The Batman Who Laughs (2018-2019) #2

The Batman Who Laughs

by Scott Snyder, Jock (Penciller), David Baron (Colorist)

After the shocking ending of issue #1, a ticking clock sets Batman on a trail throughout the different realities of the Multiverse. He starts to see all the iterations of his life, and what could have been…but more importantly, Bruce Wayne begins to deduce that his current life is somehow wrong, and that all the mistakes he’s made are somehow connected. Meanwhile, the Batman Who Laughs raises the curtain on his second act, pulling out the big guns to break into Arkham Asylum…enter one of the most punishing Batmen of the Dark the Grim Knight!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Batman, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

29 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2019

About the author

Scott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman is out matched, compromised and playing catch up. Not what he or I am used to as a fan. Apart from moral considerations, and where else can Batman turn to?

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

The return of a certain character!!!

A lot going on, a lot of chaos
BRING IT ON

[Kitkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so cool! I love the plot and the character! I love James Gordon Jr.!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting... did not recognize the surprise at the end 😑

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really good issue. Maybe one of the most interesting things to happen to Batman in years.

[Anouk Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had pretty much assumed that there was no way any revelation or occurrence in issue 2 could top what happened in the first issue. I wasn’t quite wrong, but damn they came close to it!
This has not been the series I expected…but honestly I’m actually grateful for that. This plot is so much more involved than I expected, using the characters we’re fond of, as well as a few of the ones we love to be horrified by. It’s a good blend. I had been worried that the series would all be about the Batman Who Laughs – meaning it would be from his perspective (shudder the thought), showing him just cutting his way through a city or world or something. Instead, we got something with a lot more depth and plot.
Not sure how I feel about the revelation at the end of the issue. Any thoughts?
I will give credit to the artwork as well. This series looks absolutely fantastic. It’s somewhere between Batman and horror and it just feels so right.

[Higor Hebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like with the first issue, Snyder opened with yet another metaphor concerning the functionality of hearts and the sentiment that Bruce has infused it with while he recalled the last action his father Thomas Wayne ever did seconds before the man was shot to death--he covered his son's chest on instinct where the heart dwelt. Poetic prose like this lives on in Synder's other comics, and his Batman deserved such poignancy too, considering that more than the standard fanfare of a superhero comic book, Batman was also always the story of a fractured man whose privilege and trauma go hand-in-hand as he pursued a dark path to become the beacon of justice in a very violent city filled with disturbed individuals who often bled from the same vein as his own grief and slice of madness.

This second issue picked up immediately after the previous one's final moment, with Alfred operating on the Joker's heart where the toxin supposedly was released and infected Batman. Meanwhile, an understandably sluggish Bats (who was doing his darndest to curtail the spread of the toxin by injecting an array of syringes bearing antidotes) convinced his butler and most loyal friend not to even think about allowing the Joker to die, as tempting as that sounds. With deadly poison coursing through his body, he still went to work like the champ he was, disguised as Harvey Bullock, to talk to Jim Gordon. Yet another Bruce Wayne was killed, this time thrown from several stories up in a Building That Doesn't Exist, at least not in this version of Earth. This Bruce Wayne became Mayor after the death of the second Robin Jason Todd. 

The working theory was that Batman Who Laughs had been picking out different Bruce Waynes from several intertwining universes to make a point to our Earth's Batman. He also brought along The Grim Knight, the Earth-22 Dark Multiverse version borne from when a young Bruce Wayne picked up the gun in the alley and shot his parents' killer with no remorse. That's why this Bats has no problem carrying firearms, something we all know Batman has always been against. Because I was missing this context from the last issue, I actually thought they are the same twisted version of Batman, but no, The Grim Knight was an ally of BMWL, acting as reinforcement. Someday, I'll touch upon this Dark Multiverse storyline across Bat-titles. Like I said, it's been five years, and I'm a bit rusty now that I haven't kept track of things. Moving on...

Batman would then share to Jim Gordon something called the Last Laugh. Apparently, the founding families of Gotham, after 1780 when a plague wiped out a third of the population in the city, feared that what they saw at the heart of the country could become the means to the infection. Just like your average Gothamite then and now, they decided to prepare for the worst, vowing never to allow Gotham to become the source of such darkness. That was how they set up a system called the Last Laugh. It's apparently a defense system "in which Gotham can be protected if anything terrible spread inside". Essentially, Batman installed something to that effect on Wayne Tower. It's a way of purifying the air in the city, restoring waterways and the overall health of its citizens independently. It can only be accessed through DNA, which would be Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne's. Any Bruce Wayne, as it turned out.

