Batman #17 Review

Tags

Alfred, Arkham Asylum, Batgirl, Batman, Damien, DC Comics, Death of the Family, FCO Plascencia, Greg Capullo, Jason Todd, Jonathan Glampion, Nightwing, Red Robin, Robin, Scott Snyder, The Joker, The New 52

Batman #17

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

 

It swoops from the shadows as the Dark Knight begins to regain consciousness, the dark emissary of his own soul, stripped to the bone and ready to steel his resolve in this, quite possibly, his darkest hour against the Joker. The final chapter of Scott Snyder’s phenomenal Death of The Family drags you kicking and screaming into the light, ripping away the blindfolds, and fixing our unblinking eyes on every panel of Greg Capullo’s art as the macabre delights of Batman #17 electrify our synapses.

The banquet that the Joker has prepared for Batman is one of his most abhorrent schemes yet. Still strapped to his makeshift throne, Batman wakes in a dark cavern at the head of a long table. The rest of the Bat-Family are also bound to their chairs and seated with him. Dinner is ready to be served, with the table drenched in gasoline and rigged to explode to prevent Batman’s escape; he can do nothing but watch in horror as Alfred shambles into the cave. Driven out of his mind, and dosed with Joker toxin, Batman’s loyal friend obeys the Joker’s commands and prepares to serve the “family” meal…

With his friends overwhelmed by the horror of the banquet before them, Joker teases them all with a lit match. But the Joker hasn’t taken into account the Batman’s knowledge of the cave system, as the table becomes a raging inferno Batman breaks free and fires a charge at the ceiling that breaches an underground stream – flooding the room and dousing the flames. While the Joker tries to escape through the cave system, Batman frees his friends before giving chase. He catches up with the Joker, who tries to behead him with an axe, but as they fight the Bat-Family become exposed to a deadly new form of the Joker Toxin and violently turn against each other.

Batman and Joker face off on the edge of huge drop, where masks finally have no meaning, and the Dark Knight manages to turn the Clown Prince of Crime’s nefarious joke against him. Twisting everything the Joker professed to hold against him, using it to chip away at the last great divide between them, the one line in their nightmarish game of wits that only the Batman could ever be willing cross…

Even in defeat the Joker slips from his grasp, plunging into the waters below, leaving Batman’s family to recover from the horrific trauma the Joker inflicted upon them. Bruce oversees Alfred’s recovery at Wayne Manor, making a startling confession that only Alfred could truly understand. Alone in the cave Bruce studies the analysis of the new toxin Joker used to make the Bat-Family fight each other, and it is here, as  he gazes at the cold glow of the computer screen that the Joker’s greatest punch line is finally revealed.

With Batman #17 Scott Snyder beings the story of the Joker’s return full circle. Ever since the Joker broke into GCPD to retrieve his face from the evidence locker, leaving Gordon cowering in the darkness as he hears his officer’s necks being snapped one by one, we have been at the mercy of the Joker’s maniacal plan. Right from the outset, even Batman was left reeling when Joker abducted Alfred Pennyworth. After poisoning Gordon he systematically sets his sights on Batman’s allies, Joker’s revelation at the reservoir, that he knows their secret identities, leaves them all badly shaken. Later, when they learn that Joker may have actually found a way into the cave to leave his calling card, they are shocked that Bruce never deemed it necessary to tell them.

Now the final act of Scott Snyder’s masterpiece comes to fruition in Batman #17 after the Dark Knight raced to Arkham Asylum to save his friends from the Joker. As he wakes in the cavern the Joker taunts his captives mercilessly. He attempts to goad Batman into admitting why he has never exposed him or just killed him outright, in spite of all the heinous crimes he’s committed. Joker knows just what a slippery slope that would be for Batman, berating him for not having the courage of his convictions, mocking his allies with a love letter of hatred and lies.

