The Super Powered Fancast

Batman #49

DC Comics

Written by Tom King

Art by Mikel Janin

Colors by June Chung

Letters by Clayton Cowles

Another one of the complications of Catwoman marrying Batman rears its ugly head when Selina confronts Joker in the church where he has slaughtered a group of wedding goers and injured Batman.

As Selina and Joker battle it out in the wreckage of an explosion, each one injures the other critically. Their injuries cause them to have to do the one thing Selina doesn’t want, talk. It’s almost ironic that Joker speaks to Selina out a sense of nostalgia and recalls how she was always different from the other rogues in Batman’s gallery. He even puts to her the reason why he needs to stop the wedding and Selina gives as good as she takes in their back and forth conversation as the two of them struggle to hold on consciousness and outdo the other.

I actually really liked their back and forth. As much as I took issue with aspects of the last issue, this one did a good job of making Joker’s presence have meaning. It was more focused tonally and that was one of the things that seemed to be missing from the last issue. While I think it was a mistake for Selina to give away as much as she did when trying to almost convince Joker why she’s marrying Batman, it does go a long way towards expanding on themes that have been established for these two characters and their relationship with Batman over the years.

As far as character insight goes, this issue is loaded with it. It takes the time to slow things down and dive into the actions and motivations of both characters and gives a different take on Selina that doesn’t diminish who she was or what she did. The two of them trying to reason with each other is something definitely worth reading and Janin’s art does a great job of conveying emotion through what is essentially a “two characters get locked in an elevator and confront their relationship” style of story. In the end, it will be more interesting to see how this interlude effects Selina going forward.