The Batman Who Laughs

The Batman Who Laughs #1–7

by Scott Snyder, Jock (Illustrator)

The Batman Who Laughs is enacting a sinister plan across the Multiverse-something both terrifying and oddly familiar. When Bruce Wayne realizes the only way to stop this madman is to kill him, he must consider violating the very rule Batman can’t ever break...the rule that created the Batman Who Laughs!
As Bruce begins to realize that all the mistakes he’s made are somehow connected, the Batman Who Laughs unleashes a brand-new evil. Enter one of the most punishing Batmen of the Dark Multiverse: the Grim Knight! Collects THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #1-7 and THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS: THE GRIM KNIGHT #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Horror

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 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

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know.
It's one of those titles that I really felt I needed to read, simply because there are so many references to this Batman Who Laughs character. <--so I'm glad I finally got this out of the way.



This Batman Who Laughs is the worst of the worst. He's the Dark Multiverse version of Batman who turned into the Joker. So, he's some sort of Super-Duper-Supervillain.
Think: if Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty had an evil baby kind of thing.



The gist is that evil Jokerbat is going to kill everyone, destroy Gotham, turn Batman evil, etc., etc., etc.
Will our universe's Bruce Wayne be able to stop him?!



Yeah, probably.



The thing is, I'm not really into Snyder's Batman stuff. That doesn't mean I think he's a bad writer. He just doesn't (for whatever reason) do it for me when it comes to this character. This means I thought this entire storyline was somewhat of a yawn, and it was really hard for me to stay interested in what was going on. So much so, that I ended up forgetting about it and had to use an extra Hoopla loan to get it back again.
I did really enjoy the stuff between Gordon and his son, James.



The lettering for this made my eyes hurt. I know that they're using the weird red letters to show when Batman is devolving and/or bringing himself back from the edge, but I thought it was sloppily done. I was extremely glad I was able to read it digitally so I could expand the word bubbles and see what the fuck he was saying.
It is what it is.
And I'm sure my opinion is in the minority, so take it with a grain of salt.
Recommended for fans of Dark Metal & Snyder's Batman.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eight issues of nonsense and I still couldn’t tell you what The Batman Who Laughs was about! Far as I can tell, it’s just an excuse to trot out the derivative Judge Death-ish Batman Who Laughs villain from Dark Nights: Metal for another barney, just ‘cos. He’s brought with him the Grim Knight (aka Punisher Batman) from the Dark Multiverse and together they want to, I guess, take over Gotham or something mindlessly generic.

Scott Snyder reunites with his Black Mirror artist Jock for a much less impressive new Batman book. Also from Black Mirror is James Gordon, Jim’s psycho son, who’s brought back for no real reason besides fan service.

The awful James Tynion IV writes the Grim Knight’s origin and it’s astoopid but that’s what you get when you come up with characters that sound cool but are no more than half-baked thoughts “Durr, what if… Batman was... The Punisher?!”

I suppose this book happened because The Batman Who Laughs is a popular new character - I don’t know? I see him in more than a few books so he probably is. I don’t get it though. Like the Grim Knight, he’s a wholly superficial and uninteresting bad guy. And how does he see through that spiked metal band over his eyes anyway??

Utterly boring, instantly forgettable, badly conceived story, but then what did I expect for a sequel(ish) to the terrible Dark Nights: Metal? The Batman Who Laughs is a tedious joke of a comic.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a way, Scott Snyder was seen as rescuing Batman from the horror-based Dark Knight that the eighties Frank Miller and Alan Moore created. Righting the ship, in a way.But Snyder himself had done horror in American Vampire and Wytches and his own version of Dark Knight Batman in Metal, and this is a continuation of that horror-fest, focusing on a character from Dark Knights: Metal, a demonic Batman-Joker villain. And that title from Ed Brubaker about Joker: Batman: The Man Who Laughs. And this comic unites Snyder and Jock, who were the Black Mirror team, so it's in conversation with all of the above. I think it's solid, 3-ish stars, with great insane depictions of the villain from Jock.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Batman Who Laughs returns to somehow poison Gotham. None of this is very clear. The plot was so complicated, with all these "twists and turns" that it was often hard to tell what was going on. Jock's art style doesn't help either. It's scratchy and unfinished sometimes making it difficult to decipher. I did like that Snyder delves into his horror roots. Snyder needs to learn to edit himself. His writing since Metal has gotten mindnumbingly verbose. Most of this book is just a Batman character droning on and on for several pages. He does realize comics is a visual medium, right?