Just when you thought you understood where Joker was coming from he summons Alfred, now a shambling wreck of his former self, who deliriously reveals the gastronomic delights the Joker has prepared for them. It is here that Batman #17 transcends all that has gone before, lurching into the realms of pure horror as Batman and his allies are confronted with a nightmare beyond anything they could have possibly imagined – and it is a scene that instantly conjures up images of a similar feast at the end of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As the cavern explodes in flames Batman breaks free, blasting a hole in the roof to douse the chamber in water. Bruce goes immediately to Damien to make sure he is alright, then releasing Nightwing who tells him to leave them and get after the Joker. Placing his trust in them, Batman races after the Joker, but just after he leaves Batgirl notices something strange about the Joker’s two headed lion cub. A mass between its heads suddenly explodes, spewing out a new form a Joker toxin, one that sends them all into a violent rage, forcing them to attack each another whilst laughing maniacally. The return of the two headed lion cub is an inspired move by Snyder, this creepy little creature superbly illustrates the uncanny symbiosis the Joker shares with Batman, and it effectively places Batman’s allies at each other throats with its deadly cargo, peeling way their psyche as effectively as any scalpel.

Whether Batman knew he was leaving them in grave danger is uncertain, but even when he catches up with the Joker and learns what has happened, his resolve is unshaken. Batman knows they will fight back against the Joker’s toxin, his faith in their spirit is unbreakable, and he believes they are stronger than anything this monster could spawn from his diseased mind. The fact that it is Alfred who brings them to their senses before they kill each other, clearly shows just how much he means to all of them.

The Joker uses his corsage to spray acid into Batman’s face, searing his cowl, but his escape route leads directly to deep chasm. Joker stumbles over the edge but Batman catches him by the arm, holding him suspended over the very drop where the Bat Boat would dive into the Bat-Cave. Here on the edge of this yawning abyss Batman reveals how he has seen through the Joker’s plans, effectively playing him at his own joke, but before he can pull him up Joker lashes out, leaving Batman to watch as he plummets into the dark waters below.

Every page of Greg Capullo’s work on Batman has been astounding. His dark and foreboding take on Gotham City enthralled us in The Court of Owls, the Night of Owls kept us on the edge of our seats, and now with Death of The Family we have been privileged to have Capullo to illustrate one of the most sensational Joker stories of all time. Together with Jonathan Glampion’s distinctive inks and FCO Plascencia’s remarkable colours, Greg Capullo has helped create one of the most distinctive looks the Joker has ever had.

Joker’s rotting face is now even more grotesque than ever in Batman #17, with flies now constantly buzzing around him, the cadaverous grin ends up even more lopsided after a few well placed punches in their climatic showdown. With the masks of flesh and cowl both discarded by the end of this epic encounter, Scott Snyder once again defies our expectations as the closing moments unfold back at Wayne Manor when Bruce tells Alfred  of the time he visited Arkham under the pretence of investing in a new wing for the asylum. After causing a distraction, Bruce visited the Joker’s cell alone and presented him with the calling card, and thereby instantly deducing the truth in the lunatic’s eyes.

In this instant we begin to understand why the Joker allowed his face to be removed by the Dollmaker, that his entire ploy to mess with Batman’s mind was ultimately doomed to fail from that moment on, even though the cost would be high for the Bat-Family. Indeed, the actual Death of the Family here is a metaphorical one, as we begin to realise Batman’s allies could never understand the Joker like he does. The physical wounds will heal easily enough, but the psychological scars of this experience will take a long time to fade.

The deeply moving scenes where each member of the Bat-Family makes their excuses not to meet Bruce and give him the chance to explain are brilliantly staged by Snyder and Capullo. We can feel the pain of those tense silences and blunt text messages, even Dick cannot bring himself to go into detail about what the Joker said to him. As Bruce returns to the cave to study the Joker’s new toxin the results bring Death of the Family to a close with chilling finality.

Batman #17 is everything fans of this series could have hoped for. Death of the Family has shown us the deep understanding that the Batman and Joker share, and proves that it is one that goes far beyond masks and secret identities. Snyder and Capullo are one of the few writers and artists that have ever come as close to exposing the actual mechanics of this dark relationship, they have taken Batman and the Joker’s eternal dance of obsession and violence and twisted it into an all encompassing legend that will be long remembered as one of the greatest Batman stories ever told.

Batman #16 Review

Tags

Arkham Asylum, Batman, DC Comics, Death of the Family, Greg Capullo, Joker, Scott Snyder, The New 52

Batman #16

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

Snyder and Capullo’s genre defining Death of the Family saga has struck right at the heart of the Dark Knights world.  Now Batman must venture into the shadowy halls of Arkham Asylum itself if he is to save Alfred and confront the Joker before his maniacal plan comes to fruition. As he enters Batman discovers the terrified guards who Joker’s imprisoned, forcing them to dance in the waterlogged cells while wearing Batman and Joker costumes, with the Clown Prince of Crimes watching via CCTV – finger poised to electrify the floor at any moment.

