Still don't get why everyone loves that Grim Knight Batman story

I had a comic shop guy in Austin tell me I was reading the whole thing wrong after I complained about it. Said I needed to focus on how it deconstructs the character instead of the violence. Gave it another read and yeah, I kinda see his point now but I still think the plot is weak. Has anyone else had to read a story twice just to see what the hype was about?

3 comments

3 Comments

reesel501mo ago

Sat through Watchmen three times before it finally clicked for me.

milesbailey1mo ago

Ngl I've had that same experience with like three different comics now. Watchmen took me a second go too honestly. The Grim Knight thing is weird because the violence is so over the top it kind of buries whatever deeper meaning they were going for. Tbh if a story needs a comic shop guy to explain it to me before I get it, that's kinda on the writer not me. But I get the frustration of having to reread something you didn't love the first time. Sometimes the hype just doesn't match what you see on the page no matter how many times you flip through it.

theagibson1mo ago

And it's like that with so much stuff now, not just comics. Movies, TV shows, even music. Everyone's so obsessed with "the deeper meaning" or "the hidden layers" that they forget a story should just work on the surface first. I tried to get into that one art film everyone was raving about, and I spent the whole time squinting at the screen wondering if I was too dumb to get it or if it was just pretentious nonsense. Turns out, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, you know? If I have to do homework to enjoy something, it's not entertainment anymore, it's a chore. And that's fine for some people, but I'm not signing up for a second shift after work just to figure out why a guy in a grim mask is stabbing someone for five pages.