A comiXologist recommends:
Batman #40

by: Jonah Chuang

Batman: Endgame has been blowing me away at every turn. For those who haven’t been keeping up, spoiler alert: it’s Batman vs. the Joker again, but it’s not just another battle. All the cards are on the table, all the stops have been pulled, and it definitely feels like an “endgame” situation.

Just a quick recap: It started with Batman fighting a mind-controlled Justice League (and really holding his own despite his lack of powers).  Then, The Joker returns from the dead, revealing that he’s been behind the scenes, pulling the strings for a while. Not only that, but maybe the reason he keeps being able to come back to life after all those “nobody could survive this” moments, might be because he is this creepy supernatural Pale Man monster, a creature that’s been present throughout the history of Gotham. Also, he knows who Batman really is and has for a while.  Lots of really creepy, freaky, Joker mind games happen after that, leading up to the final showdown, which happens this issue. It’s Batman and his partners teaming up with his usual villains to go up against the Joker and his army of Jokerized Gotham citizens.

I was very excited for this issue, mostly because I could finally find out the answers to all the mysteries that Scott Snyder’s been building on his New 52 run on Batman, but I equally loved the really epic action shots in this issue, too. If there is anything cooler than seeing the Bat-Family fight alongside Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy and the Scarecrow while Bane pulls ‘fastball special’ with Batman at the Joker, it’s probably watching Batman jump on the Joker’s back and making fun of him as the Joker tries to crawl away, terrified. Spoiler alert: both of those things happen this issue. It’s kind of ridiculous how much awesome is packed into this issue.

Quick tip: As with any great Joker tale, there are a ton of twists and turns in this story. I reread the story arc before going into this and it was a lot more satisfying.

[Check out Batman #40 on comiXology]

Jonah Chuang is a Production Coordinator Assistant at Comixology. He also highly recommends Superman #40, also out this week.