After dealing with the threat, Batman explores further: encountering heinous acts of cruelty and depravity, a gang of torch wielding maniacs, a gut wrenching tapestry crafted to commemorate his past encounters with the Joker, chanting lunatics strung up like bats, and a plethora of enemies from his Rogues Gallery who have assembled to foil his attempt to reach the Joker’s inner sanctum in Jeremiah Arkham’s quarters.

But the Joker is not alone; he has brought Two Face, Penguin, and Riddler with him for this final act, along with four captives who he has dressed up as members of the JLA. As Batman struggles to break down the door, Joker gets each prisoner to play a bizarre game of Russian roulette with an electrified chainsaw. Batman breaks into the room, but metal bars slide down to keep him at bay, while the Joker reveals what he has done to Batman’s allies on a bank of television screens. Shocked by what he sees, Batman has no choice but to agree to the Joker’s demands and sit down of the throne that has been specially prepared for him…

Batman #16 is one of Scott Snyder’s finest issues to date. His incarnation of the Joker is so unashamedly evil that it makes your skin crawl, there seems no limit to the Joker’s madness this time, and Snyder uses every opportunity here to make you almost jump out of your seat. There is one particularly horrifying moment where even Batman seems to almost lose his lunch as he searches Arkham, it picks up an almost irrelevant plot thread, douses it in gasoline and sends it charging right out of the page to sear your mind with nasty afterimage you won’t easily forget in a hurry.

If just the just prospect of Greg Capullo drawing Arkham Asylum left you drooling in anticipation at the end of last issue, then Batman #16 will send you teetering over the abyss of gothic glee as you descend into the bowels of Gotham’s most nefarious institution. Not only do we get to see Greg Capullo illustrate every nuance of the Joker’s deranged plan within the inky depths of Arkham‘s corridors, we also have Capullo drawing nearly every one of Batman’s greatest foes in one issue, and I don’t mind admitting to a little fan boy squeal of joy as my personal favourite Bat-Villain, Clayface, lunged at Batman in a spiral staircase.

Most shocking of all though is the Joker’s appearance in Batman #16. Since his return his face has been stretched over the raw flesh of his skull, now it seems to be decaying. Every close up of Joker shows flies buzzing around his head or crawling around his scalp, its revolting in the extreme, yet its impossible to not be fascinated by the deliciously macabre glint in his eyes that almost seems to bulge from their lidless sockets in anticipation of his greatest victory.

The previous back up stories by Snyder, Tynion IV, and Jock, have all served as mini prequels to the principle storyline. Judgment differs significantly in this respect, acting as a direct continuation of Batman #16’s shocking conclusion, which sees the direct aftermath where the Joker venomously turns on Riddler, Penguin, and Two Face. I loved the way the Joker picked away at Two Face’s psyche, almost as if he were teasing Harvey Dents scabbed face away with words – just as the Dollmaker removed his own face and pinned it to the wall. The Joker almost does the same thing here to the trio of captive rogues, but does so without even breaking a sweat or spilling a drop of blood, all the more terrifying in the light of the special delicacies he’s prepared for dinner.

With a cover that shows the Joker waiting for Batman in the kingdom he has built for him, his overalls adorned with the clothing of the vanquished members of the Bat-Family, we can only begin to imagine what the final act of Death of the Family will hold for us.

Batman #15 Review

Tags

Alfred, Batman, DC Comics, Death of the Family, Greg Capullo, Scott Snyder, The Joker, The New 52

Batman #15
Review by Paul Bowler
[Contains Spoilers]

Snared in a web of chattering joker teeth at Gotham’s reservoir, Batman struggles furiously against his bonds as The Joker gleefully celebrates his victory by announcing how he knows who Batman and his friends really are. When the Police arrive Joker’s goons fire RPG’s at Bullock and his men, destroying the roadblock and taking out the Police helicopter which then crashes into the reservoir. Batman breaks free, launching himself through the flames to attack the Joker, beating him and demanding to know what he has done with Alfred Pennyworth.

But in his haste to get free, Batman lost his gauntlets, inadvertently allowing his exposed fists to be contaminated with a paralysing Joker toxin when he punched The Joker. Overwhelmed by the toxin, Joker sends Batman tumbling into the water, promising that nothing will stand in the way of the ominous celebration he has planned for The Dark Knight and his allies.