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Right now we have a bigger damn problem than Joker, and the only way we beat this monster . . . is by staying true to who we are . . . whatever the hell it takes." -- Batman, to Alfred, on page 36

The Batman Who Laughs opens with a slam-bang action sequence involving the Bat-Raptor (a three-wheeled motorcycle) in pursuit of a tractor-trailer that was commandeered by a quartet of nameless mooks who are brandishing military-grade firepower. It all takes place on an elevated highway over Gotham City, and it was sort of exciting . . . until I recalled movie critic Roger Ebert's old axiom that a story which begins with a chase scene usually means a standard or unoriginal plot will then follow.

Well, this volume isn't typical at all . . . but it quickly derails after the first chapter or so, and gets bogged down with (to quote another dissatisfied GR reviewer) a nightmarish mess of "technobabble" or "pseudo-scientific" plot development and it became a chore to read. Also, the illustration style at times was particularly unpleasant - an extreme amount of close-ups with psychotic grins and teeth (just see the cover) - and the red ink used for one character's dialogue balloons was difficult to read.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I was a little nervous with Scott's new Batman Who Laughs story. I thought Metal was okay and didn't love a lot of his All Star Batman. So I wasn't to eager to get this, especially since The Batman Who Laughs is easily one of the most uninteresting characters in Metal and his defeat was anti-climatic as can be.

This is the story of The Man who Laughs, who recruits another Bruce named Grimbat, and together they tear down the regular universes Bruce. While that's happening we have Jim and his son James working together to stop the psycho known as The Batman who laughs. Part a sequel to Metal, part a sequel to Black Mirror. Will Bruce be able to overcome one of his greatest challenges? A man like him with no remorse or code? You'll have to read to find out!

For the most part I really enjoyed it. For once I liked Alfred here and what he brought to the table. I enjoyed the villains enough, and their plans were pretty cunning. I also thought James and Jim together was brilliant and a nice closure for them. The art was also solid throughout. It did feel a bit stretched out and also some of the lettering, especially for Batman who Laughs is hard as hell to read. Overall though, it was a fun and breezy read and a solid sequel to black mirror. A 3.5 out of 5, but I'll bump it to a 4.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 1 out of 5]

A meandering trainwreck of a storyline with lots of twists based on shock value and one of the worst open endings I've ever read in my life, leading to another comic-book I'm not going to read soon...



Such a shame because Metal was a fun read, in my opinion. But now I know for sure I'll never be much of a fan of Snyder's Batman Who Laughs—a cheap, bad copy of Judge Death, bordering more and more on plagiarism in features, to say nothing about the sibilant 'sss' too.

Sadly, my old copies of 2000 AD comics featuring Dark Judges tales are far away from here. I needed to re-read one or more of them to cleanse the bad taste I've got from reading this.

'Nuff said.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad as "most epic Batman stories ever" go.

Cool to see the Batman Who Laughs as a villain up against just our hero, instead of in an epic cosmic showdown. A little weird to see Jim Gordon talk about the dark multiverse but that's ok.

One thing with Scott Snyder, I personally don't like how he always comes up with scenarios for Batman to team up with the Joker. That said, this is a satisfying graphic novel showcasing an excellent new villain for our times.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets lots of press and mostly good ink.

Batman as a cultural phenomenon, as a part of our mythos, has been around for almost a hundred years. Generations of young people have thrilled at the masked vigilante who beats the crap out of bad guys and who tangles with a colorfully dark rogues gallery.

But.

How much can you do with a generational story?

It’s like ancient Egyptian mythology where generations of worshippers told tales of gods getting old and moving on to be replaced by a new pantheon. Batman as an American mythological character has evolved very little and new readers get to discover the story for themselves but older readers, like me and those a generation before me, have kind of read it all.

So Scott Snyder describes a scene where Batman rides his motorcycle as he jumps a tank filled with sharks.

No, but fans of Arthur Fonzarelli will understand where I’m coming from.

The Batman Who Laughs is a multiverse character who blends Batman with Joker. Other writers have explored this theme (See Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke for perhaps the best) but Snyder just blends them together in one character.

It’s almost like emotionless sex, just going through the motions. It feels good, and is satisfying, and there is a good ending, but the thrill is gone as BB would sing and we see Batman Fonzy clear the tank as we knew he would.

I will say that I liked it - to get lost in the metaphor, mediocre sex is still pretty good - and Jock’s artwork was exceptional; however, for the most part this was a gimmick that was fun but mostly unnecessary.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think that this will be my last modern DC comic.

For the most part, I hated Scott Snyder's BATMAN run. His METAL crossover was a glorious mess of whacked-out ideas that made no sense whatsoever, but it was a fast, fun ride. And his dopey, derivative "Batman Who Laughs" character is at least visually interesting, so...I figured I'd give this a shot.

