BATMAN #13: EARLY REVIEWS

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Ryan K Lindsay had the great honor of reading BATMAN #13 and shared his insight with the crew at CBR this week.  His assertive comments makes my anxious self calm down a little, maybe this will not be a flop, but the beginning of a new chapter in Joker characterization and writing.

WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!                     WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

“Batman” #13 kicks off “Death of the Family” as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo introduce their take on the Joker. After a year’s absence from the DCU, the Clown Prince of Crime returns to bring his deadly humor to Gotham and the Bat family. Joker is the obvious choice for a Bat villain and most “Batman” creative teams take a shot at the character. With this weight behind them, Snyder and Capullo manage to craft an intensely horrifying and delightfully creative set up for an amazing Joker story.

The issue opens with a worried Jim Gordon, whose fears come to gruesome life when the Joker suddenly appears in Gotham City Police Department as the lights go out. Snyder’s densely structured action makes readers feel the palpable tension and violence of the moment. Pages run up to twelve panels to slow down each beat of the Joker’s maniacal plan within the darkness around Commissioner Gordon. Snyder emphasizes that while the Joker’s presence is one of brutal violence, the true underlying terror comes from knowing the psychological manner in which he destroys his victims. It’s a shiver-worthy moment when the Joker reveals how close he is to his marks.

Snyder offers a familiar and comfortable, yet completely new, take on the Joker and keeps the brutality on a high stakes level. The scene of the Joker on television re-enacting his first threat to Gotham is delivered in a terribly dastardly way — a testament to Snyder’s handle on the character’s voice.

Over the past year, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion have demonstrated their profiency in the world of Batman. Snyder’s story allows them to depict an even darker edge of Gotham and they bring the horror. Brilliantly, the art doesn’t try to revel in the goriness of the danger, but rather the underlying visceral horror of the mind. Capullo and Glapion give a peek at how the art team renders the standard Joker in an early panel, which makes the shocking reveal at the end all the more frightening.

The back up co-written by Snyder and James Tynion IV with Jock on art is superb. It’s difficult to compare a six-page tale to the 20-page main feature because each is structured to do something different. The bulk of this issue starts an arc and sets all the pieces in motion. The co-feature is like a deleted scene presented for more character background. It’s set between the raindrops of the main title, which means the reader knows what is going to play out, but the story is more about how it all takes place. “Tease” is about the Joker bringing Harley Quinn into his plan with a pace and razor edge tension that creates an example of a perfect back up. It adds more to the main tale while not being overtly necessary. This is a perfect vignette in every single way.

“Batman” #13 is the sort of introduction every story deserves. The Joker is dramatically presented and reintroduced across multiple scenes. Snyder and Capullo deliver some excellent sequences of terror that cut to the quick of the Joker as a real threat. Apart from a few slower pages, this issue zings along with threats and terrible moments of sheer glee at a villain being the worst. The Joker is out to kill the whole Bat family — and this issue makes it feel like he might be able to pull it off.

Man….I can’t wait to read this issue now!!

(Orignal aticle appeard in CBR HERE.  Pictures courtesy of Comicvine)

 

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Another great review from Newsarama’s own David Pepose adds to the anticipation of the release of BATMAN #13 tomorrow.  Check this one out…David gives it a 10 out of 10!!! I am intrigued indeed:

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s first arc was to bring back the Bat — to show that he was the top dog, the biggest badass of the DC Universe. By the end of “Night of the Owls,” that mission was handily accomplished. And now, for their second epic on Batman, Snyder and Capullo are upping the ante even further.

You can almost hear the sick chuckle. The Joker has returned to Gotham City — and like any good showman, his entrance is pitch-perfect.

While I enjoyed Scott Snyder’s plotting and pacing during “Night of the Owls,” there was always a part of me that felt that it was Greg Capullo that really made that story, that it was a hit more because of the stellar art rather than just the writing.

Well, Scott Snyder is making me eat my words right now — his Joker is downright terrifying, a monster in the shadows that very much evokes Heath Ledger’s guttural anarchist from The Dark Knight. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before!” Snyder’s Joker is a shark, a force of nature that by his very gravity pulls in the rest of the Batman family in his wake. For better or for worse, he is a member of Bruce Wayne’s nearest and dearest — in Snyder’s hands, the Joker gives everyone else context.

And that’s just the exposition. There’s plenty of suspense and action to this book, with Snyder and Greg Capullo really knocking it out of the park. I love the strobe effect Capullo works in as the Joker begins picking off victims in a darkened room. Capullo’s edgy lines also really bring up the heightened tension as Batman shouts his frustrations — and his fears — into the darkness. There is one moment near the end where the storytelling does take a hiccup, but a second reading will only heighten the danger Batman finds himself in.

Since the New 52, Batman has been blessed with an indomitable winning streak, thanks to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. But it’s even more exciting that this issue is their best one yet. The Clown Prince of Crime might be at his most murderous, but make no mistake — he’s going to put a smile on your face.

(Review originally appeared HERE)