New Comics!: The Bat-Edition Addendum

Batman:  The Dark Knight #4:  Honestly, words fail me.  So, instead, let me use some of David Finch's words to sum up this issue:

"Treacherous fool!"  -- Ragman

"You need to make yourself presentable before I take you down to talk to Commissioner Gordon."  -- Batman (!)

"You stand against forces that you can't possibly understand."  -- Ragman

It's like Finch was so pressed for time he just threw every possible cliché at the plot and hoped for the best.  He wasn't even drawing this issue and, somehow, it's even worse than the others.  I mean, Batman is taking Dawn home so she can look "presentable" for the media?  I just...I mean...WTF?  I can barely even get to the plot, such as it is, because the script is so bad.  But, looking at the plot, we know that the girl we saw last issue is the daughter of a guy who works for Wayne Enterprises and is selling information to some (for lack of a better term) bad men, that Golden's father was some sort of demon worshiper, and that Ragman was, in fact, possessed by a demon who then possesses/empowers Etrigan.  Yup.  Still no fucking clue what's happening.  Finch essentially discards the only solid plot line we had -- that Killer Croc had kidnapped Golden -- by revealing that her kidnapping was totally random and more or less incidental to the overall plot.  (I'm not entirely sure how that jives with Penguin's involvement, since Penguin certainly implied that he was part of some larger scheme pertaining to Dawn.)  I could continue ranting, but I'll stop here.  I'm canceling this series.  I can't believe I've spent $11.96 on it over the last EIGHT months.

Detective Comics #880:  Holy fucking Christ.  I finished this issue realizing I hadn't breathed in, like, minutes.  I actually feel like even trying to review this issue is inappropriate, because this issue is such genius that I'm not going to be able to discuss it properly.  This issue is possibly the best single comic I've ever read.  Snyder weaves so much into it.  He gives us a totally insane Joker, something, honestly, I don't know if anyone's ever done, at least not to the extent shown here.  Maybe I'm just projecting, but, as Dick was approaching the room where the Joker was hiding, both Snyder and Jock managed to convey the tension -- and fear -- that must come with preparing to open a door and confront the Joker.  Moreover, even though Snyder brilliantly lets us know pretty much throughout the issue that it wasn't the Joker who attacked Barbara, Sr., my heart still sank when the Joker starts chanting, "It wasn't me."  Of course, it wasn't.  It was bat-shit crazy James Gordon, Jr.!  I mean, when was the last time you read a Bat-book and the Joker wasn't the most talented psychopath in it?

On top of all these amazing twists and turns, Snyder also manages to continue building on his excellent previous work of establishing the Commissioner/Dick relationship.  In fact, Gordon pretty much seems to be talking to Dick without any pretense of pretending he doesn't know he's Batman.  Similarly, in a great view from the other side, the Joker also knows that Dick is behind the mask, not Bruce (or, at least, Robin is behind the mask, not Batman).  These two conversations bookend the issue to great effect, establishing the sense of history -- of the entwined relationships of all the characters -- that propels this story.  One of the amazing aspects of what Snyder does here is that he actually uses the imminent reboot in his favor.  First, he has Joker hint at it, which I really just thought was awesome.  But, second, I really honestly have no idea what's going to happen.  I mean, James, Jr. could, I don't know, kill everyone, because the reboot could in theory wipe that story clean.  Unlike other series, where the authors seem to be phoning in the last pre-reboot issues, Snyder uses it to his advantage here and makes his already creepy story even creepier.  Just bravo, Scott Snyder.  Bra-freaking-vo.