After his escape from Arkham Asylum, Joker is on another killing spree and Batman must find him before more lives are lost. Before long though, Batman’s psychological trauma rears its ugly head. Spoilers for Batman: The Smile Killer #1 follow.
Serving as a sequel to Joker: Killer Smile, it was really unclear as to what Batman: The Smile Killer was going to be about. It’s a one-shot in the same universe as Killer Smile, but other than that, the plot was relatively unknown. Now, after reading it twice, it’s pretty easy to understand what The Smile Killer is. It’s Killer Smile just with Batman as its subject rather than Doctor Arnell. One might think this would cause this issue to become stale, but rather the opposite is true, it becomes a fantastic psychological thriller that is just as good as Joker: Killer Smile.
To be perfectly honest, I had to read this twice for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t know if I liked it or not the first time I read it. And second, which ties into the first, was that I wasn’t really sure that I understood what was happening in it. It definitely warranted an additional immediate read and, after reading it for the second time, the high. quality of the book and what it’s attempting to do is very apparent.
This issue very much falls within the realm of a psychological thriller and this is apparent very early. There’s a sense of uncertainty about what’s happening even though you feel like you should know what’s actually happening. But when the issue makes Bruce Wayne, the viewpoint character, seemingly crazy, then that makes you question what you’re reading. It makes you ask, “Is everything I know about Batman wrong?” just as Bruce is questioning the seeming reality he is currently in.
Going even further than that, the issue never gives you a straight answer. It never comes right out and says what’s real and what’s not or even why Batman might possibly be hallucinating. It just shows certain things and allows you to put together the pieces on your own. This could very much lead to drastically different interpretations, but that’s absolutely ok for an issue like this. In fact, it’s part of the appeal. These different interpretations are exactly what psychological thrillers are supposed to do.
One of the biggest reasons for the effectiveness of this issue though is Andrea Sorrentino’s art. He’s phenomenal at playing with the 2D space of a comic page and bending it into something that makes you question what you’re reading (see: Gideon Falls). He does this exceptionally well with issues just with his layouts, which are very creative and provide an off-putting feeling while reading. Plus, his ability to convey minute facial expressions in incredibly realistic detail without every losing his style is astounding and helps provide the story extra meaning and impact.
On top of the great pencil and inking, Jordie Bellaire’s colors are phenomenal in providing another layer of dread to this issue. The palette for most of the issues is very limited, but this feels by design. The coloring approach to this seems to evoke the maximum amount of unease that is possible and Bellaire does so wonderfully.