Waylon Weighs In: A Review Of This Week's DEATH OF THE FAMILY Tie-Ins
It's a big week for DC's big Batman event, Death Of The Family. The titles that will be making their way on to the shelves of your local comics store include, Batman #16, Batman And Robin #16, and Batgirl #16. Click here to check out my take on these titles.
The Joker has always been one of the most complex, and toughest minds to convey in comics. Snyder dives in head first, and cranks the crazy up to eleven. Not letting The Joker steal the show completely, Snyder does a wonderful job at giving us a look into the thought process of Batman. His inner monologue takes the reader through some of the countless scenarios that Batman must think of in order to stop Joker. Taking you on a wild ride, with one chilling twist after another, the Batman Joker relationship is explored thoroughly, leaves you wanting more, and gets you excited for the next issue.
Greg Capullo really excels with his art in this issue. As amazing as Snyder is at telling these stories, the way Capullo pulls it all together with his drawings is nothing short of amazing. The Joker is scarier than he has ever been, and that is thanks in large part to the way Capullo draws him. The team of Snyder and Capullo is a match made in Batman heaven, because Snyder trusts Capullo to tell some of the story with his art, and he doesn’t disappoint.
10/10
One thing that I absolutely love about Gail Simone is the way she gets in the head of Barbara Gordon. Barbara lives under constant fear and anger over what The Joker did to her, and the way it is conveyed with such passion and persuasion really hooks me into the stories that Simone tells with this character. The story in the issue its self is cleverly mapped out with a good twist at the ending, and shows that Simone is able to capture the craziness of The Joker similarly to the way that Scott Snyder does.
The art in the book, although good, was a little inconsistent. That is a problem that you run into with having two artists on a book. My main complaint is that sometimes it looks as if The Joker is wearing a wig. Other than that, Benes and Sampere are able to get the point across with some effective and other wise clean artwork.
9/10
One of the most difficult things, when handling the Batman family, is to get the dynamic between Batman and Robin just right, especially when that Robin is Damien Wayne. What Tomasi is able to do with this story is completely capture that heart ache that Damien is going through during this issue’s story. Throughout the story you just feel yourself pulling more and more for him as the story unfolds. Add in the Joker playing puppet master in the background and the issue delivers an entertaining, yet emotional story.
Gleason is able to pull the action sequences together in the book making it an even more enjoyable read. However, once the action is slowed his artwork doesn’t seem to do the story justice. While it is still very good art, it just seems to kill the momentum that Tomasi is able to obtain while telling the story.
8.5/10