BMWL and the Grim Knight entered the premises of the tower and went to work to disable the controls. It's worth nothing Batman was still under the influence of the Joker toxin which will turn him into BMWL if he didn't fix that shit soon, but he's got other concerns. Crime likes to multi-task after all. This below is my favorite set of panels because they harkened back once more to what Snyder opened up with regarding the functionality of hearts while also allowing readers to glimpse BMWL's twisted logic.

"You're an old man over a child's heart--weak, soft, protecting nothing." Well, shit, when you put it like that...

In his warped mind, he actually thought that he was doing Batman a favor by killing all these different Bruce Waynes and gift-wrapping them here in this Earth for some rude awakening. BMWL stressed that this world's Bruce Wayne/Batman was the least accomplished of all the versions of himself because he's caught in the same cycle unlike other Bruces who either chose to domestically be happy as a husband and father or politically effect change as a public servant. Hell, at least BMWL is...a social change crusader himself? In any case, he does make sense the same way the Joker's rhetoric often did if you stop long enough to stare into the abyss.

This mini series is slowly shaping itself to be another masterpiece for Scott Snyder, but it's only been the second issue so I will try to curtail my expectations. I have four more to go and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing within this week!

RECOMMENDED: 9/10

DO READ MY BATMAN COMICS REVIEWS AT:

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This issue doesn't pull any punches. I love the moral battle with Batman. Still less a fan of Alfred being pushed around verbally. I like the twist with Harvey and Gordon investigating another Bruce death. The pace felt a bit forced, with Joker only waking up after other things happened. It led the cliff-hanger (which is intriguing) to feel kind of random. I do want to see where this goes, as this comic is going big and hitting buttons that haven't been pushed before in Batman lore. Yet for a little bit, I could pick out the route the plot was taking and it drew me out of the story. Things are over-the-top bad, and then suddenly: James. Why James?

Overall, though, this is a mighty challenger to the best Batman stories out now. I do want the next part now.

36/50

[b · Rating 5 out of 5]

well, shit, this didn’t start sucking, and it’s still so visually arresting. I am so down with this series so far. Batman Who Laughs seems, well, more human here? Just the gesture of putting his hand over primary-Bruce’s chest is this weird vulnerability and connectedness that that lithe spooky horror didn’t seem capable of in METAL. Can’t wait to read the next.

[Chris Kester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Waynes are everywhere. They're even falling out of the sky! The Joker is up to something, and this is some next level diabolical shit that he is pulling. Batman is still fighting off the Joker infection that will set in within a few weeks, but in the meantime, he has met up with the Batman Who Laughs. What a first meeting it was!

[Monita Roy Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman has been infected with the Joker toxin, but before he allows himself to succumb to its effects, the Caped Crusader must track down the Batman Who Laughs and stop him.

Read my full review at BamSmackPow.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Snyder at his best. Horror or Batman (with horror elements). I haven't loved his JL run because it feels like he's trying to be someone he's not (feels like a Grant Morrison homage). This title. This is him, and it's spectacular.

[Christopher Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing comic book

I liked how well written this comic is it makes you wanna read the next one and see what happens next. The Batman Who Laughs is an awesome character design he is very well written

[Laura L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just can't get into this series.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Laughing House Part 2

[Kelly Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing villains and unique story line

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, this is well written and the art's none-too-shabby either.

Lots of little details that make things feel more genuine. I like it.

[Kameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Evey Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still not vibing with this quite as much as I thought I would.

[Aryanna Tunstall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This version of Batman is ruthless, heartless and crazy. And I am loving this series.

[Braxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend

This installment of the Batman Who Laughs Mini series takes place right after the first one where Bruce is injected with the jokers Toxin....
This chapter dives into some of the aspects of The Batman Who Laughs and his mentality... The title of the chapter may be misleading “Enter The Grim Knight” Who in this chapter gets 4 sentences explains him and his backstory which I thought was lackluster... but other than that and I found the chapter great.

[Francis James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one hell of a crazy read and I loved it! Batman is my all time favorite superhero and I'm trying to devour as many issue as possible :)