Batman/Superman #3 – He Who Laughs Lasts, Laughs Best

Much like “Dark Knights: Metal” and The Batman Who Laughs (TBMWL) miniseries, the corrupted Batman is always a mile ahead of his main universe counterpart and admittedly, it’s starting to become tedious and annoying (as if it weren’t already). I know that villains are supposed to stay one step ahead of the heroes to keep the plot moving forward, but this has been the main crux of the Dark Multiverse Batman since his inception. He’s playing fourth dimensional chess while regular Batman is playing with rocks.

Batman’s plan in the last issue was to infect Superman with the same Joker Toxin that Shazam was infected with and trick TBMWL into revealing who the Secret Six were. The Infected Batman knew this and said enough to anger Superman, exposing the trick and planting the seeds for Batman and the Man of Steel to fall into his next trap. They go after Jim Gordon, who they now know to be infected and after a fight (in which the awesome Batman Armor from DCYou makes a short return), Gordon is defeated and taken to the Fortress of Solitude.

Batman said that it was time that he stopped thinking like The Batman Who Laughs or even himself, but he forgot that TBMWL is the same as him. As soon the World’s Finest think they’re safe, Kelex is infected by none other than Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), the third of the Secret Six.

Thankfully, David Marquez’s art with Alejandro Sanchez’s colors were amazing as always. Marquez has an awesome eye for action as the fight between Batman, Superman and Gordon is an absolute joy to look at. He posing, the speed and even the weight felt from hits are amazing. Superman even utilizes his Freeze Breath, something I don’t think we’ve seen in a good LONG time. Gordon, even if he never had a chance, held his own against Batman for a little while and took a badass punch from Batman for it.