Three pages from Batman #14

[cyberghostface]

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

... yep... not going to sleep tonite without a light....

i have to hand it to capullo, the expressions he is able to put on flesh that is stapled and pulled on is amazing...

the scene (which you beat me to!) with him leaning back talking about the soap they use (and why nightwing smells so good) is Hilarious. AND TERRIFYING...

and once again, i feel Mark Hamill would play this AMAZINGLY,

it Screams JOKER... or that could just be me screaming.... i can't tell.... it might explain why my coworkers are staring at me like this... no, no you don't undssratangi i like it dnot my pressccusous boookssssss!mwah... mwah... mWaaAAhaAhaHAHAHAhaAHAHah! sijas jkdjfpoasd

[mrstatham]

Yeah, pretty much reading all of this in that exact same tone Hamill had the Joker using in the Batman Beyond movie when he's explaining that he knows everything. Whilst I'm still not entirely sold on the use of the peeled face - though make it look good Capullo does - I think this could shape up to be a classic Joker story. I at least appreciate the change of pace that the Joker knowing things has brought about.

[filthysize]

Capullo is KILLING IT on this book. KILLING IT.

I was never a big fan of him, always dismissed him since his Spawn days as one of those Image guys who were stuck with the McFarlane style like Tony Daniel, etc, but holy hell, his work on Batman has just been terrific stuff.

[team_mummy]

This sounds like Snyder's been watching that interrogation scene in Dark Knight too many times. That monologue makes Joker sound like he's way too into himself. I don't get how Batman is tied up with wire and joker teeth and STILL has his belt on? That's kind of silly. Sorry, I dug Snyder's Detective run and I only made it to Batman #4 but this stuff feels too much like "Hey check me out! I'm doing shocking stuff with Batman!" It's not fun. But maybe I'm biased because I've been glued to Morrison's run since the beginning =\

I would totally be on board with the idea that Joker is one of a handful of people who know the whole universe got rebooted like Psyco Pirate used to!

[shadowpsykie]

But maybe I'm biased because I've been glued to Morrison's run since the beginning =\

I like them both... they are doing different things with the same character

and actually this is the first time Joker has felt like Joker in a long time. Joker is that "Crazy EX" who thinks if he gets rid of the people closest to him he will finally be free.

of course it's all about the Joker, it's ALWAYS been all about the Joker.

[darkknightjrk]

I've also been enjoying both for different reasons, but I think that Snyder's run has been a bad victim of overhype.

That monologue makes Joker sound like he's way too into himself.

You mean he isn't?

[espanolbot]

" That monologue makes Joker sound like he's way too into himself."

He's vain and likes to talk, just ignore it and power on through.
- Bruce Wayne, Return of the Joker

[mrstatham]

The interrogation scene in TDK just made it seem like Nolan and Ledger had read TKJ too many times. Joker as a guy who thinks he knows everything and likes to explain the way the world works is pretty standard; I just hope that this story ends with the Joker being proven wrong as well as TDK did; For all I'm not a fan of the film, there's something really rather awesome about the look on the face of Ledger's Joker, this prescient, all-knowing monster, being proven wrong not by Batman, but by an ordinary bunch of people, when they refuse not to blow the boats up.

[jlbarnett]

I don't think this is the real Joker.

It's the book thing really.

[darkknightjrk]

...Okay, I think I can see where this can go.

Joker pushes the entire Bat-Family, using things about themselves that they never told anyone against them. All the while, what Joker said about a secret Batman has is bouncing around the back of their heads. Some don't believe it, some aren't sure...but they all want to read this book that has all of Batman's secrets--because if all this could happen from this secret, then they need to know about it.

And when they get it...it's a sham. There's no secrets in the book. All that's left is mistrust and anger.

The Death of the Family comes not from The Joker, but from themselves.

[pyynk]

And when they get it...it's a sham. There's no secrets in the book. All that's left is mistrust and anger.

The Death of the Family comes not from The Joker, but from themselves.

Oh that's good! And perfect!

[protogarrett]

All their heads have been cut off already, sorry Joker.

*sigh* At least Cass and Steph are safe, yes?

[auggie18]

GET OUT OF MY MIND!


Seriously, that's the first thing I thought.

[zeta_tauri]

OK, I don't read Batman, so excuse this question, but what the heck is going on with Joker's face? He's got like, some sort of chemical peel from hell going or something.

[cyberghostface]

Long story short:

His face was skinned off by another villain (at his request). Now he's wearing it as a mask.

[lucean]

I'm really loving what I've seen of this so far. I especially love Joker's point, his approach, because it in a way sounds true to me. Batman is the ultimate survivor, the king of bad-asses, sorry for the hype, and it's always been a balancing act between having Batman be the big guy and have the clan serve a purpose which supports him without having him come off as weak. I'm not saying the current incarnation is failing that balancing act, but rather I like that the story is going to the root of that balancing act by not, at least yet, reaffirming that Batman needs the clan, but rather asking should he need the clan.

Also, for some reason I love how utterly unimpressed the Joker is with the Owls.

[espanolbot]

Conspiracies of rich guys who think that they're in the same league as him (or better) JUST because they're rich and in an exclusive club tend to rub him the wrong way.

Just look what happened when he got involved with the Black Glove (they treated him like a henchman, he began killing them randomly for his own amusement before killing them via jokes when he thought that they'd killed Batman).

[nyadnar17]

I was not buying this at all.....until Joker reveal his motivation. Joker thinks Batman is less badass than he used to be because he has "crutches". That is awesome.

