The Batman Who Laughs #2
Robert Struble
Recap
Even as Batman struggles to resist the Joker’s toxin, Alfred struggles to save the Joker’s life, another Bruce Wayne shows up dead. The investigation into this leads back to a secret Batman has kept, a failsafe to protect Gotham City against the Joker’s toxins.
Unfortunately, this world is all too similar to the Batman Who Laugh’s nightmare world and he’s well aware of the failsafe and takes steps against it. Batman tries to intervene, but BWL has kept someone in reserve: the Grim Knight.
Review
My first encounter with Snyder’s work was through the Metal miniseries. It was there I learned what Snyder does best. He knows how to write hopelessness. He knows how to convey hopelessness. That deep pit of despair you never think you can climb out of.
And this is where he takes us, deeper into that pit. With Metal (and with current Justice League) it was spread throughout the entire League. The focus was divided.
But here, it’s not just the horror that Batman must face.
It’s that he must face it alone.
Snyder is assisted by some absolutely amazing art by Jock, deep shadows and intricate facial expressions, conveying the terror better than any other artist probably could. Jock’s art combined with Baron’s colors give a mood that you normally don’t see in a super hero book.
But this really isn’t a super hero book, is it. It’s a horror story, through and through.
And yet, don’t think that Snyder doesn’t have something up his sleeve. He showed us in Metal that he can make us completely lose hope that our hero will win, but somehow Batman will turn it around.
The only question is, what will he lose in the process?
The other question is, with so many dead Bruce Waynes, why can no one put two and two together?
Final Thoughts
This is Snyder at what he does best. It’s such a dark and moody and downright frightening book. Given the fantastic art from Jock and the amazing colors from David Baron, this might be my favorite tale from Scott Snyder yet.
The Batman Who Laughs #2: No Wayne Out
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
