Joker and The Riddler have caused a lot of damage with their “war”, and Batman has had enough of it for a while now. The Caped hero tries a different method to finish the brutal battle between villains, will it work? Let’s find out.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Batman loses the costume this issue and decides to try to solve everything as Bruce Wayne. The whole issue is a tense dinner scene featuring all of the villains that have participated in this war, and it’s pretty crazy. Is it believable? Not really. To me anyways, but it doesn’t stop you from enjoying this exciting chapter in the “The War of Jokes and Riddles”.

If there’s one thing you could say about King’s run on The Batman, it’s that has his own unique take the characters and story. He writes the Joker and Riddler in a specific way, both obviously evil but you can see human behind it all. There’s a certain amount of humanity shown in these characters and I really like how he gets into the psychological aspects of things. That’s what this story is really. It’s not entirely about how one character can fight the other, it’s a how they can manipulate or trick their way into getting what’s wanted.

This is all a psychological war, and this issue proves that entirely. We don’t get to see any action this time around, it takes place completely in Wayne Manor. It’s personal. We see a man trying to take down the villains using only his wits and intelligence, and we can only hope it works out. I doubt it immensely though, as we know that the story ends with something that Batman will never forget about.

Let’s take a second here praise the art once again for what seems like the 29th time. Mikel Janin is becoming one of my favorite Batman artists. He knows how to reach a certain depth with the characters and it makes you feel more immersed into the story. The faces they make are detailed and showcase a specific personality. In any scene, you have a good guess on what they’re thinking just by looking at their face. I love how he illustrates the Joker here, always looking like he’s in a bad mood but willing to laugh.  Riddler just looks smart and evil, you know he’ll back stab you if you put any trust in him.

Overall, this is another stunning chapter in the flashback storyline featuring Gotham’s greatest villains. This issue was short, and I would’ve liked to see more. I feel like one or two pages more would have sealed the deal for me to give it a perfect rating. It’s not clear how this story-line will end but you can bet I’ll be reading until the very last page…

Rating: 9/10

– Marcos Melendez