Written by John Layman
Art by Jason Fabok
Back-up art by Andy Clarke
Solicitation and Preview
Review
Oh, you want a Bat-book that ties into the Death of the Family books but didn't have Joker appear in the book at all yet still rock to the standards of the main story?
Bat-book quest resolved!
This book does a couple of cool things I was interested in. It used a lot of the Penguin background characters from earlier issues as a back drop for what was going on in this issue. It also featured a bunch of crazed people going haywire now that Joker was back in the public eye. They are all no-name characters that are all influenced by the craziness that is Joker, each group intent on howling praise or worship to him in some fanatical sense.
There is also some sadness here as one devotee takes it a bit too far. Batman's characterization of the throw-away character is spot on. In fact, most of Batman's narration through the book channels the mood for the issue perfectly. Batman has prepared for all of this chaos, but he doesn't have time for it.
The art continues to be consistent and shine through the main story and the back up. We get to see a new villain in this issue called the Merrymaker. I mention him here because the look he has reminds me of the Tally Man from Batman comics years ago, but with a realistic look that is Fabok's style.
Emperor Penguin continues his climb up the ranks of Gotham's criminal elite. My hope is that when he and Batman finally come face to face, if they do at all, then Batman is going to read Emperor Penguin's biography to him and throw one punch that will knock Emperor out, thus ruining Ogilvy's rise to the top of the criminal underworld.
I'll give Ogilvy this: he is smart to use the Joker backdrop to advance his own work. And here I thought that the Death of the Family tie in to the book so quick after Layman starts up would ruin things. Layman got quite creative with incorporating the elements from the main story and the crossover.
Grades
Words: 8/10
Pictures: 8/10 - I get the style for both artists and it is very good work, I want to see them step out of their element sometime soon and really deliver something that will hit the reader.
Buy Next Issue: Shut up and take my money!
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