As with METAL, I could barely tell you what this was about. It had the typical Snyder tropes that drive me nuts, though:

The cryptic Joker appearance.
Bruce beating up Alfred and generally acting like an asshole.
Long-forgotten plot points from other books being brought up with absolutely zero frame of reference. Don't know who James Gordon, Jr. is, or why he is being watched by the police? Tough shit! (Or, if you did know, shake your head in awe, as Gotham lets a vicious serial killer loose on parole because...because.)
Someone getting emergency, on-the-spot open heart surgery, and then running around like nothing happened five minutes later.
James Tynion IV shoehorned in, because he grew up with Snyder.
There's also the great DC tradition of a mini-series having an essential part of the story happen in a one-shot that was released concurrently. Why not make it A PART OF THE FUCKING MINI-SERIES....?
And that thing that DC does oh so well.....have the self-contained mini-series end with a cliffhanger that leads directly into another big storyline. Can nothing that DC publishes ever have "The End" on the last page?

And Jock's art.....ugh. I am not a fan of his muddled, unfinished-looking work. The one-shot has art by Eduardo Risso, and seeing that issue sandwiched in between Jock's dark mess is like being doused with ice water. "Ah, so THAT is what beautiful art and clear storytelling look like!"

As Roger Ebert once said "I hated, hated, hated this (book)."

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated Snyder's run on Batman but sort of enjoyed the Dark Nights: Metal limited series. This tie-breaker tells me I should stop reading anything by Snyder that actually has "Batman" in the title.

The technobabble alone drove me crazy, justifying any needed plot development by chanting a string of pseudo-scientific words that might might as well have been magic spells. Comic book rubbish to the max.

The homage in the middle to Batman: Year One was a bit interesting at least, but then James Tynion IV helped co-write that little aside.

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really- yes really like this run, in my opinion the writers understood what made batman work and took it apart to mess with it. A lot of writers tried to do the same and breath some fresh air into the batman IP but in most cases it ends up being a shitshow. So I get that some people dislike it, it makes bold moves with characters we've read about for decades.. It can't be everyone's cup of tea.

You could argue that its more style over substance and this overly gory horror version is just for looks .. even then you still can't deny how cool this is. The art is just awsome, at points the way they concealed characters in shadows could trade punches with mignola's way of doing that.

I also really dug the batman beyond "easter egg". For me it just worked. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

[A.J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I still read all of the Batman Who Laughs lines in a Mickey Mouse voice and just cannot take anything this character says or does seriously. Not the Disney Mickey either, it sounds more like the one that’s on South Park. All we need now is the Robin King spinoff!

But in all seriousness, this just isn’t for me. But I’m glad some dig it. I liked both Death Metal and the sequel honestly, but the Batman Who Laughs has always just been kinda stupid to me if I’m being honest. Still, this just wasn’t my kind of book, but it may be up your alley if you like Snyder’s other stuff.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Remember that weird "Dark batman" from the "Dark metal" run? Well that Bruce Wayne/Joker hybrid is back and trying to fight for the soul of Batman. Sounds strange? It is. Is it good. Not really. It can pass for "ok".

The art style is as fragmentary and unformed as the main story itself. A lot of use of red lettering and the script is annoying in terms of being easy to read. The story itself is convulated, throwing in Gordon and his homicidal son, as a few batmen fight for control. It's a multi-verse thing. Perhaps a thing that is better left unexplored?

If you are truly bored or a hard-core Batman fan, you can pick up this strange "Dark metal" story arc. I didn't think much of "Dark metal" myself and feel similarly about this Volume. Neither in art nor story does it ever elecit more than a meh from me.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Snyder + Batman = Win.
Scott Snyder + Batman Who Laughs = Win, but I'm frightened.

The Batman Who Laughs is probably the best original character to come out of DC for a little while, and even though he's a simple idea, he's so well executed under Snyder's pen that he becomes far more than the sum of his parts. Snyder is all about deconstructing what it means to be Batman, what drives Batman, and being able to look at him through The Batman Who Laughs' lens makes for some super interesting narration even as the fate of Gotham City is once more in the balance.

We do lean a little far into undefeatable Batman territory, as he manages to outlast something that should have killed him for far longer than you'd expect, but that's a minor quibble - this is comic books, after all. Snyder even manages to rope in James Gordon Jr. for this story, taking what's been done to him outside of Snyder's stories in his stride. There's definitely a hint of 'this story was a prelude to something much larger' by the time this series is over, but it still works as its own complete thing on its own - you'll just definitely want to know what happens next.

