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Batman: Death of the Family (DC Comics, 2011; #13-17)

  • After disappearing for a year, the Joker returns to Gotham to tell Batman an unpleasant truth, as only a court jester can:  that his teammates make him weak.
  • But Bats has nothing to worry about, becuase the Joker’s going to get rid of all of them so they won’t hold him back anymore.
  • Snyder leans into his talents as a horror writer to make a Batman story about the Caped Crusader doing his best to take on a slasher villain without blinking.
  • The ambiguity in whether the Joker is telling the truth about knowing the family’s secrets and whether Bruce is lying—to everyone else or to himself—drives Snyder’s story.
  • Capullo, Glapion, Jock, Plascencia, and Baron turn in beautiful, detailed, creepy pages that drip with atmosphere.

Snyder and Capullo’s Batman is some of the best Batman out there.

Collected in

  • Batman, Vol. 3: Death of the Family (#13-17)

Credits

Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV | Artists: Greg Capullo, Jonathon Glapion, Jock | Colorists: FCO Plascencia, Dave Baron | Letterers: Richard Starkings, Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt, Sal Cipriano, Taylor Esposito

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