Written by Scott Snyder & James Tynion IVArt by Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, & Jock
Cover by Greg Capullo
Variant Cover by Aaron Kuder
What can I say about Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman that hasn't been said already? It is without doubt one of the most consistently great series being published at the moment and by far the best book being published by DC. It also stands as an example of what a fresh new writer can bring to a character who is decades old.
Snyder is crafting a truly terrifying Joker story, one that is dripping old school horror movie suspense. The Joker assumes the role of court jester for the Death of the Family story arc , and it is this character that leads the story through some great pieces of action as the King, Batman, returns to his castle at Arkham Asylum to find and stop his jester.
After dealing with a flaming horse (how awesome is that!) and a mob of thugs, Batman confronts the Joker and the rest of his "court" only to find that the Joker has already beaten the rest of the Bat-family and has Batman on the ropes before he even enters the building. Throughout the issue Batman is telling himself to hurry, that there is still time to stop the Joker's plans and all the while the reader knows if Batman needs to telling himself there's still a chance, he has already lost.
The great thing about Snyder's writing is that he gets inside the heads of his characters so well. The Joker is like a scalpel blade dissecting every part of Batman's life with cutting precision, the scene between the Joker and Two-Face is particularly inspired as the Joker unloads his full disdain on poor Harvey Dent.
And then there is the art. Not only do we get the incredible action art of Greg Capullo, we also get the incomparably spooky Jock drawing the back-up feature. It really is an abundance of riches and I can't believe that Capullo has put up such consistently good art for 15 out of 16 issues for this series, the guy is a machine.
Another great issue in a series which has been so great for so long, it won't disappoint.
4.5 out of 5 stars
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