I pretty much always enjoy Batman graphic novels. And this one was no exception. First of all, I enjoyed all of the characters in it. such as Mr. Freeze, KGBeast, and Nightwing. It sucks that the wedding doesn't pan out, but the story arc for these characters are pretty great. Tom King does a good job for sure with this volume. As does Tony with the illustrations. One of my favorite parts of the batman comics is the art.

ARC from Netgalley.
WOW! Just WOW!!! Go read this now.
I'll not say too much because I don't want to ruin the impact of this Volume for you, but there will be spoilers.... heads up.

This Volume revolves around 2 stories:
1) Post-breakup Batman is in bad sorts. Batman catches Mr. Freeze, who may or may not have done experiments on 3 different women, leading to their deaths, and proceeds to beat him extremely. He feels so bad about it, he gets Nightwing to cover his Batman duties so that Bruce Wayne can get on the jury for Freeze's trial, and help gets him pronounced "Not Guilty". The story is expertly revealed and written, though.
2) KGBeast comes back to Gotham on an assassination assignment. While Batman and Nightwing are on patrol one night, where Dick is trying to show Bruce that there is need for humor during the fighting (actually reminded me a ton of Spider-Man with all the puns!), a shot rings out in the night while talking with Gordon. The bullet blasts right into the side of Nightwing's head (though it is not shown or told, I don't think he dies, though he will certainly be affected by it) and Batman goes on the case to find out who did it. Pages later, Batman has walked 300 clicks in Siberian winter to find KGBeast at his father's cabin... and FIGHT! Wait.... did Batman pull a gun? Is he....? Did he?

I'm chomping at the bit for Volume 9, but this Volume is so well written and executed, you owe it to yourself to devour this one. High recommend!

Bruce Wayne gets himself on the jury for Mr. Freeze in order to double check Batman's work and possibly clear Mr. Freeze's name. Then Nightwing and Batman hang out until Nightwing is shot. Then Batman has another villain to chase down and demolish. Man, he really needs to meet up with Selena and make up before he really looses it.

Out in trade is Batman, Volume: Cold Days by Tom King who I have to say has done a terrific job of taking the caped crusader in many different directions after the blockbuster run of Snyder and Capullo. This is a different Batman, a very introspective Batman who in the the aftermath of the disastrous wedding with Selina Kyle, finds himself questioning so many things.

Bruce Wayne, in the rubble that was his love affair with Selina Kyle must view who he is in a different light. Being left at the altar has made him introspective to a fault and even though he does not know why it came about to such a degree, Bruce is beginning to question who he is and all he has stood for. In doing so, Bruce Wayne is beginning to question just who the Batman truly is.

Mr Freeze is caught and brutally beaten by the Batman. As the trial commences, Bruce Wayne maneuvers himself unto the jury. But not for the reasons some might think, instead he wants to understand how the jury views the actions of the Batman and what he finds out horrifies him. Mr. Freeze is convicted not on the evidence but on the sole fact that the Batman caught him. The actions of the Batman are enough to convict a criminal. After all, if they weren't doing wrong then they wouldn't captured by the Batman.

Bruce Wayne then goes forward with the desire to prove Mr. Freeze guilty or innocent based on the evidence alone.

Another side of Bruce/Batman that may seem to be Bruce going mad or at least severely depressed after the actions of Selina Kyle. But instead it is a man who has allowed himself to be vulnerable and now is searching himself for who he truly is.

A terrific read.

This is a very strong story-line. Think of the classic movie 12 angry men and then add the unthinkable...who is really on trial here? Excellent story. Highly recommended.
The additional story featured is also very strong and compelling. Batman is like a wolf, circling his prey.

This had two main stories. First we have a Bruce Wayne story. He's on the jury for a trial of Mr. Freeze and weirdly he's calling Batman's (his) actions into question. It was most definitely a thought provoking story.

Then there was a humongous story, not so much in length, but in how it will change everything (I think). A Nightwing and Batman team up is how it starts, and that was hilarious. No one can needle Batman as well as Nightwing can. And then --- just-- wow, holy moly, I don't even have words.

It wasn't exactly what I wanted to see for the TPB after the wedding, but, it was definitely something.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

The jury story in the first half of this book is pretty good. Almost a “12 Angry Men” type debate with an unexpected outcome. The single Matt Wagner illustrated story is also nice, but doesn’t fit well. Overall an average book.

