With Batman still under the influence of Punchline’s toxin, Gotham further descends into chaos as new vigilantes emerge from the shadows. Spoilers for Batman #97 follow.
With the first two parts of “Joker War” in the bag and its momentum moving forward, it felt like Batman was going to be at the end of his tope in this issue. And well, he is. But this is Batman that we’re talking about, so just because he’s at the end of his rope, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a grappling hook in his back pocket. And that’s basically what this issue is, Batman beginning to claw his way back up from despondency, which is absolutely a good thing.
Seeing Batman at his lowest point is absolutely nothing new in the terms of the myriad of Batman stories that exist. Basically, every run by every writer that has written has done so. You want to know why though? Because that’s basic storytelling. It’s one of the first things that you learn in any writing class. What matters is how it’s handled and the reasons as to why the character is brought low. And, with why James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez are doing with this issue, and story, Batman being brought low once again is handled well.
Whereas previous issues have showcased what has brought Batman to his knees, we get to see the beginning of Bruce crawling his way back up out of the darkness. There’s so much in this issue that is patently ridiculous, such as Batman fighting zombies that are being controlled by nanites, but when you look a little bit underneath, you get to see the actual purpose of this issue. You get to see Batman starting to get some semblance of control back into his current life. It’s really well done and this issue provided the added benefit of seeing Harley giving Bruce that extra push he needed for his road to recovery.
We also get to see more of Punchline and Clownhunter in this issue as well. Punchline has quickly become a character that I am personally very interested in (and obviously DC is with a one-shot on its way) and she’s great in this issue. It’s not to feel like she’s playing her own game, separate from Joker’s even though they are seemingly on the same side. As for Clownhunter, we get to see him a bit more in this issue that we did last, but we still don’t know all that much about him. He’s intrigued enough right now, but not for much longer if he continues to be minimally used.
The pacing in this issue just feels a bit off as well. There’s very little consistency with the Batman focused action scenes being very fast-paced and impactful, while the Joker scenes leave a lot to be desired. Having different pacing between scenes can be done well, but it doesn’t really serve a purpose here, so that’s why it’s a bit annoying.
As for the art by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey, what’s to be said that hasn’t done so already. They are a phenomenal art team. Every single page in this issue is gold. From the creepiness of Punchline to the action-horror of Batman fighting zombies, to the odd sweetness of Harley in this issue, every page is beautiful to look at. Seriously, it’s like they can do no wrong whenever they’re working together. They somehow making Joker wearing gold chains, a fur coat, and a Daniel Craig in Casino Royale style swimsuit looks great. How did they do so? No idea, but they did it.
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