Huh. Snyder and Tynion turn their attention from the upcoming gang-war in Gotham to the other sub-plots running through this series. But, since they're juggling so many balls here, they don't really get to focus on any one sub-plot for too long.
First, the denizens of Arkham Asylum overwhelm Batwing and Jim Corrigan. Mister Bygone captures Corrigan, and he seems to be responsible for the creepiness. As such, it's unclear what role the Joker's Daughter is actually playing at Arkham, though she seems to think that she's working for her "father." (Also, she captures Batwing.) Meanwhile, Tim confronts Harper and tells her to stay in his plane while he follows the trail of the nanobots infecting her brother. Notably, she debuts a make-shift blue mask here, setting up her eventual debut (as we know from "Batman" #28) as Bluebird. Next, Batgirl and Jason discover that Batwoman is also on the trail of the guy who framed Commissioner Gordon, though she doesn't really tell us why she "took an interest" in the case. This part feels particularly ham-fisted, reflecting a need to shoe-horn Kate somewhere into the Bat-family story. Finally, we briefly see Batman as he congratulates Bard for his work not only capturing gang members on his own, but also making sure that the guys that Batman captures stay captured. This development left me confused, since the last time Batman engaged with Bard he refused to work with him due to his questionable methods. Here, Bruce notes that Bard is doing everything by the book, and I think that their handshake implies that Bruce has decided to trust him. But, it feels a little overly convenient, since we never actually see Bard change his methods; Bruce just tells us that he has.
In other words, meh. With two plot twists (Batwoman's arrival in the series and Batman's acceptance of Bard) feeling unjustified, it's hard to recommend this issue. We're mostly just treading water. Honestly, you could probably skip it and not be too lost picking up issue #16.
** (two of five stars)
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