In our last meeting with the Joker, he was also holding a pistol. Why not continue the tradition? Sadly, this pistol is also not a flamethrower. Darn it.

The Batman Who Laughs #1

Long ago, when I first saw this title on the shelves at Kings Comics, I was shoved away by the cover art. I mean, what’s with the bizarre Batman bondage? That ain’t my style, dude. I missed an opportunity. Thankfully, the internet forgives these blunders and I am able to enjoy a story the way it was intended (in my home, not in-store you heathen!)

Previously.

In our last instalment, I decided to take on a mission that required me to head back to another age of comics to read the slightly damp and curled pages of Batman Beyond #25, the contents of which I reviewed here. Ok, I’ll concede that 2018 wasn’t that long ago, chronologically, but in the minds of comic nerds like us, last year was an eternity ago. Spider-Man fought a carnage-goblin and Bryan Lee O’Malley brought us a green goober-nosed girl bent on sharing her pathetically irritating insta-life. Well, I loved sharing my thoughts the last time round, so today you’re in for another gem.

Let’s GO!

I don’t know if this is a Batman thing or a DC thing, but to find the credits I had to go all the way to the end of the book. Coincidentally, that’s the location of the title of the six-issue mini series, “The Laughing House.” I have to make it pretty clear from this point that I don’t read a lot of Batman titles so some bat-nuances and Easter-eggs may be lost on this nerd. However, I’ll give you my everything and that should be enough.

The introduction takes us to the fond memories of Bruce’s childhood where he's playing a game with his mum, dad and live-in wet nurse (read: butler), Alfred. It’s a single page with colours that will make you want to eat coloured sherbet or sniff a bath bomb until you’re seeing those same colours in an altered state. To set the record straight, I don’t recommend people snort bicarbonate of soda and I’m pretty certain they do not induce mind-altering states.

Didn’t believe me?

Bat’s flashes to the now and blasts onto the page on what Alfie refers to as the Bat-Raptor. It’s a bad-ass three-wheeler that goes like the clappers. He’s in hot pursuit of the baddies who happen to be smuggling out some bodies in trucks towing houses. Someone has a use for the deceased. Maybe they’re harvesting organs or creating a Franken-freak! Oh, this does sound interesting already!

Batman hurls some batarangs!

A bad guy mocks Batman (bad idea) after a rare Batman miss after taking out two of the other poor fellows. The projectile hits the truck and short circuits the engine and Batman “flies” through the air and stomps the mocking douche in through the top of one of the houses. While I love sharing some brilliant art, this is one you’re going to have to see for yourself. It is a half page of artful magnificence.

The reveal. “Whaaaa..huh?”

It’s some mind-bending shenanigans when the deceased is revealed to be Bruce Wayne himself. I was like “Whaaaa..huh?” So when this is pulled on any reader, there’s a huge “trust me, I’m telling a story, here” caveat thrown in. We've just got to go with it until it all starts to make some kind of sense. Was it time travel? Interdimensional doo-daddery?

Bruce heads to Gotham Morgue to find out the deal with this lookalike Bruce. Yep. It’s him. But he is missing some of the scars of our Bruce. He’s missing the “Bane back-cracking” and apparently he was happy. There were smile lines all over his face. Wow. A happy bats. Good for him. Wait. This guy’s dead. Not so good.

What I loved about this scene was that Scott Snyder (yup, he wrote this bad boy) made Bats drug the morgue technician and gave him his face. Snazzy facial technology, Mr. Wayne. I seriously had to read this section of the book a couple of times to work out who the hell Alfred was talking to. I’m pretty sure there’s an implication that the Joker is behind all this. I could be wrong. Ha.

Batman reckons the Joker’s pulling some crap.

It’s off to Arkham we go, tra-la-la-la-laaaaaa! This is a scene for the senses, right here. Batman walks in to Arkham, despite entire new systems being put in. The guards are incredibly impressed and gush and plead for selfies. Batman slices a guard apart and pulls a gun on three other guards who walk on his murderising. They’re convinced Batman doesn’t use guns, so Batman shoots one of them in the head, stabs another (in the head) and stomps on the third’s head with a whump! We get a glimpse of a befuddled Mr. Freeze as he refuses to believe this is him. Batman burns the shit out of him with an arm-mounted bat-flamer. Finally, one last guard who tempts fate, radios for help. Knife to the head.