After succumbing to a delirious nightmare about Alfred, Batman wakes to find himself back in the Batcave only to be faced with answering some difficult questions about the Joker from Damien, Nightwing, Red Robin, Batgirl, and Jason Tood. Realizing that The Joker’s plans must involve a significant number of accomplices, Batman traces the cellular signal Joker used at the reservoir back to an employee from Arkham Asylum. The guard tells Batman how the Joker has secretly taken over Arkham, threatening to kill their families in order to ensure their obedience, conducting horrifying experiments deep within the shadowy halls of the Asylum as he prepares as special surprise for Batman. Sensing that time is running out for Alfred, Batman races to Arkham Asylum, pausing for a moment on the steps of the building as he contemplates what horrors await him inside…

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo take Batman #15 to new heights as Death of the Family moves into even darker territory than we thought possible. The opening and closing monologue from Batman himself bookends this frightening tale as The Dark Knight begins to peel away the nightmarish layers of The Joker’s plan, knowing that he must soon peer into Joker’s unblinking eyes and realize his own inner demons if he is to have any chance of saving Alfred from this madman.

One of the standout moments this issue comes when Snyder and Capullo masterfully delve into the enigma of the Joker’s twisted mindset. In a bid to convince them that the Joker was lying about knowing their secret identities, and his reasons for not telling them about Alfred’s kidnapping, Bruce recounts a story where he found The Joker’s “calling card” on the hull of the Batboat after Joker attempted to gas Gotham City and mysteriously vanished when he fell into the bay. A replica of that card has hung in the Batcave for years now, and as they stand before it, Batman’s friends are shocked to think that The Joker might actually have managed to cling to the Batboat after it submerged to make into the Cave. Although Batman is adamant this would be an impossible feat, even for him, it illustrates just how deeply engrained The Joker’s twisted games have become on Batman’s mind – and how much the rest of the Bat-Family still have to learn about Gotham Cities greatest menace.

Batman #15 brings last issues heart-stopping cliff hanger to an explosive end before slowly tapping the rich vein of horror that Snyder has continued to build on since The Joker’s return. Even the brief description of what Joker has been up to at Arkham is enough to make your blood run cold, as is the assumption that Batman has actually seen something in The Joker’s eyes before – something so horrible and unnerving that even Batman has to take a moment of contemplation before entering Arkham Asylum..

The art by Greg Capullo in Batman #15 is as enthralling as ever, it was great to see the entire Bat-Family reunited in the Batcave, and I really enjoyed how Jason Todd got to deliver some of the best lines as he openly voiced his doubts about the caves security. As the issue draws to a close we get our first glimpse of Capullo’s version of Arkham Asylum. The building looks more like some ancient fortress, almost resembling something out of a Universal Horror Film as Batman stands on the threshold, and we can only begin to imagine what nerve jangling horrors await within this terrifying institution for the criminally insane…

Red Light Green Light is another superb back up story by Snyder, Tynion IV, and Jock that gives us a further insight into Joker’s plans for Arkham Asylum when he enlists the help of The Riddler to complete his mad scheme. Joker needs Riddler to help him create a very special surprise for Batman, having drawn inspiration from Jeremiha Arkham’s Doctoral Diploma, something which even The Riddler cannot fully begin to comprehend as The Joker leads him away.

Batman #15 is another fantastic issue by Snyder and Capullo. Death of the Family continues to deliver on all fronts, and I’ve enjoyed every macabre and twisted moment.

Batman #14 Review

Tags

Alfred, Batman, Commissioner Gordon, DC Comics, Death of the Family, Gotham City, Greg Capullo, Harley Quinn, Jonathan Glapion, Nightwing, Scott Snyder, The Court of Owls, The Joker, The New 52

Batman #14

[Contains Spoilers]

Review by Paul Bowler

Realizing that the Joker is re-enacting his old crimes Batman tracked the Joker to A.C.E Chemicals, but instead of confronting The Clown Prince of Crime he encounters The Red Hood, who Batman quickly realizes is just Harley Quinn in disguise, After being trapped inside a bubbling vat of chemicals and left for dead by a distraught Harley Quinn, Batman struggles to free himself as his makeshift prison begins to fill up with the same deadly toxins that created the Joker. Using an explosive device from his utility belt, Batman manages to blow the lid off the vat, even though his proximity to the explosion critically damages his Bat-Suit.

