Batman: The Gift (The Travelers): Tom King's First Mess
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. Traditional reviewers also praise it; however when it comes to both fans and reviewers, it's a mixed bag.
This is actually the prototype of the issue hence the name "The Travelers"
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 portrays 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. This time however instead of focusing on the Dark Knight, the Bat Family, his Rogue's Gallery, or even Catwoman; we instead get a Booster Gold story.
The Set-Up
Booster Gold is a character a lot of people recognize from DC's animated series; especially the ones involving Batman or the Justice League. He's a time traveler who attempts to better his life by traveling through time. Unfortunately, his efforts almost always backfire on him and others. In this case, Booster wanted Batman to know first hand that his parent's death was for the best... By saving them from being shot. Unfortunately Bruce becomes rather complacent with his life, unwilling to make sacrifices. What's worse because Bruce isn't Batman, the world goes to Hell for no apparent reason.
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 story. People also have a mixed bag on how Booster is portrayed as someone desperate to impress Batman; especially given his history of harebrained schemes.
Time for a Theory
As I mention previously, the first issue of this mini-arc has an entirely different premise. In it, Batman is nowhere in sight and the Joker takes over Gotham. However, in the actual series, only the Joker's legacy is around in the form of Joker venom gas. Also Booster Gold actually feels shoehorned into all this. At least, that's the impression I get from Linkara's video of this arc. Later after some digging, I find out why.
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; likely because with Doomsday Clock's delays they wanted a different event to keep the Rebirth hype going. Regardless with deadline approaching, comes this improv session.
This actually isn't even the first time that this happens in-series. Bruce's proposal to Selina was originally meant to be an adventure with Swamp Thing. Tom King seems to be a creator who really wants to work with the DC universe. But the company's other plans get in the way. At this point, it's hard to tell how much of this is King's doing and how much is DC business.
Batman: The Gift; Deal With It!
Everything that happened in these three issues are just padding; especially since it's only actual worth is setting up Heroes In Crisis. 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 communication between everyone is vital. A lot of the controversies could've been different if someone shared details.