Batman must do the unthinkable: He must save the Joker’s life. But the Joker has done so much horror over the years, there are members of Batman’s own family who will not look kindly upon this. Batman #159 is written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams, colored by Alex Sinclair and lettered by Richard Starkings.
Matt Lazorwitz: Well, we’re back with “H2SH” this week. After this, I’m looking forward to getting back to the old roundup format next week and catching up with some better comics.
Yes, I’m spoiling it right here: We did not like this comic.
Will Nevin: I found out this week that I have a stress fracture in my right femur. I would gladly read this comic again before getting an additional stress fracture in my left femur. That’s the nicest thing I can say about it. The second nicest thing is that there’s no Hush. I was a big fan of that.
But I was happy to plow through this if it means we get back to Dark Patterns next week.
H2SH: 2 Hood 2 Furious
Matt: I honestly don’t know if there’s enough that happens in this comic for us to give it a full review. There is nothing here that we haven’t seen done and done better. We commented on this in the first part of this story, but it becomes even more clear here.
Will: Of what it could be, is this not the very laziest version of itself? There’s no depth, no reflection, no analysis of any theme that it’s retreading. None of this is surprising or interesting. But the shocking thing — the positively amazing thing — is that the art (at least in this issue) is a big *mouth fart noise*. The scenes in the clinic? That coloring made me sad. And the Riddler redesign looks fuckin’ stupid.
Matt: Oh my God, that is a ridiculous look. They got rid of everything that looks good in a Riddler costume, the faux elegance of the suit, bowler hat and cane, but they kept those stupid giant mutton chops.
But the art in general, I completely agree with. This isn’t Lee at his best. It’s just very flat and dull, which describes everything about this comic. And when a Pollyanna like me is coming down that hard, you know we’re in deep water here.
Will: Don’t be so mean to yourself, Matt. You do a better job of most in trying to see the inherent good in whatever project is in front of you. There might not be much good there, but by god, you’re going to find the pony under all of that shit. In general, this story feels so detached and free floating from anything we’ve seen in the last 10 years. Would it surprise you at all if Loeb said “to hell with it” and Alfred popped up in the cave the next time out? Somehow, this has pulled off the masterstroke of being both timeless and incredibly dated.
Matt: I would be disappointed, but not surprised. This does indeed feel like it could take place at any point after “Hush.” The only indicator of anything after “Under the Red Hood” is Barbara not being in her wheelchair, but she’s in her Batgirl costume, which she wears very infrequently now; it’s happened a couple times in the current volume of Birds of Prey, but mostly Cass or Steph are Batgirl now. And why is she in full costume in her own base of operations when Riddler already knows her identity? Sure, Nightwing shows up in costume from patrol, I get. But why is Babs in costume at home, other than Lee wants to draw her in costume?
Will: What do you think is the last Batman comic Jeph Loeb read and liked that he didn’t write?
Matt: I am not going to judge that, because there is literally no evidence of anything here beyond the beginning of the New 52 where Barbara’s mobility was restored. We have no indications of any of the work Paul Dini did with Hush, or any of the New 52/Rebirth appearances. Jason has lost ALL the character development he has been through since he first reappeared. If you told me this was Jason’s first story after “Under the Hood,” I would not be shocked. How many times have we seen Jason furious about Batman not killing or saving the Joker? This isn’t the first time this has happened since Jason came back. It’s just reheated and frustrating.
Will: Not a good time to be a Jason Todd fan! And here’s another weird thing about this issue: There’s not a single lick of Hush. None. I mean, not that I mind.
Matt: Nope. His plan seems to be to get the whole Bat family to turn on Batman because he saved the Joker. Again, not the first time this has happened.
What felt like the biggest waste of time here was Leslie Thompkins, and I don’t say this just as a huge fan of that character. Leslie provides the voice of compassion and non-violence in the Batman world. You have Batman bring the Joker to her to save his life. And other than her scolding him about not bringing Joker to a fully equipped hospital and then saying she can’t keep Joker in the clinic? They don’t talk about anything.
This is an opportunity for Leslie to talk to Bruce about his pledge to never kill. About what the Joker means when it comes to that. For him to not just narrate his thoughts, or shout them at Jason, but to have a discussion of what the One Rule means. But this comic isn’t interested in those nuances, is it?
Will: This comic is all gas and no brakes, where “gas” is “brooding narration” and “brakes” is character development.
Matt: I am going to bring up two more problems I had with it, and then I am going to stop.
Will: You guys have made Matt sad and cranky. That takes effort.
Matt: Problem one is the pacing. You mentioned it: There is no Hush here. Or his new sidekick from the last issue. But we do add Riddler to the mix. So we now have theoretically nine characters who all have to have satisfying arcs dealt with in four issues: Batman, Hush, Joker, Riddler, Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, Silence and Talia. And that’s just if no one else pops up. That is a lot of work to do in four issues if they are even half as decompressed as the first two.
Will: And we’re assuming something has to actually happen in those four issues as well, unless the rest of this is just Batman chasing after Jason and a comatose Joker, which sounds pretty unappealing.
Matt: And problem two. While fighting with Jason, Batman picks up one of Jason’s guns. This is a problem in itself, as he barely even thinks about it, just commenting on needing to do the unexpected. But then he not only shoots at Jason, he shoots at Jason’s head. I can accept that Batman is the world’s greatest marksman who never uses a gun. Sure, whatever. But Batman knows that guns are deadly weapons, and you don’t use a gun unless you are shooting to kill, especially aiming for the head. Jason moves a hair as he fires, that doesn’t hit the hood but the eye of the hood, and at best Jason is blinded if not dead. Batman should never, ever do something that would so easily lead to the death of another person, especially someone he cares about. It is sloppy, and it is frustrating.
Will: If Batman spends the next issue reflecting on that decision — on examining what exactly is so broken about him in this moment that it drove him to that — you could *almost* justify what happened from a storytelling standpoint no matter the damage it does to logic or canon. But because it is truly indefensible and I don’t see Loeb returning to it for a single solitary moment, this is an all-timer of a stupid move. And yet as it comes as one of our final complaints, it seems pretty clear to me that this is a story with fundamental flaws outside of Batman using deadly force on someone he considers to be a son.
Matt: I’m not sure, short of what you said above and this turning into a deep, thoughtful story for at least the next issue, if there is a way this can pull out of its skid. It’s busy and shallow and yet still seems paced slowly. It’s an accomplishment to both be all action and explosions and yet still feel like it’s treading water.
Will: Got that real “White Knight 2” feel to it in that respect. Just no craft at all. Nonsense from page to page — and uninteresting, trite nonsense at that.
Bat-miscellany
- This week’s BatChat podcast features three stories that contain stories about Batman and Bruce Wayne. Is it a stretch of a theme? Yes. Is it because I really wanted to cover the animated series comic written by Ed Brubaker? Also yes.
Buy Batman #159 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
