Batman #37 Review

Let’s put a smile on your face....

One of the most frightening things about the Joker has been that his ongoing feud with Batman was just a love affair; it never was about killing the other. But one can only take that much heartbreak.

Even then, it doesn’t feel like he’s going to let Bruce go that easily. First, Gotham goes – and when Batman’s world burns, then it will be right for him to die.

Snyder portrays Joker as something ephemeral – one is yet to know how he is back, how he took out the League and whether his story of continuous resurrection has any truth to it.

And Capullo really brings in the horror vibe, inspired by various famous films of that genre.

SPOILERS FOLLOW........................

Bruce isn’t dead. Of course, you know that! I don’t especially like fake outs and didn’t like it here.

But the monologue highlighting Bruce’s internal struggle is one of Snyder’s strength. You can feel him struggling and trying to use every ounce of strength to save the city, to be the legend he inspires to be – only to wake up to a failed effort from Alfred and Julia to stop the toxin from going viral.

Apparently this is a new mutated toxin, with no previous antitoxin proving to have any effect. Not only that, there are no clues left. Joker doesn’t want Bruce to stop him this time; he just wants him to stop.

The entire city of Gotham has been exposed to the toxin, leaving things tense. Commissioner Gordon is one of the few left who are not exposed. But things are not that good, with the rest of the station all jokerized (including Harvey Bullock).

Bruce manages to reach Gotham Presbyterian, where the first case was detected. It’s a long shot to hope that Patient Zero is still there, but it’s the only hope Batman has of stopping this from spreading.

Gordon mentions that the army is considering putting up a quarantine zone around Gotham, when he is interrupted by his own investigations into the hospital’s history. In true Ring fashion, Joker’s face starts appearing in every picture he sees – even ones from a century ago.

As he sees a whitened hand next to the bed of his children on the day when they got their tonsils out, a noise from the closet brings him on his knees when on opening it, he is knocked down by a boxing glove spring.

This continuous scene rises to a crescendo when the Joker comes out from under Gordon’s bed. A confrontation occurs, while Batman witnesses a horrific retelling of his own tragic origins complete with a jokerized Joe Chill.

Even as Batman manages to stop Joe from being forced to recreate that night, Gordon manages to get a shot in to fell the Joker. Gordon talks with Batman, breaking out in relief, when we see the Joker get up and apparently takes out Jim – before calling Batman ‘Bruce’.

It seems Joker is doing something he never did before – delving deep into Batman’s reason for being. Before, it was all about having someone to ‘play’ with; someone who made the joke that is life funny.

Now, he’s extending beyond it. In Death of the Family, it was about making Batman his. This time seems to be leaving Bruce with nothing so that the Joker becomes the automatic option.

In the back-up (well drawn by John McCrea), Dr Maureen Zaheer is going insane and lamenting her own desire to know the Joker through the crazy inmates now that she’s in the middle of a mass attack from Jokerized citizens.

It’s so ironic that Eric Border aka the Joker himself helped set her on this path.

One of the inmates, Morton, now relates his story. When he was young, he was told a story by his mother after playing one gag too many. In that story, Gotham was a very sad place and a mysterious clown came and made them laugh so hard it killed them – in turn the people on Gotham burnt him to death. Since that time, an unwritten rule for Gotham has been ‘no clowns’.

This left Morton broken and when he saw a stand-up comic, he strangled him trying to stop the laughs.

But the Joker visited him and told him that every little laughter made him stronger – and Morton is afraid that when he was young and joyful, he contributed to his strength. Dr Zaheer is then taken by the inmates into the sewers, with the Joker apparently watching from above.

This ‘no more clowns’ thing has been a staple of Batman comics for a long time, mainly because of Joker’s brutal actions – the fact that Gotham itself was like that is an interesting thought. What is laughter? Is it nonsensical noise, brought about by joy? Or something more sinister? What is a maniacal laugh? Those are all interesting questions that I hope Snyder addresses in the near future.

SPOILERS END.........................

Snyder and Capullo continue to delve deep into Batman and Joker’s respective association with Gotham and bring out nuggets of importance.

Getting into Bruce’s head is something that Snyder does brilliantly, and Capullo brings an effective horror vibe to the story.

So, I give it 9.0 out of 10.

+Some great inner monologues

+The homage to horror films

+Some frightening visuals

+Interesting themes

+Jim Gordon gets some excellent focus

-The cliffhangers are getting a little contrived