Batman #36 courtesy courtesy DC Comics, a BuzzFeed exclusive first
Batman: Endgame, Part Two packed a sucker punch and revealed the long game played by the Dark Knight’s greatest enemy.
The Joker is back.
That’s not a spoiler.
The Justice League were out for Bruce’s blood in part one. In the final panel we learned Superman and the League were under the Joker’s influence.
The incredible battle between Batman and a Jokerized Superman was a brutal fanboy and girl dream but then writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo delivered a truly creepy stunner.
Batman #16 Bruce is about to confront the Joker in this critical Death of the Family chapter. The Joker’s plan is finally revealed inside Arkham Asylum. Is Batman ready the showdown? Are you ready to see what the Joker has waiting inside?
New Avengers #2 Marvel’s biggest brains gather to plan for the death of the Earth and everything? Black Panther assembles Namor, Reed Richards, Iron Man, Black Bolt and Doctor Strange but have the new Illuminati already given up?
Saga #9 The sci-fi space opera switches focus from the bounty hunter whose been track the star-crossed lovers of the series. The Will make have his own romantic hands full with an alien temptress.
Savage Wolverine #1 Logan. Shanna the She-Devil. The Savage Land. Frank Cho. That should be a ’nuff said but in just in case: Dinosaurs. SHIELD. Shanna by Cho!
X-Factor #250 Lords of Hell battle to control Earth. Will the heroes of X-Factor Investigations sacrifice themselves to stop the Hell On Earth war?
Will Batman be stripped of his friends and allies by the time Death of the Family is over?
Warning!
Spoilers Ahead:
In this week’s Batman #15 Bruce was confronted by Barbara, Tim, Dick, Jason and Damian. The Joker claims to know the identities of Gotham City’s crime fighting “family” and that Batman will be responsible for killing all of his friends and allies within hours. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have redefined the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime is more horrific, sadistic and creepy than ever. The creative team is redefining Batman and the heroes of Gotham City. We will soon know what the story title means. I wanted to share this part of Snyder’s interview with Comics Newsarama about how Bruce’s conflict in Death of the Family about being Batman and head of this family.
Batman #15 courtesy DC Comics
“What The Joker is saying, essentially, is “you don’t want them around for that reason.” And “deep down, you wish you weren’t responsible for them. You want to just be Batman. You don’t want the father figure role that is more of a Bruce Wayne role.”
“Well, the thing the Joker does, that I think makes him the greatest villain of all time, is he sees the things you’re afraid are true about yourself, and then brings them to life.
So they don’t necessarily have to be true….. Having young children, I was thinking about Bruce’s position as someone who’s responsible for all these younger allies and how much he is a father to them, and how in some ways, that would make him — especially coming off of the Court of Owls where he was so reliant on them — both proud of them and incredibly attached to him, but also make him worried. Not just for them, but also worried that he does rely on them in ways that he didn’t before.
The Joker, as his villain, hears that. You know what I mean? Not in a supernatural way, but in a kind of metaphorical way. He hears it and says, “I know what you’re feeling. I know you well enough, darling, to know that you just said you want the family dead, and you want to go back to being me and you.”
And Batman is saying, “No, I didn’t say that. I never said that.”
But Joker is like, “Sure you did. When you said you wanted to stop worrying about them, that’s what you meant. You’re not willing to say it, but deep down, that’s what you’re thinking.”
The Batman Family of books could be radically changed by the time this is over. Would you want to see a Batman completely on his own in a war on crime? No Robins. No allies. Batman a complete lone wolf?
Death of the Family rolls into Nightwing #15 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 next week. Batman #16 is Bruce’s showdown in Arkham Asylum.
The Night of the Owls crossover events violently tears into Detective Comics #9 as Talons invade Arkham Asylum. The Court of Owls have judged Jeremiah Arkham unworthy. The inmates of Arkham may be the only thing saving him from a death sentence until Batman joins the chaos.
The pencils are plot are eerie and violent mirroring the madness and manipulation inside Gotham’s notorious address. The Black Mask, Clayface and all of Arkham’s “patients” are pawns in his plan to escape the Council of Owls’ assassins. This a thrilling hour during Night of the Owls you don’t want to miss.
In my interview with Tony Daniel (see below) the man behind Detective Comics expressed his hope to work on a Clayface story. In this issue the classic villain has brief moments that are a great tease for what Daniel might do with him.
This issue features a back story starring Two-Face. Tony Daniel (see his interview link below) takes Harvey Dent into a dark, seedy deal with a devil and sets him for an anti-hero to cheer for. Syzmon Kudranski created a murky violent underworld for Harvey to creep through on his mission.
Here’s my interview with Tony Daniel at Fan Expo Vancouver (with more video clips from the creator in his own words.) I asked Daniel about Batman’s Rogues Gallery, the Two-Face back story in Detective Comics, the villains he wants to use next and how rock legends KISS inspired him.
The battle for Gotham City bleeds into Detective Comics #9 as the Night of the Owls crossover spreads across all the Batman titles. The secret society strikes Arkham Asylum in the issue by written and drawn by Tony Daniel. Sandu Florea co-illustrates the issue.
Here’s what Batman Series editor Mike Marts told The Source:
“In Detective #9, Batman finds himself in the unlikeliest of situations—saving Arkham Asylum administrator Jeremiah Arkham from a mysterious Talon assailant,” said Marts. “What is the secret connection between the Court of Owls and Gotham City’s oldest institution for the criminally insane?”
