[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”21589″ img_size=”411×632″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The Batman Who Laughs #5 (2019)
Art by: Jock
Cover by: Jock
Coloring by: David Baron
Lettering by: Sal Cipriano
Variant cover by: Viktor Kalvachev
Written by: Scott Snyder
It’s a battle to the death as Batman goes head-to-head with the Grim Knight! The Caped Crusader is forced to not only fight off the evilest version of himself, but the growing desire to turn his back on his moral code and commit cold-blooded murder. Any other time, Batman would be able to stay on the straight and narrow, but as the Joker serum finally takes over his body, Bruce Wayne may just succumb to pure evil, and kill the Grim Knight. All of this is foreseen by the Batman Who Laughs, who has been planning for the corruption of Bruce Wayne, banking on him activating the “Last Laugh” protocol and turning Gotham City into an incubator for evil. All the Batman Who Laughs needs is one last “Happy Bruce” from another dimension to make his serum work…but only Batman knows where the last Bruce is going to show up.- DC Comics
This is one #$@!^% up Batman Storyline! You know how a lot of stories lack substance because it focuses more on the thrilling aspect of story making or a story focuses too much on the story and it just becomes boring? Well, this is not those types of stories! This is storytelling at its best and this is Batman at his most vulnerable, even more so than in Court of Owls storyline, which was a masterpiece on its own and if you think I am in love with Scott Snyder just wait until I talk about Jock art, Jenni Frison variant cover, Sal Cipriano Lettering, and David Baron Coloring.
We start off with Batman talking to the audience, about Gotham, about his father, and throughout this speech, you can tell that he is struggling to stay sane and this is thanks to Sal Cipriano, whenever Batman speaks you can sometimes see that a word or two becomes red this is hinting at Batman’s descent into madness becoming more and more like The Batman Who Laughs. Also, the way that Scott Snyder gives us hope at the end of the story Batman gives then instantly shatters that hope after the first page.
We have seen Batman disparate on multiple occasion but this the first time I believe this something he cannot overcome, The Batman who Laugh is always three steps ahead of Batman maybe even more. For me, The Batman Who Laughs is a villain I feel like is too smart and too strong for our protagonist to handle on his own. I’ve rarely felt that way in a comic book before. Every time Batman thinks he’s about to beat The Batman Who Laughs it honestly gives me hope for Batman then nothing, Batman is back to square one. It is frustrating but at the same time, it is exciting.
Everything Jock draws I honestly want to buy and frame it! This guy is up there with George Perez, Jack Kirby, and Neal Adams just to name a few. Jock has the horror aspect of Batman down pat and this is also thanks to Colorist David Baron every time we are in Batman’s perspective that the panel becomes all red. The teamwork between the artist just heightens this story tenfold. All I will say about this is that I really hope that these guys work together in future stories.
DC Comics have been killing with their latest titles, but this honestly might be one of my favorites so far, it is either this or Naomi. Anyway, please pick this up in your Local stores!
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DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future
