Comics Trey Didn't Buy Returns: Batman 13!

Editor's note: This review was supposed to be posted a while ago but I forgot to put the finishing touches on it.  My bad...anyways, better late than never!

Before we get into the review I know what you are all thinking.  “But Shaun, didn’t you declare you would not be buying anymore Scott Snyder Batman on FIGcast this summer?”  Yes, yes I did. But in a world where more pressing commitments exist i.e. marriage, job, family, bills, etc., dropping 3.99 on occasion to see what is happening in ye olde comic book is hardly acrimonious right? Perhaps the jury is deliberating as I type. 

In any case, Batman 13 begins the latest crossover event in the Batman Family a mere five months after the close of Night of the Owls.  I know us comic nerds bemoan crossovers as a principle, but the editors of DC know us better, we freaking buy the whole lot of them.  Prior to picking up this issue I reread Snyder’s 12 issues of the series.  It is strongly plotted, full of great character moments, and contains fantastic art by Greg Capullo, Rafeal Albuquerque, Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke.  In other words, I know why fans love this series.  I am on the fence as to the overall greatness of the title, but find myself unable to rant against it completely.

Issue 13 starts the much hyped Death of the Family storyline which features the return of the Joker after his face was cut off by the Dollmaker in last year’s Detective Comics 1.  If you love that new status quo for Joker’s face, good for you I guess.  If you don’t, well I suppose Capullo’s art could certainly make a case for the new design.  If a guy was truly wearing his own tanned face over a skinless exterior I am sure I would soil myself.  As for the plot of the issue, it was very generic.  Joker returns, kills some cops, confounds Batman as to his motives, and ends with a cliffhanger that promises one beloved character may have a compound fracture to the skull.  If the 24 issues involved in this crossover are any indication as to the nature of Joker’s plan I suspect it will be A Death in the Family in macrocosm.  Maybe Jason Todd will mercifully die again and an editorial moratorium will be placed on him. Here’s hoping!

Finally, the real standout of this issue is the 6 page backup story that takes place prior to the penultimate scene of the main story.  I find it comical that anyone (die-hard fan or not) would claim that Harley Quinn is an empowered female character.  Harley has always been shown to be at the mercy of her irrational love of Mr. J and this backup crafted by Snyder, Tynion IV and Jock demonstrates this creepy relationship in full.  There is just something truly frightening about the way Joker tells Harley to undress and she does it with sheepish approval.  Then Joker psychologically terrorizes her for his own amusement (the how I will not spoil). This is deft writing highlighting the Clown Prince of Crime’s sociopathic nature.  I may just have to stick around until Batman 17 for the conclusion of the storyline...oh comics, by bane.