Batman #37 Review

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 17, 2014

The Joke is Over

The question isn't if Joker's back, but which Joker has returned to torment Batman.  After the first few pages of this issue, you can tell that this is not a happy Joker.  The Joker that played the little face game with Batman in Death of the Family is gone and replaced by a vengeful psychopath.  Last issue, the Joker started his new game by pulling the rug from under Batman with the revelation that his been right under his nose all along.  If Bruce was shocked, he had to snap out of it quickly because the Joker has unleashed a new Toxin on Gotham and has turned it into a living hell.



Scott Snyder created an awesome new villain in the Court of the Owls and fashioned a fresh take on Batman's origin in Zero Year, but he seems to save his best for the Joker.  It's no surprise, Joker is Batman's greatest villain and Snyder takes care to prove it to the reader every chance he can.  In Death of the Family, the Joker went for those close to Batman, this time he appears to be going for the jugular...Gotham.

While Bruce struggles to find the antidote for this new Joker Toxin, all of Gotham is infected.  Well, almost everyone.  Julia and Alfred are helping Bruce while Commissioner Gordon is holed up and in contact.  Batman must head to ground zero to find a cure, but when he gets there, the Joker has set up a nightmare for him.  Seriously, this is so far from the Death of the Family Joker who wanted to make Batman better.  This Joker wants to break the Bat.

Meanwhile, Gordon runs into problems of his own and they are more of the personal, face-to-face variety.  While the Joker makes a couple jokes, he's not there to be funny. Gordon tries his best and even seems to best Joker, but after this scene, I'm not even sure this Joker is of this Earth.  The cliffhanger has Joker on top of the game and I'm very worried for Gordon and all of Gotham.

Scott Snyder likes to take his time and this issue is more setup than what I was hoping this early in the arc.  However, I really enjoyed it.  It has a dream-like (or nightmare-like) quality to it and it's always cool to see batman thrown off his game.  Of course, when Joker is involved, it's hard to know what that "game" is.

Greg Capullo nails the art as usual.  Seriously, it's getting hard to come up with accolades each month for the art in this book. FCO Plascencia's colors combine with the art to make this the best looking book on the shelf today.

Bits and Pieces:

Batman #37 shows that the Joker is back and has changed up his game.  He has turned Gotham into his own private nightmare and Batman seems to have no solution.  Scott Snyder gives the reader a bit of setup, but it's so intriguing that you won't mind. Greg Capullo and FCO Plascencia make everything look great.  This arc is turning into something special.

9.0/10