The Sampson family prepares for a meal of clown, but the arrival of Vengeance makes their meal much less satisfying in The Joker #13, written by James Tynion IV, penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inked by Cam Smith, colored by Arif Prianto & Romulo Fajardo Jr. and lettered by Tom Napolitano.
In Detective Comics #1,056, the identity of faux-Harley is revealed as the Bat Family goes all in on their assault on Arkham Tower in a story written by Mariko Tamaki, drawn by Amancay Nahuelpan, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Ariana Maher. In the backup, The Boyās time in the No Manās Land leads to an inevitable clash with the Dark Knight in a story written by Matthew Rosenberg, drawn by Fernando Blanco, colored by Bellaire and lettered by Rob Leigh.
A trip to a haunted hotel leads Mystery Inc. into a confrontation with Batman villains and allies great and small in The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #12, written by Sholly Fisch, drawn by Dario Brizuela, colored by Franco Riesco and lettered by Saida Temofonte.
Matt Lazorwitz: So, first, the elephant in the room: The Batman. I enjoyed it.
Will Nevin: As did I, Brother Matt. If only we had a podcast in which we could share our thoughts with those good people who signed up to support us on Patreon.
Matt: Yes, a true shame.
Will: But in all seriousness, it was a good watch. Hope Reeves gets a shot at a sequel. And maybe an editor he trusts.
Vengeance Comes to Hooper County
Matt: By the standards of this title, this was a slow issue, which is a funny way to describe a comic that is spent mostly with a genetically engineered daughter of Bane fighting a clan of cannibals. But this book is so often thinky and complex, that an issue that is mostly a fight isnāt what I come here looking for. Itās not a bad comic, but itās not what The Joker has mostly been.
Will: As penultimate issues go, this was a fine one ā itās not here to necessarily do anything special, just content to set everything up for the final act. But Iāll certainly agree with you: This was the softest issue weāve seen in quite some time.
Matt: Still, it has its moments. Jimās opening narration (I assume itās Jim anyway, as he has always been the narrator) discussing the opulence and decadence of wealth juxtaposed against the Sampsonsā human buffet is an honestly creepy scene.
Will: āThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre family but with moneyā is still one of the best fucking ideas ever in a cape comic, and Tynion only needs two or three more bangers on that level to make up for Ghost-Maker.
Matt: There was also some fun Joker material, with him jerking around with the Sampson chef. Tynion gets the Jokerās voice in this book. Joker is the kind of guy who will just needle and needle, and itās something we saw in the first flashback issue, where he screws with Jim. Joker, even at his most obnoxious, knows exactly what heās doing.
Will: Jokerās the highlight of this issue, right? Itās not not cool to watch Vengeance tear ass, but aside from that decapitating uppercut, I didnāt think that was anything all that special.
Matt: Totally. While the Joker canāt carry a series as a character, he can definitely carry an issue, especially when heās at his most comically brutal. Giuseppe Camuncoliās Joker also looks great. Heās thin, heās wild, he has a truly deranged look.
Will: Iād say diseased, even, especially after he gets burned. (As a side note, Joker would have to taste disgusting, right?)
Matt: Heād taste like fish that was pulled out of the damn Hudson River in the mid-ā90s. All chemicals.
Will: *vomits*
Matt: Baneās entrance on the last page is the big setup for the finale. I kind of want that last issue to be just this three-way game of wits between Joker, Bane and Jim. The fact that we got no Jim Gordon on page in this issue was definitely felt, by the way.
Will: He cameoād on that last page; that counts for ā¦ something. We get the outline of Baneās master plan next month, right? What else are you looking for?
Matt: Some payoff to the question of is that Talon a resurrected James Jr.? Some resolution for Vengeance? A daring escape by Joker to set up āSeason Twoā? Some killer, noiry final narrative from Jim?
Will: I think I want a resolution to this story. Let the second season stand on its own for whatever poor bastard tries to follow up Tynionās masterpiece.
All Hands on Deck
Matt: So, probably should have seen the faux-Harley reveal coming. It actually makes perfect sense, when you think about it.
Will: I think we over thought it, but Iām still not completely convinced thereās not a swerve coming. If this was WWE, faux-Harley would turn one more time just to surprise us.
Matt: She might, but weāre in the endgame here now, so I donāt know if they have the time. Characters are starting to pop in who we havenāt seen before in this arc: namely my two faves, Tim Drake and ā¦ that guy. You know the one. He has the costume with the pointy ears
Will: Baphomet? The guy from Widening Gyre?
