Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Batman The Joker War Zone #1
DC Comics
Written by James Tynion IV, John Ridley, Joshua Williamson and Sam Johns
Art by Guillem March, Olivier Coipel, David Lafuente, Laura Braga and James Stokoe
Colors by Tomeu Morey, Matt Hollingsworth, Hi-Fi and Antonio Fabela
Letters by Clayton Cowles, Deron Bennett, Gabriela Downie and Tom Napolitano
The Rundown: A collection of stories from the front lines of the Joker War.
A Serious House – With the Joker War raging throughout Gotham, Joker decides to take a special trip to Arkham Asylum to visit one of its residents. Joker finds Bane in the bowels of the Asylum and berates the villain for not going far enough when he had control of the city.
It’s a pretty intense conversation and James Tynion IV does a great job of bridging the gap between both story arcs. Not only is the story interesting, but it does a great job of teasing a confrontation between Bane and Joker in the future.
Family Ties – Lucius Fox is still dealing with the after effects of being drugged and controlled by Joker and Punchline. When the Wayne fortune falls into his hands, he and his family must decide what they are going to do with it. Unfortunately, they won’t have long because Joker wants the money back and will do anything to get it.
John Ridley teases a new path for the Fox family. One that will see Lucius reject the world of heroes and possibly find a new purpose for the Wayne fortune. A well done story that I would like to have seen more of.
The Symbol – The Hench Master is training future henchmen to fight for the Joker when his meeting is interrupted by Spoiler and Orphan. Both heroes are on the hunt for something that can hopefully inspire the city to fight back.
An interesting premise, but a weak overall story. Neither the characters nor the plot are especially interesting and the goal feels shallow, hollow and superficial.
Ashes of Eden – Joker’s goons have invaded Poison Ivy’s underground Eden and the Rogue is not happy about it at all. Ivy will weed out this latest infection and prepare to take her mission to the next level.
A good story that teases something big for Ivy, Harley and Gotham itself.
Clown Hunt – The Clownhunter has been causing some increasing headaches for Joker in the Narrows. He decides to call in some mercenaries to handle the problem. Unfortunately, they will discover that this wild card doesn’t play by the same rules as the Batman.
A great story that expands on the character, his motivation and the differences in his ideology.
Batman The Joker War Zone #1