Unable to raise Alfred on the communicator, Batman drives the Batmobile back to the Cave and issues a message to the other members of the Bat-Family, warning them that the Joker is now targeting all of them. Once at the Cave it becomes clear that Alfred is missing. Sensing something is seriously wrong Batman searches the Manor for his old friend, but all he finds is a small package on the doorstep containing an audio cassette. The tape holds a special message for Bruce Wayne. Joker gleefully explains that Alfred Pennyworth is now his hostage and how he will need Bruce Wayne’s employee to provide service for a special event he has planned. The message ends with Alfred screaming in agony as the Joker sprays Ammonia in his eyes.

Batman’s proximity to the explosion critically damages his Bat-Suit

Realizing that Gordon is the Joker’s next target, Batman goes to his home where Jim sits alone in the dark on his bed. With his nerves in shreds, Jim almost shoots the Dark Knight as he enters through the window, but he refuses Batman’s plan to take him to a secure bunker. Gordon knows he must confront the Joker if he is to face up to his fear, he even looks at some old photographs from the night Joker crippled Barbara, but as he does so his fingers begin to bleed.

Batman is shocked as Gordon collapses into his arms, his body bleeding profusely. He quickly rushes Jim to hospital where it becomes clear that the Joker had laced the pictures with a blood thinning derivative of Heparin. With Gordon stabilized Batman meets Nightwing on the roof of the hospital and brings him up to speed on the Joker’s plan. Nightwing is horrified to learn that Alfred has been kidnapped and asks Bruce if he thinks it’s possible that the Joker might have discovered their secret identities, but Batman doesn’t believe he has. Together they set out to face the Joker at the reservoir, where he once attempted to poison Gotham’s water supply, Nightwing heads for the aqueduct while Batman finally confronts the Joker on the reservoir itself.

It is here, at the scene of their very first face-to-face encounter so long ago, that history begins to repeat itself: the waters below are heaving with the bodies of innocent victims, Batman stands poised to knock the detonator from the Joker’s hand with a Batarang hidden behind his back, and Joker’s grotesque new countenance yields an even deadlier secret as he presses the detonator – unleashing a swarm of chatting Joker Teeth from the depths of the reservoir  that quickly ensnare Batman in a web of cables just as Nightwing is caught in an explosion at the aqueduct. With Batman trapped, and knowing that the rest of the Bat-Family will be able to hear him over the Police Wire, the Joker announces that he knows who they really are and that he is going to kill them all over the next seventy two hours to make them pay for making Batman so weak!

Joker’s reign of terror strikes right at the heart of the Dark Knights world

If last issue left you checking under your bed before you went to sleep, then Batman #14 will leave you reeling in shock as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue to ramp up the tension as the Joker’s reign of terror strikes right at the very heart of  the Dark Knights world. The shock of seeing Alfred about to be bludgeoned with a hammer by the Joker at the end of Batman #13 is now supplanted by the discovery of an audio cassette left on the doorstep of Wayne Manor. As Batman listens to the tape Snyder leaves our rapt imagination to fill in the gruesome details, but just like Batman we are helplessly bound to our rage, unable to contemplate quite how this has happened. Before the tape ends Alfred starts screaming when the Joker sprays ammonia in his eyes, his tortured cries are cut short as Batman smashes the cassette deck, shattering our preconceptions to reveal that even Batman is not immune to such horror.

It is rare to see Batman react in this way. Of all the members of the Dark Knights rogues gallery there are few who can get under Batman’s skin quite like the Joker can, even during his darkest hour against The Court of Owls he was able to formulate some kind of strategy, but faced with the anarchic chaos of the Joker he is almost consumed by the grotesque schism of their unholy conflict. He does his best to reign in his emotions, even when later Gordon is almost killed by a blood thinning toxin – applied to the photographs in his bedside table by the Joker – the Dark Knight is once again powerless to prevent one of his closest friends being harmed by the Joker’s madness. It takes some stern talking from Nightwing on the roof of the hospital before Bruce actually acknowledges how Alfred’s kidnapping has affected him, but even here we can sense that Jim Gordon’s warning about never letting the Joker see your fear is still gnawing away beneath the Batman’s cowl.

