Review: Batman #26

Quick Summary

Pros: The war becomes more volatile and full of potential. Joker and Riddler are both written very well. The modern day story within this arc is even becoming more interesting. Plus, Mikel Janín’s art is as beautiful as ever.

Cons: Nothing, unless you didn’t like the premise or characterization from the first arc.

Overall: The last issue of Batman gave the setting, background, and motivation behind “The War of Jokes and Riddles.” This one sees it truly begin. This is a great comic book that delivers on the first issue’s potential, while showing that there is even more potential yet to be discovered. Action, fantastic art, and a curious mixture of strategy and chaos make this the perfect continuation of this unique war. If you liked how this story arc started then you will not be disappointed with this issue.

Story

Mayhem, chaos, and insanity; would you expect anything less from a story about the Joker and the Riddler facing off against each other? While Batman #25 shows why the war started, Batman #26 shows the first few battles. Put another way: while Batman #25 depicted the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Batman #26 shows the invasion of Serbia. We see first strikes, marshaling of forces, and even potential hints as to where things are headed. If you were worried that the story would get less interesting after the bombshell of a first issue, you could not be more wrong.

(spoilers start here)

Part Two of “The War of Jokes and Riddles” begins with the true start of the war. Joker and Riddler both recruit their first soldiers and simultaneously proceed to escalate tensions. Joker does this by terrorizing Carmine Falcone while Riddler does it by explaining to Poison Ivy how it would be in her best interest to help him. Both of these actions result in more parties becoming involved, an escalation of hostility, and a loss of civilian lives. This is exactly what fans wanted to see from this comic, and it is exactly what is delivered.

This isn’t just a story with a great plot though, it is becoming more and more clear that King has a firm grasp on the individual personalities of the characters he is writing. Joker is chaos. He gives Falcone an ultimatum in order to get his help, yet kills Falcone’s mother as punishment, hours before he even asked for his help. Meanwhile, Riddler is pure strategy. He approaches Poison Ivy and explains how Joker’s actions in this war will be harmful to plant life in Gotham; he does not threaten or coerce her but gets the same results. King has defined the spectrum on which these two entities are the extremes and thus justifies the thematic reasons behind pitting them against one another. It is a brilliant move and one that I am greatly looking forward to seeing continue.

He also is beginning to show the impacts that this war is already having on Gotham and Batman. Every character who dies in this issue is given a name and a backstory; Batman knows and remembers them all. King wants to show the impact that these superheroes and supervillains have on regular people. In particular, a quick opinion piece by a man on the news helps to solidify this theme: “They could just…kill us…all of us. I mean, if they want to. And I think, I sometimes think they do.”

Apart from the main story, there is also a page flashing back to the present which shows Bruce continuing to tell this story to Selina. Despite only being one page, it is interesting and cryptic enough to completely solidify the other mystery this arc is presenting. What did Bruce do during this event that he feels he must tell Selina? His choice of words, “I was a superhero,” make one wonder what he means. Does he no longer think of himself as a superhero? The use of past tense in his statement seems to imply this, yet nothing is explained yet. Either way, this single page at the end of this issue confirms that there is not one but two interesting stories going on within this stellar arc.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Mikel Janín, once again, does the art throughout this issue. In short, his art is fantastic and makes reading this issue an even more pleasurable experience. For a more in depth look at our description of his artwork, see our review of Batman #25 right here or our review of Batman Vol. 1: I am Gotham right here.

Continuity

This is the second issue of “The War of Jokes and Riddles” storyline in the Batman series. So all readers need to do to understand this issue is read Batman #25 (review here).

This issue also makes a specific reference to a work outside this comic series. However, besides this one reference, this story is very self-contained.

• Riddler asking for a mirror is a nearly exact reference to what happened to Joker in the 1989 Batman movie.