Admittedly, I haven't been keeping up with Batman. I am aware of some of the stuff that has been going on sent this series started. I just haven't sat down and read any of it myself. Curiosity got the better of me though and I decided to pick this volume up. The volume deals with the aftermath of the wedding in the previous arc. It starts out big with Bruce Wayne being selected as a juror for the trial of Mr. Freeze. Think <i>Twelve Angry Men</i> set in Gotham. Wayne's take on the whole situation is interesting not just for being very self reflective but also for how it seems the average citizen views Batman.

Then it shifts to a nice story showcasing Batman and Nightwing. It takes a much lighter approach that counteracts the heavier portions of the jury trial. There are some goofy villains that show up. And we get to see a more human side to Batman as he interacts with Nightwing. Both of these stories are well done. The art between the two stories are as different as the stories themselves and both styles work.

It’s a great follow up to the highly anticipated wedding collection, and classic Batman. What’s not to love?

It is another stellar volume of Tom King's Batman. In the aftermath of the wedding volume, Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days begins not with a bang but with a whimper (or a whimper-bang); in as many times as we think we've read this particular kind of story before, King finds a way to defy expectations and still deliver, and then follows with a second story that confuses and confounds the topics at play all the more. Nearing as we are 80 years of Batman, that any writer should find something new to say month in and month out is a minor miracle on its own; that King not only has new to say but also manages to toy with comics as a storytelling form at the same time is a real treat.

After Jason Todd died, after Batman was branded murderer and fugitive, and surely a half dozen other times, we know full well we're in for a spate of "Batman can't control his anger and goes nuts" stories before the Bat-family of your current continuity talks him down from the belfry. Such might've been the case under most writers after Catwoman jilted Batman at the rooftop altar last time around. Instead, King tells a story that takes place largely in a jury deliberation room, a story that — while not completely absent punching and kicking — mostly involves Bruce Wayne and his jury duty cohorts sitting around and talking. It is a Batman play; clearly there's meant to be shades of 12 Angry Men here, but also it reads like a forgotten Gotham Central story with Lee Weeks providing the Michael Lark-esque realism (colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser's pastels deserve some credit, too).

It bears considering that if Batman is really the greatest of all time that he's chalked up to be, possibly this historical strain of emotional immaturity doesn't make sense. And therein is where Cold Days finds itself, asking in its instant-classic third chapter (Batman #53) exactly what version of Batman the reader subscribes to. Batman is not God, Bruce Wayne explains in an issue-long near-monologue, despite that even Bruce himself perhaps thought he was — not all-healing, as Bruce might have thought, and not infallible. What I expected to be a story about Bruce coincidentally finding himself on a jury and having to fight to preserve Mr. Freeze's arrest is actually a story about Bruce buying his way on a jury to try to overturn Freeze's arrest because Bruce is afraid that, as Batman, he coerced Freeze's confession.

King's story bucks Bat-tradition in that Batman here recognizes his own overreaction and mends fences himself, without need for a crossover Bat-intervention. It is also a (affectionate, I'm sure) repudiation of over 10 years of Batman stories, from Grant Morrison's "hairy-chested love-god" to Scott Snyder's aspirational figure. The aforementioned Batman #53 argues against Batman worship, suggesting that Batman is "just us ... But in a leather bat suit" -- not an ideal or aspirational figure, but just a man. It is the antithesis of the "always be Batman" meme, but surely not meaning to cut Batman down; rather perhaps King's presentation of Batman Bruce Wayne is the purest we've had in a while, stripping away all the trappings to recognize the man instead of the legend.

This wasn't my favorite volume in the series, but the story was still good. It's interesting to see Bats coming off of the Batman/Catwoman wedding. I really loved the first story in the series with Mr. Freeze and would love loved to see a longer plot line for that. Overall it was another fun Batman read in the latest run.

