BATMAN #16 REVIEW: CASTLE OF CARDS

Batman, the Bat King has returned to his Arkham castle and Joker has some special surprises for him in store. See the breakdown of Batman #16, click the jump to see.

PLOT: “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” continues! Batman heads into his showdown with The Joker as the madman’s plan is finally revealed – in Arkham Asylum! It all lead’s into next month’s terrifying conclusion! And in the backup story, in the midst of The Joker’s assault on Batman and his allies, get a secret glimpse into what started The Crown Prince of Crime on his horrifying journey!

REATION: Castle of Cards

I haven’t been as flabbergasted by “Death of the Family” as some readers. The story has its problems with overexposed and formulaic crossovers; also not to mention a Joker who can apparently do anything he wants whenever he wants. However, the core story has been a heck of a ride with brilliant art, solid story, creepiness galore, a couple intriguing mysteries, strong dialogue, cool aesthetics, clever themes, and fitting dialogue. On the list of awesome Joker stories, I’m not sure this one will end up at the top, but unless Snyder really bungles the story in the last act of “Death of the Family;” it will make for a great addition to the Joker collection.

In addition to being just another part of a very good story, I expect this issue might have a big revelation. We know that “Death of the Family” ends in the next issue (Issue #17), so if Joker really does know Batman’s secret identity, the end of this issue would be the place to reveal it. If Snyder reveals it any later, it would give Batman and the crossovers no time to explore the consequences. If Joker knows, we will know by the end of this issue. Does Batman #16 make our deepest nightmares come true, or does Joker’s hell house of horror fail to deliver on promised dread?

In this issue, Batman makes his way through Joker’s labyrinth.

SPOILERS BELOW.

And Arkham Is…

Reading various commentaries on the last issue, there were a lot of speculation on what motif Joker might use for his takeover of Arkham Asylum. Would it be a mad house or a slaughter house? Would it be a family dinner, a dance, or a wedding?

Well, Joker decided to stick with the theme of Batman as the Bat King. For this reason, Arkham is Batman’s castle fully stocked with knights, horses, and generally medieval decorations. The aesthetics work well for the most part; I especially liked it, though it took me awhile to decipher the equipment. How Joker gave the inmates the guards’ riot gear for a cool knight aesthetic. The classic rogues’ gallery is bought to the forefront in this issue and given a “Dark Age” makeover of sorts. The way the different villains figure into the Bat King mythology is rather clever. I was a bit confused on the Dollmaker’s tapestry. Specifically, where did that skin come from and what the heck did Joker mean by, “I thought dead would be better, but he put tubes in the stomach and voila?”

Altogether, the set pieces for this issue are brilliant. There are a few nods to classic Joker story lines, (it looks like Joker still killed Sarah-Essen) and every aspect of Joker’s setup shows ridiculous amounts of planning on his part to make everything perfect for Batman.

Capullo Deserves a Medal

Though I enjoy Snyder’s writing, I think the art is what really makes Snyder’s run so good at least in “Death of the Family.” The visual design for this issue is simply brilliant with too many interesting elements to even really do justice in this review. To name a few, Joker’s face is hideous and continues to morph into slight variations which somehow manage to be increasingly disturbing. Joker’s face is most definitely rotting and attracting flies, and quite frankly, my strong stomach is getting a little queasy from it. There are many striking images using horses. Horses are being disposed of in grisly ways throughout this issue in which, still manages to be quite entertaining. The dancing scene, the play of darkness and light, and the spreads are all quite memorable.

My only concern is that I do not want every arc of Batman to be so grisly and dark. I hope that after “Death of the Family” concludes, the Riddler arc will be significantly less blood thirsty.

The Strain

This is a brief thought, but it deserves mentioning. We can really see Batman fraying at the edges in this issue. If I had to pick a conclusion to this arc right now, I would guess that Joker is going to manipulate Bruce into breaking things off with the family because it stresses him out too much. The plot certainly seems to be setting up for Bruce to become more and more overwhelmed by the constant nagging concern for his family’s safety.

The Death

No, there is no big revelation of a death in this issue at least not explicitly, but there is a big hint at the end of the issue that indicates somebody might be croaking. If you do not get the hint, then read in the New Testament about the death of John the Baptist. Joker is apparently using a somewhat established trope with the platter. My best guess is that Damian dies, but who knows? It could be a red herring.

The Bads

This issue really disappointed me in many ways, and I’m just going to list them all. I’m going to talk about some scenes in detail, but I will throw up a SPOILER WARNING before those scenes that occur halfway through the book.

1. I’m pretty sure it would be impossible to dance for days.

2. How does Batman recognize guards who are wearing masks and makeup?

3. Batman manages to break a dozen panes of what should be difficult to break glass and insert several mystery spheres into each cell in what appears to be a few seconds.

4. The guards could all save themselves from death, at least temporarily, by climbing on to the fence, yet they wait to die.

5. Batman carries water absorbing spheres as standard gear on his belt. Either that, or he knew that Joker would have this exact trap set up for him. I presume water absorbing spheres are located right next to the bat shark repellent.

6. Given the size of the spheres and the number used, every pouch on Batman’s belt would have to be carrying the water absorbers.

7. There is a disappearing, flaming horse. It’s cool, but it makes no sense.

8. Batman survives a fight with fifty-five inmates carrying flaming clubs and two evil horses who surround him then attack simultaneously. It was awesome but completely ridiculous.

9. Hitting a plastic riot gear helmet with a plastic riot gear shield causes the helmet to shatter. (page 8, panel 5)

10. The “tubes in stomachs” line.

11. Scratch point ten. I finally figured out those skins are live people. Ew.

12. Mr. Freeze still has a mohawk.

13. Batman has a poker chip that will burn through Mr. Freeze’s suit if he moves. Please explain.

(Spoilers)

14. Despite the bat spheres and poker chip, Bats still had room on his belt for a taser.

15. “Superman” and “Wonder Woman” kill themselves even though help is seconds away.

16. Joker is always giving orders to people and requiring their help for his plans even though no miscellaneous characters are ever around.

17. Batman sees images of his allies apparently defeated. He immediately surrenders because Joker could not possibly have taken pictures that make things look worse than they actually are and no hero has ever been knocked unconscious only to revive and win the day.

18. Batman realizes that the only way to save his family from the murderous, sociopath master planner is to go along with the sociopaths master plan.

19. Batman allows himself to be potentially executed because his family had bad pictures taken of them.

20. “Wonder Woman,” “Flash,” and “Green Lantern” magically disappear between the main story and backup feature.

Judgment

The backup feature is short but pretty sweet. It is not overly deep, but it shows that Joker is the best of Batman’s rogue gallery. It’s short, clever, and reminds you of why you simultaneously hate Joker yet find yourself kind of rooting for him.

Conclusion 7/10

Batman#16 contains excellent set pieces, gorgeous art, and a lot of clever elements, but some very sloppy oversights drag this issue down. It’s like an issue of “Burts All Flavor Beans” with some cherry flavoring and some vomit, and altogether, it is just an average issue.