Batman #36, written by Scott Snyder and penciled by Greg Capullo, is the second chapter of their six part Endgame storyline, which started out with the entire Justice League being exposed to Joker toxin in the previous issue. As a reader, you already know that the Joker’s back after his “death” in the Death of the Family arc, but it’s how Snyder and Capullo reveal his resurrection that makes this book so fantastic.
The issue opens with a dream sequence, and Batman internalizing numerous different ways he could die.
We’re then transported to the present story and Batman in a very deadly situation – a fight with a crazed Superman! Batman wins (of course), using all sorts of clever tricks to take down the Kryptonian.
I love the lettering of Steve Wands and the way he stylizes the text spoken by anyone in the throes of Joker toxin. And this effect is more than just for looks. Snyder incorporates it into the actual story and the reveal of who the Joker has been masquerading as this whole time – Eric Border!
Notice how the font changes in the second to last balloon on that page and the word “see” is written like the Joker said it? That’s the first clue that Border, who has been a background character since Batman Annual #2, is the Joker in disguise.
The issue goes on to put Batman in a perilous situation, allude to a master plot and reveal the Joker’s new “not-chopped-off face”, which is a fantastic way to end the first act of this drama.
But it’s the little details that make this the best comic I read today.
Details like the fly caught in the web in the Joker’s cell in Arkham, and the fly landing on Batman’s cowl on the last page, calling back the motif that ended the Death of the Family storyline, further illustrating the storytelling prowess of the Snyder / Capullo “Dynamic Duo”.
See?
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