Few can get under Batman’s skin quite like the Joker

As Batman races on the Bat-Bike to confront the Joker at the reservoir his thoughts are still very much with Alfred: recalling the way he always used to talk over the details of a case with him first, calling him on the way to any given confrontation; almost as if he were seeking reassurance before venturing into the jaws of battle. The masterstroke here is that Snyder not only allows us to see how deeply Bruce has been affected by Alfred’s kidnapping, but he also plays on our own fears, drawing us deeper and deeper into the churning mire of doubt and panic that still surrounds Alfred’s fate.

Snyder also highlights the distinct psychological aspects of how deeply rooted the Joker has become in Batman’s psyche, illustrating how they share an uncanny duality that seems to have become an all consuming obsession beyond anything we could have conceivably imagined. The vat Batman is trapped in fills with the same toxic chemicals that created the Joker: after years of study over many sleepless afternoons Batman has learned the exact composition of this nefarious mix of sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid, chromium solution, and zinc sulphide – even down to the small hint of copper that infuses this deadly toxin with its ominous green glow. You can just imagine Bruce alone in the cave, studying slide after slide of this toxic brew, looking for some key to the ghoulish monster it created; some small glimmer of understanding amidst all the horror and collateral damage the Joker has caused, only to see his own eyes reflected in the lens of the microscope…

Every panel of Greg Capullo’s stunning art and Jonathan Glapion’s exemplary inks ensures Batman #14 one of the most memorable yet – transfixing us with the horrors inflicted on Alfred and Commissioner Gordon – each page seeming to infuse us with the encroaching dread of Batman’s inevitable confrontation with the Joker. When they finally face each other at the reservoir we get our first close up glimpse of Capullo’s new version of the Joker. The grubby overalls have replaced the garish purple suit of old, the ragged remains of Joker’s face is now strapped to the raw meat of his skull, a monstrous parody of his former life – his workman-like approach to clawing away at the Batman’s resolve through his friends has refined the razors edge of Joker’s obsession into a weapon that is lethal enough to slice through to the Dark Knights greatest secret of all.

Batman issues a warning that the Joker is now targeting all of them

After ensnaring Batman in the cables spewed from the chattering teeth that fly from the waters of the reservoir, Joker reveals that he knows who they are, presenting Batman with a book he claims to have made from the skin of bats from the Bat-Cave itself – one filled with the secrets he has gathered as he watched and waited while Batman struggled against The Court of Owls. Batman still believes Joker is lying, yet as Joker screams his punch line up at the storm filled sky, you can’t help but sit back and wonder if the Joker might actually get to have the last laugh this time around.

Whether he actually knows the Batman’s secret identity or not, and those of his allies, the Joker has just opened the ultimate jack-in-the-box that will no doubt have serious ramifications over the coming months as Death of the Family spills into the rest of the Bat-Titles. Batman seems unperturbed by the Joker’s revelation and is convinced he is bluffing. They both know each other so well; it’s almost as if the masks have become the greatest joke of all, their lives now intrinsically bound together in ever decreasing circles of secrets and lies that neither would really seem complete without the other. In playing this ultimate “Joker” card Scott Snyder has given us one of the most delicious juxtapositions ever, one that alters everything but proves nothing, planting a seed of doubt that is as insidious as any of the Joker’s mind games. The Joker’s relationship with Batman has now evolved into something so dark and heinous that it transcends all that has gone before, and this time the stakes have never been higher. Joker’s warped fixation on what he perceives as the Batman’s weakness has made him more dangerous than ever, he is determined to tear down the support network Batman has built up around himself, and he seems genuinely disappointed when his “King” fails to realize how far he has fallen in his old foes estimations when they square off at the reservoir.

Batman is trapped in a vat of the same toxic chemicals that created the Joker

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo will take your nerves and shred them into tiny pieces with Batman #14, the closing moments on the reservoir mark one of the greatest standoffs ever seen between the Joker and Batman. This issues backup story (Men of Worship) features a clandestine meeting of almost biblical proportions between the Joker and the Penguin in a church on the outskirts of Gotham that literally oozes with menace. The blood splattered congregation of slaughtered lieutenants from every major crime family in Gotham sit silently amongst the shadows as the Joker makes Cobblepot an offer he cannot refuse. This chilling little tale serves as a perfect footnote to the main storyline and really empathizes just how meticulous the Joker has been about his return to Gotham City.