Another great volume from Tom King. Seeing Batman so broken after the events of the previous volume was powerful and very well done.
This is definitely a volume I will recommend to people who like comics. The art as always is amazing as well.
Thank You NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The essence of Batman’s psychology versus Bruce Wayne’s state of being is an existential thrust that is not often covered in either the films or the animated series. There is the gist of it but it needs to give way to a specific story progression. An interesting point of “Batman Vol. 8 – Cold Days” [Tom King/DC/176pgs] is that its namesake moves on the basis that Batman cannot always win. Sometimes he needs to lose in one way or another. The first iteration in “Cold Days” follows a trial of Mr. Freeze to convict the villain of murdering three girls. Bruce Wayne is called to jury duty and is selected as one of the 12 jurors. It bears an interesting reference to “12 Angry Men”. What is quite interesting however is the metaphorical and ethereal discussions that are discussed inside the jury room. Bruce is struggling against himself without letting the others in the room know truly what is bothering him. He brings in tenants of Christianity & God but wrapped within the structure that Batman is Gotham’s savior and he is fallible. He debates that is possible for him to make a mistake claimed by the fact that Freeze indicated that there was something different about the Caped Crusader that night he was brought in. It is an interesting exercise that would oddly enough work well on stage since the audience knows Wayne is Batman but everyone else in the play does not. The second story in this volume: “Beasts Of Burden” speaks to the relationship between Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne. The parallel between Bruce and Grayson mirrors, at times, Bruce and his father. The interesting psychological structure again at play here is Grayson’s initial rebuking of Wayne as a father figure but then the eventual fondness that Wayne replaces with coldness until it causes a dark fate to befall Nightwing.Iinterestingly watching the new “Titans” on DC Universe (see Inside Reel’s interview here) the resentment on Dick’s part is palpable. This story and its requisite end are on a different timeline. But as is spoken within the end of “Superman II”, one cannot deny his or her nature. “Batman Vol. 8 – Cold Days” works on a variety of levels but most especially psychological even going at one point to use allegory with the story of ” The Animals & The Pit” a rather specific Darwinian theory that balances both the aspect of the dark and the light.

A-

By Tim Wassberg

'Batman, Volume : Cold Days' by Tom King with art by Lee Weeks, Tony S. Daniel, Matt Wagner and Mark Buckingham shows that Tom King is such a good writer for the current Batman book.

In the first story, 'Cold Days', Mr. Freeze is on trial for the murder of three women. Batman found the evidence and got a confession out of him. All but one of the jurors believe he is guilty. That juror is Bruce Wayne. His opinion is that after recent events, Batman may have gone too far.

In the second story, 'Beast of Burden', KGBeast targets someone close to Batman and we see to what lengths Batman will go to get his vengeance.

Both stories are good for their own reasons, but Cold Days was the one I loved. It asks a lot of interesting questions about those who protect us and our willingness to believe them. It's about a broken Batman who just wants to do the right thing.

The art varies, but I didn't mind any of it. The Matt Wagner art for the in-between story of Nightwing and Batman is the best. If Dick Grayson were written more like he is in these stories, I'd like him a lot more.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The adventure with Batman continues! This eighth volume of Batman collects Batman issues # 51-57 in DC’s Rebirth era. Being released in December there is a winter theme to the stories collected in this comic book.
There are three stories in this volume. The first story is the longer story of those in the volume and is titled “Cold Days.” It is a three part story. The second story is titled “The better man” and it is a short story (one issue long). The last story is a three part series titled “Beasts of Burden.”
Reading this work I think I got the sense that the writer Tom King is trying to write in a way that is less formulaic of the typical superhero comicbook narrative. The first story “Cold Days” is less action and more of a court jury drama involving Bruce Wayne being a jury involving a case of the villain Mr. Freeze. Like Twelve Angry Men (the short story and the short film) Bruce Wayne is the one juror who goes against the grain of everyone else and upsets everyone. I thought Tom King ought to be commended for the exploration of vigilantism, social justice and legality in this story. King did a good of using Bruce Wayne’s dialogue of questioning the assumption of the problem of Gotham of why is it that the police isn’t able to do the work that Batman is doing of investigating and stopping criminals. Comics have gone a long way from just straight fighting super hero action.
Both the second and third story is an exploration of also father figures and sons. The third one is more complex and I thought the Russian assassin Anatoli Knyazev with his relationship with his father was a foil with Batman and his relationship with his “son” Nightwing and also in the end with a twist of even Batman’s relationship with his father. There’s a lot I need to still ponder over with this story such as what’s the point of the Russian famous fable The Animals in the Pit being told and juxtaposition into the story.
The stories in this volume is a bit more different and more drama than straight action. There’s also a touch on the exploration of even Batman almost as a godlike figure and its rather weird that Bruce Wayne says he is an atheist in the first story. While I do appreciate comics outside the box and exploration of a person’s deeper psyche I think this one was a little strange for me.
NOTE: This book was provided to me free by DC Comics and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

From the publisher: Author Tom King pens the next epic volume of his critically acclaimed, best-selling Batman series in Batman Vol. 8!

In the aftermath of the wedding of Batman and Catwoman, the Dark Knight's life has changed completely. Having walked down the aisle, how will this new Bruce Wayne view himself? What is to become of Batman now?

