We have a lot to discuss, so let's just dive into it, shall we?
First, in case we had any doubt, Snyder establishes Joker's motive here quite clearly: he blames the Bat-family for distracting Batman, a realization that he made after Batman had trouble putting down the Court of Owls. Joker has come to the conclusion that he must eliminate the Bat-family so that Batman can become the "king" that he should rightfully be (in Joker's mind). Joker views himself as the "court jester," the one with the responsibility to deliver bad news to the king. It's a brilliant metaphor that Snyder takes even one step further in the secondary story, where Joker anoints Penguin as the "bishop" leading the flock of organized crime in a religion centered around the worship of Batman, the god-king. It's clear that Joker wants an angrier, more aggressive Batman, like the one that inspired the Tim Drake of the DCU to suggest that Batman needs a Robin in "A Lonely Place of Dying." But, the angrier, more aggressive Batman would present more of a challenge to Joker. so he's determined to get him. Although it's crazy, of course, it's exactly the sort of sane type of crazy that you expect of Joker.
The two most interesting mysteries left outstanding at this point are whether Joker really does know the Bat-family's secret identities and what secret Batman and he share. It seems entirely plausible that Joker knows his identity. Numerous authors have certainly hinted at it over the years (most recently, Scott Lobdell in "Red Hood and the Outlaws"). Maybe the old Joker would've purposefully kept himself ignorant of Batman's identity because it made it all the more fun, but this new Joker had decided that he needs to dispense with that luxury. The ends justify the means for him: he needs to know the Bat-family's identities so that he can kill them and get the Batman that he wants. It fits with the overall portrayal of this new Joker who's willing to bottom-line it. After, all, he didn't bother with the whole game of seeing if Batman would manage to save Gotham by preventing him from poisoning the water at the reservoir; he just decided to kill the victims that he would've claimed even if Batman had stopped him. He's dispensing with the usual song-and-dance, because the stakes, for him, are too high. Moreover, Snyder alludes to a previous scene from last issue to establish that Joker may well know their identities; in that issue, Joker told Detective Gordon about lying under his bed at night. Here, he tells us he knows what soap Dick uses. If he can lie under Gordon's bed, he can spend time in Dick's shower. It seems pretty clear that he knows.
But, Snyder also makes it clear that Batman doesn't think that he knows, and it seems to go to this "secret." Of course, the secret could just be that Joker managed to get Alfred; we establish that Bruce wants to keep it a secret early in the issue. But, it seems to be more than that. When Bruce tells Dick that he's sure that Joker doesn't know (despite kidnapping Alfred), Dick asks Bruce if he's not telling him something. It's this conversation that seems to establish that Batman and Joker share a deeper secret, one that, for whatever reason, would make Bruce sure that Joker doesn't know their identities, even if Joker claims that he does. Of course, Batman himself seems to have doubts, given that his assertion that Joker is lying on the bridge doesn't seem all that convincing. On one hand, I was annoyed at the idea that Bruce could be wrong about Joker, particularly after Snyder also showed him as wrong about the Court of Owls. After all, Snyder actually shows Bruce engaging in some excellent detective work in this issue, so it seems hard to believe that Bruce could be so wrong again. But, that's sort of Joker's point, isn't it? He's off his game. It's here where I really appreciated how brilliant Snyder is, because I found myself wondering if Joker maybe didn't have a point...
Looking at smaller moments, Snyder really excels in the conversation between Bruce and Dick about Alfred. Snyder has always understood Dick as serving as the person able to get Bruce to feel emotions, and we see it again here when he forces Bruce to drop the mask that he's barely able to maintain and talk about his concern over Alfred. Snyder also gives us the rare treat of seeing Bruce's real feelings; I can't remember Bruce ever speaking so clearly of Alfred as a father. He doesn't just do so explicitly, as he does when he says as much to Dick; but, he admits that he usually calls Alfred on his way to a battle not so much to discuss their plan but to get his reassurance. By drawing our attention to Alfred's silence, we, too, feel his absence. Finally, in terms of the script, I thought it was remarkable that Joker made Detective Gordon bleed because he's "a bleeder," bleeding for everyone around him. Joker is clearly going to have some cleverly similar devices to go after the Bat-family, and I shudder to think what they'll be.
Finally, Capullo was on fire in this issue. From the tape recorder that looked like Joker to Bruce's quiet walk through Wayne Mansion looking for Alfred to the denouement on the bridge, Capullo magnifies the tension that Snyder is pouring into this issue, making you feel more like you're watching a movie than you're reading a comic book.
This issue hearkens to "Batman" #5 and hopefully it doesn't represent the high point of the story, as that issue did, but the start of something amazing.
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