SO: the Joker’s back! A year and a half since Death of the Family when we last saw Joker being swallowed by the darkness beneath Wayne Manor, he’s been missing in the New 52. Now, he’s back with an even more dastardly plan that involves the Justice League. This is Endgame.
After taking a breather last month following the conclusion of the epic Zero Year, Snyder and Capullo are back with a helluva opening issue to their latest and greatest arc. It’s a bit like the JLA: Tower of Babel storyline from the late 90s in that it’s essentially Batman vs the Justice League, but the last couple pages takes it in a completely different direction.
In this issue, Batman takes on Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Superman, in that order, while rocking a giant Jaegar-esque Bat-themed battlesuit. Yup, it’s a pretty fun issue! Capullo’s art really carries it, with regular collaborators Danny Miki on inks and FCO Plascencia on colours. The battles have this wonderful cinematic look to them and the action is awesome.
In addition to the usual 22 pages, there’s a dull 8 page backup written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Kelley Jones that has something to do with the Joker though frankly I’d have preferred to do without it and have bought this comic for $3.99 instead. Thankfully, Snyder’s got some pull at DC and has gotten them to drop the price point from $4.99 to $3.99 for the next issues of Endgame - but you’re still gonna have to overpay for this one. I mean, that 6 page ad for Future’s End is unforgivable - that and the cruddy backup is why I’m forking over extra?!
Anyway: Batman vs the Justice League AND the return of the Joker? The Snyder/Capullo parts of this issue kick ass and Endgame is off to a blistering start. Batman #35 is easily the best comic of the week even without an appearance from the Joker - the promise of his return is enough.
Batman #35
See I loved the back up more than the am in story. I hadn't though about the ccontinuity issue so thanks for pointing that out :)
ReplyDeleteafter someone pointed out to me the first caption of the first page in the top left hand corner that I missed, which reads "Now", I've edited my review to reflect the lack of continuity issues.
Deleteon the backup - I'm guessing you're a fan of the Doug Moench/Kelley Jones Batman books of the 90s? ;)