If you've read Wytches, you know Snyder and Jock can do some awful, awful things together. The atmosphere in The Batman Who Laughs is disgusting, and I love it. Everything from the constant jagged edges to the bloodspattered pages, right down to the creepy-ass font that The Batman Who Laughs talks in is perfect for creating the kind of fear that Snyder wants to inspire in his readers. I especially liked the little Easter eggs dotted through the dialogue - go back and just read the big red letters, and you'll get some additional insight into Batman's state of mind that puts things into even more perspective than before and adds an additional cliffhanger to the series that you (and Batman) weren't even aware of.

The Batman Who Laughs is yet another showing in a long line that highlight why Scott Snyder is the Batman writer that has defined the character for the past five plus years; he always has new ideas and new ways to break the character, and he tells his stories with equal parts flair and terror.

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-review:
I suggested the public library to buy this series but I personally am too scared to even try reading it.

Bottom-line: personally I don't really care what happens to Bruce/Batman but don't you dare touch the rest of the BatFam!!!! *angry fangirl screams and outrage*

Rating: 3.4 stars.

The artwork is lovely and I usually would like Scott Snyder's take on the Batman saga, but with this much anticipated The Batman Who Laughs run, I am not as impressed as I'd hoped with this comic.

The beginning part of the story is great, the artwork is striking and the characters all look badass as hell (especially Batman and the Joker), the sub-plot about Commissioner Gordon and his son James (a 'reformed' serial killer?) and the father-son relationship between them is great too! But in the middle part of the story, I'm getting a bit tired of the mystery of all the dead Bruce Waynes from the different realities dragging up by the Batman Who Laughs. Too confusing. I lost interest for a bit.

On the other hand, the back story about the Grim Knight is pretty cool!!!!

In my opinion, what Mr. Snyder does best is to scare and shock you with his crazy plots and his creatively scary shit, but sometime the murder mysteries he dishes out is a bit lacking from time to time. I think I like Batman: Metal a lot better.

I don't mean to say it's a bad book, but Mr. Snyder does have better story to offer. The ending part is okay, I like how Bruce handles his misgiving and self doubts. However, by the end the Batman Who Laughs is locked up by the JL although we all know he is gonna escape and fight another day. *rolls eyes*

PS: thankfully it isn't as scary as I'd feared.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

40% | D+ | Meh

"A bat's flight is about what comes naturally, achieving what's hard...what's painful, but sublime"

What's more deadly than Batman or The Joker? Batjoker, apparently. With the Batman Who Laughs threatening the multiverse, our Batman must make a huge choice

Sadly, I just didn't love this one. With one too many timelines / dimensions, the violence for the sake of violence and the overcomplicated plot, it just doesn't make for a good story, let alone an enjoyable one. Save for maybe Alfred and Jim Gordon, the characters aren't fun, with the villain displaying no real depth or development. Nor is this pleasant to look at, as the text strains the eyes when it's red on grey, and the panels with close ups are just straight up ugly. What's more frustrating is the fact that Snyder can write good Batman content, this one is just an unfortunate miss for me.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just cant get into any snyders post 52 metal stories.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a pretty good book actually!

Its about Batman facing off against BWOL when he pushes him too far and is planning to infect the whole of Gotham city using "Last Laugh" some procedure tied into the history of Gotham and when he is pushed too far, he has to become like BWOL and face his inner fears and all and team up with Jim and James Jr to go after BWOL and the Grim knight all the while giving in to the darkness and surprising allies with the Joker and what happens when all of it comes together, who will win? Will Bruce lose himself? Whose the Grim Knight? What is James Jr role in all this? Plus whats BWOL's ultimate plan?

These are all questions that are answered brilliantly and well the book feels like a continuation of Black Mirror as the same team wrote it and its fantastic and I loved every moment of it with Bruce almost losing himself and those red text lettering was awesome and when he is confronted by BWOL and all alternate versions of himself and what happens to him through that, its good to see and well awesome to read by! I loved this book and it highlights the moral conscience and what makes Bruce..Batman! And also loved the almost redemption story of James Jr and Gordon's role in all this and the way it ends on a "TBC" is fun too though there are some moments that are boring and can take some getting used to but regardless a good read overall and the art by Jock was awesome and compliments the dark natured story really well! I highly recommend it!

