Batman #40

By Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, Fco Plasencia

“Sometimes in your mind, you get there. You’re fast enough. You grab him. But he laughs even harder. Like whatever you do, it was all always… going to come to this.”

Wait…am I Batman? Better check my bank account… oh, nope.. definitely not Batman. Was a nice feeling while it lasted though.

Writer Scott Snyder ends his latest arc with Batman #40 and the end of ‘Endgame’, which featured the writer’s last take on the iconic villain he’s had so many great stories with over the years… the Joker! Snyder has put both Batman and the Joker through so much during his time on this series, and each time he manages to raise the bar that much higher to concoct a story even bigger than the last. Batman #40 is successful in this and so many other ways, it’s the Batman/Joker story you’ve always wanted — and an ending sure to become one as memorable as the characters themselves.

Something Snyder does throughout the story is remind us just how important Batman is to the city of Gotham, but he also reminds us just how tragic of a hero he really is. He’s out to prove you don’t have to be Superman to save the day.

On the artwork side of this issue is the all-star team of Greg Capullo on pencils, Danny Miki on inks, and colorist Fco Plasencia, and they pull out some fantastic pages this issue. A great page showcasing colors similar to the style of Zero Year has Joker riding atop the T-Rex from the Batcave as Bats is launched towards him (via the efforts of Bane) in order to stop the mad jester’s latest tirade. The top two panels show the flight as Joker dances with an old bag of bones. The bottom panel is drenched in a bright yellow as the Joker slams a chainsaw into the jaw of the beast, hoping to cut Bats loose and send him falling into the streets, but what’s this? Batman pulls off an awfully acrobatic maneuver to get the upper hand…

Snyder has said before that this is his last turn on a Joker story, and with the way this ended we should all be okay with that. He pits two rivals upon one another in a way that shows how truly dependent they are on the other’s stance in Gotham, and it’s also one of the craziest and most detailed fights you’ve ever seen.