Batman #16

[cyberghostface]

So Batman has tracked down Joker in Arkham Asylum (where he's with some of Batman's other rogues) and manages to gain the upper hand when Mister J reveals he has another trick up his sleeve.

 





There's also a back-up story by Capullo after this where the other villains fight over who gets to kill Batman, causing Joker to trap them between some bars.



So what's underneath? I hope it's not one of Alfred's body parts...

Comments

[icon_uk]

So is there a reason Batman, with all his resources, has no means of contacting his allies? And has no electrical insulation in his costume?

And how DID the Joker manage to be there for each of these moments when he's at Arkham with Batman?

[lonewolf23k]

I think those were all recorded.

[cyberghostface]

He kidnapped them separately in the other Bat-titles.

[drmcninja]

I'm actually willing to bet on suit-insulation being the "avoid-cliffhanger-death" mechanism at the start of next issue.

Or you know, I would, if I could count on this being at all reasonable in any way.

[captainbellman]

Children being beaten bloody? = OK

People being stitched together and painted on? = OK (If Stupid)

A garish panto-villain personality with Leatherface's fashion sense killing people dressed up like bad cosplayers (aka some of the target audience), one by one? = OK! We LIKE Disrespecting The Fans!

The word "Ass"? = NO NO NO SCOTT THAT IS A NAUGHTY WORD WHAT ARE YOU DOING WON'T YOU *THINK* OF THE *CHILDREN*?!?!

[cyberghostface]

I didn't get that impression at all that they were insulting the fans with the people dressed up like Superman and Wonder Woman. Joker was trying to make a point how they were "unworthy" of being king or queen like Batman was (with the sword in the stone and all).

[cyberghostface]

I don't know, but there are double-standards like this in all forms of media.

Breaking Bad has children getting shot, bodies dissolved in acid and people getting half of their faces blown off in gory detail and the writers are allowed to have only aloud to have one f-word per season. And it's bleeped for television broadcast.

[zechs80]

Yeah that's kind of.. wrong. Even more so the Joker not even joking. I'm glad I ain't buying anymore DC comics. Even if I miss certain batches of characters. Almost glad they aren't around to be fodder.

[darkknightjrk]

Here's what I don't get--we have this twisted horror-tinged Batman story full of disturbing imagery and gore, with a villain who runs around wearing his OWN DECOMPOSING FACE...but if he says "ass," it has to be bleeped.

[aeka]

Yeah, no kidding. If Batman's own daughter is allowed to say the word 'ass' (among a few other colourful words in her vocab as of late), why can't Batman's greatest villain?

[viridian5]

And it's not even necessary. A properly emphasized "Now. Sit. Down." instead would've been fine, and we wouldn't be snickering at bleeping.

[aeka]

I was honestly expecting something huge to happen in a significant way this issue, given all the teases Snyder gave on his Twitter. Turns out the 'big thing' that happens was nothing more than an electric chair and the silver platter ending (which I assume all contain parts of Alfred).

I just hope that's one hell of a protective cowl Bruce is wearing or the electric jolts are being delivered at ridiculously small amounts. Something like this would do more than just cause his nose to bleed...

All in all, I thought it was an okay issue, but I don't feel like it lived up to all the hype.

[darkknightjrk]

Yeah, I thought it would be a lot more psychological (like the maze story in #5) or a LOT more gruesome than this. The two bits I did like were the first and last. The thing with all the inmates having to dance in sync or die sounds like something that Poe would write, and the last really had that mix of horror and absurdity that Joker typically works best in.

[darkknightjrk]

"I hope it's not one of Alfred's body parts..."

It can't be, and here's why: Penguin and Two-Face's shock at what's under it. Why would they care if some butler's head was on a plate? They would be expecting something like that from Joker.

The only thing I can think of that would warrant that reaction is something to do with their identities.

[cyberghostface]

Well it has to be something kind of gory because the plate's showed up in this week's other Bat-titles and the artists have drawn it with something dripping and attracting flies.

Batman's Face?

[blue_bolt]

Maybe he plans to wear Batman's face?

No wait that was Faceoff.
No wait, that was Hush.

[nyadnar17]

Has Two-Face done anything of note in the new 52? I ask because he is my favorite DC villain and he always seems to get the short end of the stick.

[zechs80]

Harvey has but they're both pretty forgettable. He showed up in Batman: The Dark Knight #1 as One-Face. ... Just don't ask. You'll be better off for it. The other was the mini stories in Detective Comics near the tail end of Tony Daniels' run or at least there was supposed to be ones. I don't know if those still happened. It's hard to tell when you see one thing and then find out that person was removed from the book.

[janegray]

Jason and Tim fighting side by side?

What issue did that happen in?

[mrstatham]

Looks to be happening as Red Hood/Teen Titans' issues during the crossover progress. In the last issue of TT, Roy and Kori turned up at the end.

[chrisdv]

It'd be hilarious if Joker had taken nude photos & those are what's on the tray, with his elaborate plan building up to Batman seeing them.

[walkingthroughforest]

I laughed for a solid ten minutes because of this post. Well done.

[chieflewal]

This is absurd. Even if Joker somehow Santa Claused his way around town getting to at least five different people in four different places in x time, DAMIEN AND JASON ARE TRAINED EFFING ASSASSINS!

It is long past time to admit that Joker is underqualified to be Batman's "greatest villain." He should be nowhere near this relevant, and it's all our fault for buying that he still is.

[indy2012]

So, Harley was brutalized, Ivy manipulated Clayface into being her bodyguard because she was afraid of Joker making his big comeback, and Eddy, Harvey, and Ozzie are standing next to Joker like old co-workers without a trace of intimidation.

Yep, the rogues are a boys' club again.

[bardbrain]

Four unorthodox predictions:

1) It's Jim Gordon's head. And they've been faking us out on future solicits.

2) It's (allegedly) the actual bat that inspired Bruce to become Batman.

3) It's the gun Joe Chill used to kill the Waynes. Still attached to Chill's hand. We've seen Bruce deal with using a gun in rare situations but using THE gun would be poetic. And a loaded gun with a severed hand attached would get a reaction from Penguin and Two-Face.

4) It's the Joker's own severed head. This guy is a REALLY GOOD copycat... and maybe sets up the idea that there's a network of Jokers, trading notes. It was one guy. But they started swapping intimate details, trade secrets, getting plastic surgery to be identical. Maybe that ties into why this version of the Joker sees family as a burden if he killed the other Jokers.

5) It's just a stack of tuna sandwiches.

[kenn_el]

It's waffles.