Don't miss out on the newest installment of this best-selling, critically acclaimed graphic novel series written by breakout star Tom King, and featuring art by Lee Weeks and Tony S. Daniel.

Collects #51-57.

Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days by Tom King picks up following the events of the Batman/Catwoman wedding. Rather than deal with his heartache, Batman starts to go off the deep end, beating Mr. Freeze viciously to get him to confess to three murders, before leaving him to be arrested. The first arc of this book follows the trial of Mr. Freeze, where Bruce Wayne happens to be selected to be a member of the jury. Over the course of this arc, King intersperses Batman's actions with Bruce's interactions with the other jury members. We end up with a fairly deep meditation on how our feelings cause us to react, whether the end justifies the means, and what Batman's responsibility to justice really is.

The next story is a heartwarming one. King juxtaposes Dick Grayson's early days (following the murder of his parents) with Bruce Wayne trying to comfort him and help Dick process with the present day Dick trying to return the favor to Bruce. This is a terrific character piece and really showcases the father/son relationship between Bruce and Dick.

The final story arc of this collection focuses on the return of the KGBeast. This vicious Russian assassin shows up in Gotham again, looking for revenge against Batman. After attacking a member of Batman's inner circle, Batman begins tracking the Beast, looking for vengeance.

King continues to delve into the heart of Batman, and while his stories have plenty of action, they are incredibly deep, taking a good, hard look at what kind of man Bruce Wayne is, along with examining many of Batman's inner circle. Another terrific part of this book (and the past couple) is King laying the groundwork for a much bigger story to come. Many of the recent events in Batman/Bruce Wayne's life have been orchestrated as part of brutal attempt to destroy the him, and they have been put together by one of Batman's most dangerous foes.

Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days is another excellent book by Tom King, who continues an amazing run on Batman. King is fast growing into one of the most important writers of Batman. I highly recommend this book, to Batman fans and to fans of Tom King's writing.

I received a preview copy of this book from DC Comics and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first Batman comic I’ve ever read. The artwork was great, I loved the colors and how detailed everything was. The story was good, too.

Batman is still feeling blue about his marriage plans going awry and his son’s death in Batman Vol 8: Cold Days.

Bruce Wayne is empaneled on a jury. The trial’s question is whether Mr. Freeze killed three woman in the vain hope to resurrect his dead wife. After both sides have rested their case, the jury takes a first vote. All but Bruce vote guilty. Bruce’s reasons are a complex philosophical rant about alternate explanations for the evidence.

In the second story Bruce and Dick reminisce through flashbacks to Dick’s arrival at the Wayne Mansion after his parent’s death.

The final story has the Russian assassin, KGBeast, having an existential moment with his father. Later, he battles Batman in a snowy landscape.

Batman Vol 8: Cold Days collects Batman #51-57. This volume has some thought-provoking introspection, which is what I love about the Dark Knight. He’s a thinker. Even the third story has self-examination but this time by the villain. It also has copious fighting. However, I think I liked the first story best, where Batman is obviously having difficult dealing with his recent history. It is like a Batman take on 12 Angry Men, the old black and white Henry Fonda movie from 1957. The art on all the stories is fabulous as usual.

I like a change so I am giving my highest recommendation to Batman Vol 8: Cold Days plus 5 stars!

Thanks to DC Comics and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Following the events of the prior volume, Bruce Wayne takes some time out of being Batman by serving jury duty. The process of deliberation shows that Bruce is still reeling from what happened and is taking a hard look at the infallibility of Batman. Of course he has a perspective that his fellow jurors lack, but Tom King uses it as an examination of how both Bruce and the citizens of Gotham view the Batman.

This volume as includes a story that begins with a retrospect on the Batman/Nightwing relationship (guest art by Matt Wagner) which turns in a full blown Batman/Nightwing story. I like how both parts of that story show how Nightwing is the light side of the duo as well as how Batman values that relationship.

For the art, Lee Weeks did an excellent job on the juror part of the volume. He brought a down to earth feel reminiscent of the Gotham Central stories. Tony S. Daniel bring the contemporary style to his portion, but is highlighted by a Fables type interlude.

OMG! From start to finish! The trial of Mr. Freeze was like an episode of Law & Order, but through the jurors perspective. It was so good. The following stories are also incredible. Dick trying to cheer Bruce up is sweet, hilarious and sad. Seeing Nightwing get injured like that was so shocking. Batman is relentless!