Batman #143 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Giuseppe Camuncoli/Stefano Nesi, Andrea Sorrentino, Artists; Alejandro Sanchez, Dave Stewart, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Chip Zdarsky has been blowing away audiences with his bizarre, surreal Bat-run since the start, but this current Joker arc may just be the crown jewel. Taking place in the far past and the far future, it creates what might be the most ambitious Joker tale since Scott Snyder’s run. In the past segment, drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli, we see how Joker goes from a shell-shocked criminal to a sadistic mastermind—with the help of a character I never expected to see again, Daniel Capito. This twisted mental mastermind made his debut in Batman: the Knight, and was the only teacher Bruce rejected. He wants to prove himself Bruce’s superior, and he finds his perfect student in Joker. This story not only has some fascinating ties to the Three Jokers concept, but may hint at the true origins of Zur, one of the main villains of the run. And it all builds to a great last-act twist.
But as good as this segment is, it still pales in comparison to the terrifying segments drawn by Andrea Sorrentino, comics’ very own master of horror. Set in the future, it shows us a terrifying Gotham where Joker’s madness has gone airborne and infected countless citizens—including some of Batman’s closest allies. There’s only one person who may be able to solve the crisis—Joker, now a shriveled old man who Batman has captured as they make their way through the wasteland. Brilliantly tense and chilling in places, it does an amazing job of turning Joker back from being a routine supervillain into being a nightmarish force of nature. The character has never had a definitive origin, and while this seems to be leaning on the story from The Killing Joke, it does a better job than we’ve ever seen of truly making Joker feel like a threat that could go toe to toe with the entire DCU.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