Death of the Family is only just beginning. We can’t even begin to imagine what Scott Snyder has in store for us next, but with the Joker involved, I think we can rest assured that there are twisted times ahead for anyone who crosses his path…

Batman #13 Review

Tags

Batman, DC Comics, Death of the Family, Greg Capullo, Scott Snyder, The Joker, The New 52

Batman #13

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

A dark stormy night has engulfed Gotham City as Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock discuss the strange events of the last few days up on the rooftop of GCPD. Early snowfalls have blocked the mouth of the Gotham River, now swelled by torrential rain; the river actually reversed its course for three days. Then a deformed lion cub was born at the zoo, a sickly creature with two heads. It’s been a long day, and Gordon still has one or two things to finish up before he goes home, so he leaves Bullock and heads back downstairs just as a van draws up outside the GCPD…

Soon Gordon has a lot more to worry about than trying to hide his cigarettes from his daughter when the Police Station is plunged into darkness. The Joker stands in the doorway, his macabre madness concealed only by the flicking shadows of the emergency lighting. With his officers in disarray, Gordon can only watch and listen helplessly as the Joker systematically beaks each officers neck, taunting Jim from the darkness as his colleagues scream in terror. He stalks Gordon around the room, claming that Batman already has his calling card, before the lights come back on and Batman appears behind Gordon – who is now surrounded by the corpses of his murdered officers. But the Joker has gone, vanishing into the rain swept night having taken the remains of his face – which he’d allowed the Dollmaker to remove – from an evidence locker.

The lights come back on and Batman appears behind Gordon

Later in the BatCave the troubled Dark Knight is joined by Alfred and Damien as he tries to make sense of the mad design behind the Clown Prince of Crimes return. There is still the mystery of why the Joker would allow the Dollmaker to remove his face, before disappearing and spending nearly a year away from Gotham City. Bruce confers with Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Robin by comlink, warning them that the Joker is back. But as they talk a TV News channel begins to show the Joker torturing a hostage, forcing him to announce the Joker’s return to Gotham, before he kills  his victim and gleefully announces that the Mayor will also die at midnight!

Batman refuses to accept the help offered by the rest of the Bat-Family, preferring to deal with the Joker alone. Batman has Gordon keep the Mayor in his office, surrounded by Police Officers while he monitors the situation from an elevator shaft, but even Batman is dismayed when the Officers guarding the Mayor all die suddenly – their faces all twisted by horrific frowns! Realizing that he has made a crucial mistake, Batman gets Alfred to analyse the new Joker toxin – and the results reveal the warped meaning behind the Jokers “calling Card”. This leads Batman back to the chemical plant where the Joker once fell into a vat of chemicals during their first encounter, but instead of confronting the Joker, he faces a showdown with The Red Hood himself. Batman quickly sees through the impostors disguise, but as the Joker’s voice is relayed through the doppelgangers mask, Batman is bludgeoned from the walkway by a giant mallet and tumbles into an empty vat. Trapped inside as the vat begins to fill with a bubbling liquid, the Dark Knight is taunted by the Joker who threatens to take out Batman’s allies, but just as the Red Hood is revealed to be Harley Quinn a nasty surprise begins to scratch at the door of Wayne Manor for Alfred Pennyworth…

After his year long absence from Gotham City, the Joker’s return has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events in The New 52 range of Bat-Titles. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder; here Scott Snyder turns that heart of insane villainy pitch black as he unleashes the Joker on Gotham City. I don’t think the Joker has ever been as horrifically malicious as he is during his attack on GCPD. The way he takes out a room full of armed officers in the dark is truly the stuff of nightmares, playfully snapping their necks in a sickening flourish of callous humour, and leaving Gordon cowering in a corner after knocking the Commissioners torch from his hand. This scene is perfectly pitched by Snyder, and in this brief moment, he makes us feel like a simpering child again – all alone and scared of the dark.

The Joker’s horrific attack on GCPD!

