Batman #37 Review

Written by: Scott Snyder

Art by: Greg Capullo & Danny Miki

Publisher: DC

It was fairly recently that Batman had already dealt with The Joker on such a grand scale. Though it may seem too early, it’s more than welcome. Though the players are the same, the stakes and themes are rather different. No longer is it about The Joker’s affectionate bond for the bat, but now it’s about his loathing of him.

Batman #37 presents us with Bruce Wayne after his encounter with The Joker. We see the psychological ramificatioons of the encounter and how he has to fight through it to try again. The Joker has poisoned Gotham with Joker Toxin and Batman must find a way to make a cure.

Scott Snyder continues his saga on the script. His Joker is exceptionally creepy, but also genuinely funny. The limits he goes to in order to enact his plans are equal parts meticulously genius and psychotic. This partially reads like a horror comic as it does get scary. The affect that it has on Batman is intense, we see how hard he has to fight against his own duress in order to portray himself as this great hero. Rather than give us the typical pathos of the character, we are given a hero who has to struggle to keep his game face on. We are given more dimension to Bruce Wayne through his attempts to figure out his nemesis. Snyder does a phenomenal study of their antagonistic relationship.

Greg Capullo produces greatly complementary panels to Snyder’s words. He brings the horrific elements of The Joker out. His maniacal grin and piercing soulless eyes are powerfully unnerving. Small panels throughout create a feeling of claustrophobia, giving the reader the sense that no one can escape the clown.

This month’s book only suffered from one minor discrepancy. A scene in the comic appears to be a hallucination, but is actually happening. A hospital room has a stage and lighting that appears out of nowhere with no transition or set up. It left me confused, and having to look back to see if I missed something.

This comic had me constantly wondering what was going to happen next. The cliffhanger is not so much a surprise, but sets such a tense and phenomenal set up for the next issue. Snyder and Capullo continue what is easily one of DC’s best books of The New 52.