Batman fans are recovering from the shocking events of this week’s Batman #16. What Bruce discovered inside Arkham Asylum was the Joker at his most horrific and demented. (A literal Dance of Death!)
Next month’s Batman #17 is the final chapter of Death of the Family and we learn the Joker’s full plan and how it will affect the Batman family. Writer Scott Snyder is talking about what to expect in the grand finale:
“Well, I can tell you there are definitely some insane moments in the conclusion and some crazy things happen so, I’ve always been braced for it as something that isn’t designed to just shock for the sake of shocking, but is the culmination of the story in a way that feels organic and surprising,” Snyder tells The Huffington Post. “I can’t remember who it was, but I had a teacher that gave me a writing quote when I was a student that said ‘Every ending should be both inevitable and totally surprising,’ and I completely believe that. Hopefully this is an ending that feels organic to the story we’ve been telling, and when you get there you’ll say ‘I can’t believe this just happened,’ and at the same time, you’ll feel that it’s a cumulative, horrible thing out of everything that’s been going on.”
Snyder and Greg Capullo have transformed the Clown Prince of Crime into a something even more horrific. This story could take Bruce back to his origin when it was just Batman – no Robins, no Batgirl, no one else. In a twisted way is the Joker making Bruce a “better” Batman?
“Joker is coming at Batman from a place of very personal terror for me. And a place of personal guilt, and also a place of great personal anxiety,” Snyder told PopMatters. “So I think he is coming after Bruce in a way that is getting at a very, very personal story for Bruce. Because as much as Bruce loves the Family, you could make the accusation that in some ways he wishes he could stop worrying about them. Does that me he wishes they didn’t exist? Of course not. Does that mean he doesn’t love them? No, of course not. But that’s the way the Joker interprets it. The Joker says, ‘You’ve become slow and weak, and you’ve become nothing of the Batman I used to know. So deep down I know you’re unhappy. And I’ve heard you think this almost (not in a supernatural way, but just in a kind of figurative way),’ So he says, ‘Let me grant you your wish, because I’m here to serve you. And we’ll have so much fun afterwards.’”
Batman #17 hits February 13th.
Thanks to The Source.