The live broadcast on TV where the Joker forces John Claridge – the son of one of the first people the Joker murdered with his lethal Joker Toxin – to announce his return to Gotham, before blowing his hostages brains out, gives us our first glimpse of this madman’s labyrinthine intellect. Joker also coldly compares his threat on the Mayor’s life to killing a baby bird with a crowbar – a suitably cruel reference to A Death in the Family for Batman. It is only later, when the Police Officers guarding the Mayor are slaughtered by a new Joker Toxin cunningly dabbed on their uniforms and activated by the detergents on the recently cleaned floor, that Batman finally begins to piece together the clues behind the Joker’s new obsession with his first crimes. Indeed, the twist of making the Joker’s “calling card” a joke is in itself a stroke of genius by Snyder, one that keeps the reader, and the Dark Knight himself, constantly on edge. It’s this new unpredictability that is so unnerving. Even Jim Gordon seeks a moment of reassurance from Batman when the two confer in an elevator just before the Mayor’s office is turned into a frowning bloodbath. In a way they both know the Joker so well now, each has been touched by the fear that he can instil in others, and they know the price of that fear if you’re foolish enough to show it.

After tracing the clues in the new Joker Toxin back to A.C.E Chemicals Batman expects to find the Joker, instead he apparently encounters The Red Hood. Naturally enough, Batman sees through Harley Quinn’s disguise, but he is quite unprepared for being trapped in one of the vats himself. It is here, as the Joker mocks Batman for his failings against The Court of Owls – saying how it made him frown to see the Dark Knight falter against the birds roosting in his kingdom – that the Joker claims he has returned to save Batman, intending to make him strong again by killing his associates one by one. It seems that the Joker has been observing events from afar, watching and waiting for his time to strike. His mockery of The Dark Knights handling of the Talons assault on Gotham is particularly telling; and his disappointment with his old adversary’s reliance of his allies is a chilling example of how deranged the Joker’s twisted logic has become.

The art by Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion is like dark a tapestry of oozing menace: from the opening monologue of the strange occurrences that have befallen Gotham City, with rivers running backwards, and two headed monsters being born – the imminent return of the Joker as his van approaches GCPD unfolds like a satanic teardrop from hell. When the lights go out the way Capullo and Glapion portray the tension is almost unbearable, contrast this with the brightly lit massacre in the Mayor’s office, and you almost feel like the Joker has snuck up behind you and cut off your eyelids to let you savour every moment of his vicious depravity…

Snyder seems to have the perfect handle on how the Joker actually thinks; giving the reader a ringside seat for the unfolding horror, almost supplanting the Joker’s giggling voice in your mind as you turn each page. Yet it is Capullo who makes Snyder’s vivid take on the character such a resounding success, even though Joker spends much of Batman #13 cackling from the shadows, using his victims like puppets as he draws Batman further and further into his deadly web of misdirection. Those final moments, where Alfred investigates the strange scratching sounds at the door of Wayne Manor and discovers the two headed lion cub on the doorstep, catapults you towards the horrifying climax as Alfred turns around and finds himself face to “face” with the Joker!

Batman ponders the warped meaning behind the Jokers “Calling Card”

We have been teased with Capullo’s new look for the Joker for months now. The first glimpse of the Joker reflected in Alfred’s eye is a distorted, fun house image, trapped in a mirror of gleaming horror before being revealed in its entirety as the Joker steps from the darkness of the hallway to attack Alfred with a hammer. It is rare that a horror film can make your blood run cold these days, let alone a comic book, but that final image from Batman #13 is as astonishing as it is unsettling. The Joker now wears his face like Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, strapped to his scalp, his hair flailing wildly in greasy clumps as he lurches towards Alfred. We have seen Alfred come face to face with Bane and The Court of Owls in his time, but there is something about seeing him alone in the Manor – with the Joker poised to strike him down – that makes this final page unimaginably terrifying. The two headed lion cub also serves as a grim reminder of the duality shared by the Joker and Batman, each born of Gotham, bound together by fate, and locked forever in a battle to destroy the other.

The back up story in Batman #13 by Snyder, Tynion IV, and Jock serve as a dark interlude to Batman’s arrival at A.C.E’s Chemicals, and shows just how far the Joker is prepared to go this time – even using his beloved Harley Quinn as a decoy when he forces her to dress up as the Red Hood. Tease is a haunting little prequel to these events, especially when the Joker advances towards the terrified Harley, cutthroat razor in hand, hinting that he would like her to share his experience of having his face removed by the Dollmaker. But instead of lashing out, he places the Red Hood on her head, leaving her alone to face Batman as she calls out forlornly for the Joker to answer her…

Snyder and Capullo have given us only the briefest of glimpses of the mad revenge that the Joker has planed. Death of the Family has gotten off to a tremendous start, and I’m sure that after reading this issue, Commissioner Gordon wont be the only one checking under the bed tonight…