Matt: ā¦ Yes. That guy. *glowers*
Will: Look, you know what we recorded last night, and itās on my brain before I thankfully forget it. But, yeah, the goddamned Batman is back in Gotham. Iām sure Nightwing is grateful.
Matt: He absolutely is. Itās a great, big hero moment, too. Tamaki absolutely gives Batman the entrance that the marquee character deserves. But everyone gets a great moment as they enter the tower and arrive on the scene.
Also, on a more somber note, I am glad that my initial surmise that Koyuki Nakano was experiencing postpartum depression was off. Partially because that would have been way too sticky a topic to go into with the limited page count here, and partially because Tamaki nails the type of anxiety Koyuki is experiencing. I read that and it was like looking in a really uncomfortable mental mirror.
Will: I wonder, once again peering into the unknowable mind of DC editorial, whether that wasnāt a change from when Koyuki was first depicted because it seemed like the postpartum angle was flagged pretty hard. Still, itās a good change ā like you, I donāt think thatās the sort of thing you have the space to attend to with any justice.
Matt: Things arenāt looking good for her at the end of this issue, but that definitely reads as a swerve. Ana Vulsen didnāt shoot her. Whether she shot Psycho-Pirate or someone else shot Ana, weāll see next issue, but I know itās not that easy an exit for Gothamās first lady.
Also, do we think weāve taken out the last of the Gate Crashers? And is there anything more satisfying than seeing Harley beat up Joker fanboys? I can think of very few things that are.
Will: Iād be happy to be done with the Gate Crashers now and forever more. And yeah, thatās a great sequence ā¦ if Harley is who she says she is. *ominous music*
The Finale
Matt: Damn, but I am going to miss this book!
Will: Nothing gold can stay, Matty Lasers. This book went out on a high note, doing its thing and bringing in every Bat family member and villain the team could reasonably cram into one issue.
Matt: Iām glad Sholly Fisch and Dario Brizuela came back for this issue. They were the creative team on this bookās predecessor, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, and every sixth issue there, they did something big and nuts. That followed through here, as issue six was the Pup Named Scooby-Doo/young Bruce team-up, and this one is the everybody team-up.
The level of obscure villains here was impressive! Zebra Man. The Cyclotronic Man. Dr. No-Face. I didnāt think Iād see those guys again. Not to mention the Bat-Squad, an obscure group from an issue of Brave and the Bold back in the late ā60s or early ā70s.
Will: The thing that gave me a frowny face, though? Whyād they bring back the red-and-black Robin costume?
Matt: Yeah, I would have preferred the original Tim Drake costume, but hey, there was no Damian, so you being Will, that had to earn it some points, right?
This issue was full to bursting with bits, and I love bits in this comic. I like that Fisch got to play with the unique voices of the different characters. And he got to spotlight the oft forgotten truest hero in the Bat family: Batcow, who in the end takes out Joker and Penguin. And pluses for using the particularly creepy Justice League Joker design instead of the New Batman Adventures lipless Joker. I have enjoyed how the artists in this book cherry pick from all the possible designs for the various marquee characters to really pick the ones they like best.
Will: Any Bat book without Damian canāt be all bad, Matt. And this one was good! But speaking of bad characters, was that mime Punchline?
Matt: Nope, that was The Mime. Another fairly obscure Bat villain.
Will: A literal mime. Fantastic.
Bat-miscellany
- Matt & Will are joined by BatChat Patreon backer Joshua Weil this week to talk about three stories where we see some of Bruceās training to be Batman: Detective Comics Annual #2, Superman Vol. 1 #710 and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5.
- The Gotham Gazette headline āMayor Nakano Finds an Ally in An Enemy? Vigilante and Mayor, Fight for Gotham Against Latest Menaceā doesnāt work for two reasons: 1) A broadsheet would never editorialize in a headline, nor would it use a rhetorical question (or however youād classify that question mark usage) and 2) thereās no way āBatmanā doesnāt make it into a headline in Gotham. This isnāt Year One. ā Will, Ph.D. and professor of journalism. [Groteās note: Math checks out.]
- I love the Jokerās almost Looney Tunes physiology on the cover of the new issue. Tynion needs to come back for one more DC story and do some Joker team-up when/if DC does another of those DC/Looney Tunes crossover special events. Maybe Joker/Daffy Duck. Two narcissists in one story.
- She was only in this issue of āTec briefly, but Iām always glad to see Deb Donovan again.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
