Part six of “Joker War” is here, and James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey and the rest of the creative team have pulled out all the stops to deliver a high octane explosion of a conclusion. Fans of the Bat Family will be very excited to see members from the cover to the inner pages working together to take back Gotham City. The story does a great job of concluding this new feud between Batman and the Joker, but sadly hints of the status quo are there.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Batman #100!
Jorge Jimenez does a fantastic job bringing together so many members of the Bat Family and making them look iconic and heroic. It was nice to see the Signal, Spoiler, Orphan, and Huntress stepping up to save Gotham and being represented as members of the larger group. One thing I disliked about the New 52 was the streamlining of hero groups to just the main hero and a couple of supporting characters. Now, we get all of them back and it feels epic again. When Jorge draws Barbara Gordon removing her cowl and putting on the glasses and exclaiming Oracle is back online, I had chills. What a moment!
Not to outshine Barbara, but we also get the big moment all “Wingnuts” have been waiting for: Nightwing back in action! It was so great to see Dick and Babs talking again and it really took me back, so thank you Tynion for that moment. Speaking of character bits, Harvey Bullock got a great one when he was faced with doing his job vs doing what is right. Jorge draws a panel where you see Bullock bringing his hat down where you can sense the tension going on inside Bullock. Then, Tynion pulls the moment even deeper by having Bullock throw his gun and badge down and ask the rest of the police if they want to “be a cop in this crooked city, or do you want to do what’s right?”
When I look outside the main event of Batman vs. Joker in this issue, I have to say that James Tynion IV brings up an interesting set of questions. Why would you believe in Batman and Gotham City after they have failed so many times? Why hasn’t Batman put a stop to the Joker? What would it take for Batman to finally stop the Joker for good? This arc definitely serves to set up for more of Tynion’s run in the future issues.
I am very interested in the fallout of the Joker War more than the actual conclusion, which was like most Batman vs. Joker fights. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork is amazing, but how many times have we seen the Joker in a dire situation, only for the status quo to save the day? However, Tynion did do something a bit different in how he ended this issue by letting us know for sure that Joker is alive and has plans for the future. This does a great job of piquing my interest to stay on Batman books just to see the fallout and what is going on next for Gotham and its heroes.
This was a great story arc as a whole that really pressed Batman and his family against the wall with some impossible odds, but in the end it healed the family. The conclusion was reasonable, but I am excited for future issues and what will happen next for Gotham, Joker, Punchline, and Clownhunter.
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