Batman #25: The "knock knock"/"who's there" exchange between Riddler and Joker is the best panel arrangement I've seen since Capullo's upside-down maze in "Batman" #5. Something about the segue from Riddler on one side of the room on one page to Joker on the other side of the room in the next one is chilling. Both characters command their respective page, making you viscerally aware they're at war for the same space. The War of Jokes and Riddles, indeed. King and Janín work so well together throughout this issue to convey this message, to a chilling effect.
To start, King's Riddler is completely unhinged, but in a sane way. This dichotomy is most obvious in the way he escapes Arkham, methodically learning the names of the guards' daughters so they're too scared to stop him. If he hadn't just stabbed a detective 26 times to get his escape started, it might've otherwise seemed like an empty threat. When it comes to Joker, the art again supplements the script: Janín's Joker appears similar to his "Killing Joke" incarnation, a reminder of how dangerous he is (as if you needed one). In other words, before the two characters even meet, King and Janín make it clear we're dealing with the characters at their most lethal.
But, come together they do, as Riddler solves the puzzle Joker is leaving for Batman. He tells Joker he knows he can't laugh anymore, because punchlines require a lack of predictability and Batman has made Gotham all predictability. Similarly, Riddler doesn't enjoy his riddles anymore, because Batman is the riddle he can't solve. Riddler suggests they kill Batman together, because it's the only way they'll know satisfaction; otherwise, they'll burn Gotham to the ground as they try to stop the other one from killing him first. Joker agrees...and then shoots Riddler, hoping maybe it will make him laugh. (It's a shocking moment and another reminder he's not a more patient incarnation of his character.) Unfortunately, it doesn't make him laugh, and he leaves Riddler bleeding on the floor.
Batman arrive seconds later, and Riddler tells him Joker stole his bomb. Bruce leaves Edward to chase down Joker because, given the wound, he assumes Riddle will die shortly. He doesn't, for a reason King doesn't explain. It perhaps has something to do with his riddle at that moment: "The smartest man alive will always overlook one thing: his own nose." I'm not sure how it's connected to him surviving a point-blank gunshot, but it isn't just a random line: Joker had been drawing the image of a clown nose on the map of Gotham with his crimes.
Speaking of unsolved riddles, the joke Joker used to lead Batman to the office building where Riddler finds him was: "Why did six fear seven? Because seven ate nine." Joker is on the 78th floor, so I get that part. But, we're not told how Joker brought this joke to Bruce's attention. (Did it have something to do with the clown nose?) Plus, I'm not sure how six and nine play into it. I believe it has something to do with another riddle Riddler told: the password to a club isn't half the number the bouncer gives (in other words, five if the number is ten) but the number of letters in the word (three if the number is ten). I make note of these unsolved riddles (at least unsolved for me) because I feel like they might be relevant later.
As the story ends, we learn Bruce is telling this story to Selena as they lie in bed, confessing to her what he had to do during the War of Jokes and Riddles so that she'll truly know him before they get married. He implies it'll explain him even better than Alfred, Gordon, and the boys understand him. He tells her they misunderstand him as a guy with pain saving who he can; allegedly something about his behavior during the war shows this interpretation is wrong.
King is swinging for the fences here, and he makes you believe he can hit the home run. Something about this arc already seems epic, a character-defining story you'd think we couldn't see anymore in Batman. But, King has hinted throughout his run he's willing to do something no one else -- not Morrison, not Snyder -- has allowed Bruce to do: he's going to let him become a real boy. Bruce's confession about his past to Selena is part of his commitment to Selena, and it's what grounds this story. I can't wait to see where we go.
The Wild Storm #5: Zealot investigates Angela's base, discovering the remains of the IO Razor 3 team. She also encounters a "daemon" who looks like an extra from "Alien." It claims to be acting in a Watcher-type role and encourages her not to get involved with the important events unfolding. She doesn't believe it. It asks how she can have lived so long and understand so little before it disappears. (It seemingly puts her in the long-life club with Jacob Marlowe.) Meanwhile, Michael accepts Craven's offer to track down Angela to distract himself from his brain tumor. However, when he reads the hastily assembled file and watches the video recording of the Razor 3 team's engagement, he realizes she's a scared researcher in need of someone to listen. He asks Craven to rescind the order, but Craven refuses. Mike quits for fear he's suddenly discovered at the end of his life Craven has been playing him for years, and Craven essentially tells him he's not going to fund his treatment. Meanwhile, Void gets to Angela first, explaining her story in the hope Angela will trust her. She explains Skywatch controls everything that happens off Earth (as opposed to IO, which controls everything that happens on it) and tried to achieve interstellar travel by cutting into "underspace." (They called it "the Bleed," as if they were cutting below the surface of skin, where they hoped different physics would be at play.) All the crew died, including Adriana, but something that looks decidedly similar to a daemon saved her and returned her with her powers. Meanwhile, Christine Trelane arrives at Mike's apartment and offers him a job with "Executive Protection Services" as Craven's men knock on his door announcing they have his "effects."
Also Read: Nightwing #23
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