing more.
Basically, Selina Kyle skips out on tying the knot with Bruce Wayne, which, to put succinctly, was in an effort to not deprive the world of Batman. In her own words, “To save the world, heroes make sacrifices.” And after an hour of waiting, Brucie boy ultimately goes his own direction.
What you do with this knowledge is entirely up to you, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not picking up the issue in question because it is indeed a work of beauty – you’ll just have to see how firsthand. Anything beyond that will be spoken of in my forthcoming review.
Still, one has to wonder if this strategy of blatantly revealing the wedding will NOT occur will result in selling as many copies as, say, the death of Damian Wayne or even last year’s proposal issue. The negative reaction on social media is telling, to say the least, with even series writer Tom King issuing the following statement on Twitter:
“Ugh. Batman 50 spoilers are now out there. Ignore/avoid them (or try to) and read the issue.”
Then, hours later, he had this to say:
“I’m pissed about things and excited about other things. I have no idea how to comment on anything without spoiling everything. Batman 50 is still out Wednesday. I’m incredibly proud of the issue; I hope you pick it up. You have questions; the answers are there.”
Yes, Mr. King, you have every right to be pissed and proud. That said, we encourage you to pick up Batman #50 at your local comic shop this Wednesday, July 4th, and to then come back here to We Got This Covered for our full review.