[sherkahn]

Joker wants someone worthy of all his attention and showmanship.

[silverhammerman]

Y'know I seem to recall way back during Court of Owls someone on here expressing hope that Snyder wouldn't go all in the whole king of Gotham thing with Joker as the jester. I forget which one of you it was but bravo on the prescience.
I haven't been loving this so far, but it's still really solid, and I stand by my hope that this ends with the Joker being proven wrong when the bat-Family wins the fight on both physical and philosophical level, doing a meta-point about how Batman's allies don't water him down.

[drmcninja]

Eh, its pretty interesting, but I don't really find myself getting that into it. It just doesn't seem like the joker to me, all this monologuing makes him sound to... I don't know, self-obsessed?

I prefer the Joker who already knew about the Batcave and the secret identity, but just didn't care because what would be the fun in that?

[atom_punk]

I don't think this version of Joker cares about the secret identities either. He only cares about who the Bat-clan are so that he can get to them and in doing so hurt Batman.

For example, knowing Batman is Bruce Wayne, Joker wouldn't care.

Knowing Batman is Bruce Wayne and Bruce Wayne's surrogate parent is Alfred Pennyworth, and that killing Alfred will hurt Batman, Joker is VERY interested in that

[lissa_quon]

Okay, I'm not going to look at the story, I'm ignoring most big comic events.

I just gotta say, I'm really digging the art on this. At least until the last bit with the severed head cast count.

But I'm digging the lighting on this. Also really liking the movement and body language on the Joker. The energetic maniacal giddiness as he leans back and forth on that railing. Nicely done.

[silicondream]

Joker's starting to rival Hole-Though-The-Head Lady for sheer medical silliness here.

Just pull off your glove and rub his forehead, Batman! MRSA will take him down in the end!

[icon_uk]

Isn't Joker's blood pretty much toxic to everything but his biology copes with it? Something like that would make a hell of an antiseptic.

[an_idol_mind]

It's occurred to me that it's going to take one hell of a great Joker story to regard the character as anything but an annoyance, because by now he is just so very played out.

[/possibly random tangent]

[mesmiranda]

I'm not entirely sure why the Joker can't be a legacy villain--it offers up possibilities for different approaches and viewpoints and new storylines, it explains the Joker Immunity trope--or why legacy heroes/villains aren't more in use. Ted Kord was amazing, but so is Jaime Reyes; Peter Parker is amazing, and so is Miles Morales; Dick as Batman was really interesting, and he had a great dynamic with Damian, but now we're back to Bruce Wayne again.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

I loath this on principle.

Not that I mind Joker knowing and attacking Batman's id, not that.

It's that this is DC's approach to the implied idea that Joker's always known. This is the nuance of NuDC, a multi-issue crossover based about what was an implication.

[jaybee3]

I would guess that Cass and Steph do not offically exist? Because if they did I can't see Joker passing up a chance to hurt the daughter of the Bat and the lively blond in the purple suit who plays (in Joker's mind) at being vigilante. Going back to Jason and Babs after what he's done to them seems something the Joker wouldn't do. What would be the joke in it?

[zechs80]

More than likely yeah it's pretty much this now. :(

This is good, though it's been done better...

[espanolbot]

What's that Batman,no witty comeback, no threat? Then I'll provide the narration.

I'll start with how I peeled back the layers of the Boy's mind... Oh, he bravely tried to fight it at first. You would have been proud to see him so strong! But all too soon the serums and shocks took their tole, and the dear lad started to share such secrets with me... Secrets that are mine alone to know... Bruce.

It's true Batsy, I KNOW EVERYTHING! And kinda like the kid who peeks at his Christmas presents, I must admit, it's sadly anticlimatic. Behind all the sturm and batarangs, you're just a little boy in a playsuit crying for mommy and daddy. It would be sad if it wasn't so pathetic...

OH WHAT THE HECK, I'LL LAUGH ANYWAY!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JEa71aS3oU

[filthysize]

This bit is great for the reveal (and the Nightwing comment), but I thought the pages that precede it were the obvious highlight of the book.

- Batman's worried monologue as he rides to battle, revealing how he usually always calls Alfred on the way to a fight, pretending it's to give Alfred assurance that he'll be fine, when actually he needs to hear Alfred assuring him.

- That big splash page where they meet and Joker goes, "Hello, darling!"

- The whole thing where Joker casually reveals that he's already several steps in front of Batman and skipped ahead, then points out the victims. Marvelous sequence.

Great, great issue.

[superfangirl1]

Looking at the face mask. I can't even imagine how much pain that much pain that must be,that what makes it more creepy for me.

[kingofmadcows]

This is where it would be helpful to know which parts of the old DCU continuity has been kept.

The whole idea of Batman thinking that his family makes him weak and soft has been dealt with several times already. In "No Man's Land," Batman thought that he could fix Gotham by himself. In "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," he tried abandoning Bruce Wayne and pushed the rest of the Bat family away so he could devote himself entirely to being Batman. After "War Games," he pushed everyone away because the police were cracking down on vigilantes and Batman believed that he needed to fix Gotham by himself. So the whole "Batman turning into a loner because he thought that the Bat family was making him weak only to learn that his family makes him stronger" story has been told three times just in the last 10 years.

[icon_uk]

Though this is the Joker's take on it and there's no reason to believe he's right.

Batman certainly wouldn't agree with his POV here, he KNOWS how important his family is to him.