Bats is here to see a friend.

We see a transformation from Batman to the beast-on-the-front-cover. A scythe and chain-wielding psychopath wearing a spiked mask grinning like the Cheshire cat. What the actual shit am I looking at? I think all these questions must have been addressed in Dark Nights: Metal. As it turns out, Gizmodo addresses it here. If you haven’t read the series, probably don’t click the link. But then again, you’re reading my review which is clearly a cesspool of spoilers. What do I care what you do?

The Joker’s smile is wiped clean off his face after the steampunk-shapeshifting Bat-freak puts his weaponry through his skull. Clearly, this is the ‘before’ shot.

Clean up in cell 102.

The explanation that I so desperately wanted.

In the pouring rain, the Commish and Batman share a few thoughts on the matter. Gorgeous inks and colours, right?

Batman’s detective work, reasoning and deduction are pushed to the edge as he pieces this creepy puzzle together. It’s shared with us that the ‘Joker-killer’ comes from another realm. Multidimensional doo-dads. I knew it. The “Material Hopes and Fears” dimension. That’s what I’m calling it. Apparently, Bats reckons that Joker’s bearing a super toxin in his body which is the reason he’s as mad as a lead-sniffer.

Batman’s been vaping..

Get this, right? For all these years Batman hasn’t killed the Joker, it’s all been because he thinks that if he were to kill him, a vapour will be released into the air and would enter his body and turn him into the new Joker. Man, now I’ve heard it all. I’m assuming it’s an airborne toxin. Can I assume that? So, why not fire a gun from a distance? Capture the Joker and kill him in a sealed container? Anyway, none of this means much because the creature that killed the Joker (it wasn’t actually him as the Joker had been switched with a decoy) was just a manifestation of Batman’s fear of what could be what’s inside the Joker. None of it is certain. So, basically, Batman’s created this Steam-Punk-Psycho-Bat (his actual name is the Batman Who Laughs) from his imagination and he’s kicked the ass out of world after world. This dude could give Thanos a run for his money.

This is confusing. But it isn’t all my fault.

It’s me, the idiot here. So I’m re-reading the panels of exposition and flicking back and forth to the panels where Joker-decoy was killed in Arkham and I’m trying to work out who the –eff the “Grim Knight” is. I feel there needed to be a panel where The Grim Knight and The Batman Who Laughs were shown together, because they’re not one and the same. The Grim Knight (the dude we thought was Batman) was brought across into our dimension by the Steam-Punk-freakazoid to do his bidding.

To the bat-cave!

After some detective-ing we return to the bat-cave. Bats knows the Joker knew what was coming for him. Joker did a few careful swapparoo’s to get a decoy in to replace him. Joker isn’t a fool. He’s made his way to a secret, but blocked off entrance to Bats’ lair. Batman orders Alfred to undo the waterway security systems. The reveal is great. While this is spoiler-filled, it isn’t blow-by-blow so I’ve got to let you enjoy it for yourself. However, here’s the bit you need to know..

The super toxin theory IS real!

Batman becomes the new Joker! What a riot!

And, we’re done (for now).

I know last time I gave a score for the book, but today isn’t going to be one of those days. I will say that the art was an order of magnitude better than the Batman Beyond artwork in my opinion and the story far more complex. This issue will really get you wanting to sink your teeth into the next, but I have a few others I want to look at. Namely, the new Lois Lane series which bears an art style that appeals to my love for Kill or Be Killed. The other is Immortal Hulk. I don't know which direction I’ll take, but as I said in the previous article, recommendations should be left in the comments!

So, here’s where you can find The Batman Who Laughs #1. Thanks for dropping by and I’ll see you nerds in the next one.

BONUS Feature!

I decided to add some of my own creative licence to this bad-ass panel from the pencils and colours of Jock and David Baron. Take the time to read it. It’s a true work of art.

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Nick.

All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew [22 July 2019].

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I’m currently working on my debut fantasy novel based on my early work, Adventures in Elowyn Glade. Click the link to get an idea of where my first novel is headed!

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