[aLejandRø · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5*
Sentía curiosidad por leer esta historia y saber de qué se trataba esto del Batman Que Ríe.
De manera muy resumida, parecer ser que hay un Multiverso Oscuro (¡qué necesidad!) y desde allí han surgido varios Batmans y Bruces, incluido este que ríe, que vienen a atormentar a Gotham y a nuestro encapotado.
La historia es bizarra y demencial, pero no puedo negar que entretiene bastante, y como suele suceder, toda esa vorágine delirante que parecía no tener fin, termina resolviéndose en dos patadas casi sin consecuencias.

Gran parte de mi interés pasaba por disfrutar del dibujo de Jock, me encanta su estilo medio desprolijo y sucio. Hay un punto, los últimos dos números tal vez, en que el dibujante parece cansado o aburrido y su dibujo mas abosquejado de lo normal, donde su trazo parece acompañar perfectamente el caos y la locura generalizada.
Por otro lado, el trabajo del colorista David Baron, me parece espectacular, aunque deberían reconsiderar utilizar tipografías en color rojo.

Era un poco reacio a estas ediciones cuadrienanas de Ovni, pero la experiencia resultó bastante positiva en general, hay ciertos títulos que no me molestaría tenerlos en estas ediciones.

Entretener, entretiene, y de paso me saqué la curiosidad con el Batman que ríe, este.

[Brunò · Rating 1 out of 5]

English/Spanish review:

No. When I started reading DC this was one of the major points that I wanted to get to cos "dude,is that a Batman mixed with Joker?". Well,poor fool I was.



I'm sad to say it was a major letdown to me. There's like 16 books based on Dark Nights: Metal and not even one is good? The Batman Who Laughs is a good premise but the stories where he's involved are shit,this is the only book he acts a bit like a Batman but as the story goes on it gets stupid again.
I was barely able to keep up with what was happening half of the story:BWL rambles and rambles some "hoho I'm so evil" batshit through half of the book,I was more scared of that goddamned lettering than of the Dark Multiverse,the art was terrible at the end,why so damn sketchy? I see that he's getting crazier but I can't see what the fuck's going on.

The Grim Knight was a big meh to me. He's...Punisher. Compared to the other Dark Knights he's absolutely uninteresting. I read this on an edition without his origins and then went to read it and I didn't miss a thing,the whole thing was explained on the main book and we don't even get to see what happened after he got imprisoned.



The only good stuff on this one was the humour of the first issues,the relationship between James and Gordon and the reference to Beyond. Other than that it was a tedious story.

Español:

No. Cuando comencé a leer DC,este era uno de los puntos principales a los que quería llegar porque "che ¿eso es un Batman mezclado con el Joker?". Bueno,pobre boludo que soy.



Lamento decir que fue una re decepción para mí. ¿Hay como 16 libros basados ​​en Dark Nights: Metal y ni siquiera uno es bueno? The Batman Who Laughs es una buena premisa,pero las historias en las que está involucrado son una mierda,este es el único libro en el que actúa un poco como un Batman,pero a medida que avanza la historia se vuelve estúpido otra vez.
Apenas podía seguir el ritmo de lo que estaba sucediendo en la mitad de la historia: BWL divaga y divaga con "jojo,soy tan malo" Batshit. A lo largo de la mitad del libro,estaba más asustado de esas putas letras que del multiverso oscuro,el arte fue terrible al final ¿por qué tan sketchy? Veo que se está volviendo más loco,pero no puedo ver qué carajos está pasando.

Grim Knight fue un gran meh para mí. Él es...Punisher. Comparado con los otros Caballeros Oscuros,es muy poco interesante. Leí esto en una edición sin sus orígenes,después fuí a leerlo y no me perdí nada,todo estaba explicado en el libro principal y ni siquiera llegamos a ver qué sucedió después de que lo encarcelaron.



Lo único bueno de este fue el humor de los primeros números,la relación entre James y Gordon y la referencia a Beyond. Aparte de eso,una historia tediosa.

[Amin Matin · Rating 3 out of 5]

«بتمنی که میخندد» نباید خونده بشه مگه اینکه آرک داستانی محفل جغدها که میشه ولیوم اول ران New 52 خونده باشید، ارتباط داستانی سنگینی باهم دارند. طراحی‌ها همچنان عالی با داستان نه چندان خوب و تاثیرگذار، همون کلیشه‌ی همیشگی

[kartik narayanan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

Gave up after 10 pages. I couldnt get into it.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Batman Who Laughs is not only the best character to come out of the great Dark Nights: Metal event but he’s also the best character that Scott Snyder has created at DC. A Joker-ized version of a broken Batman from the Dark Multiverse that is a combination of the best and worst of both Batman and the Joker is a terrifying thought. And here, in this action-packed miniseries, we get further proof that he might be the most dangerous villain that Batman has ever faced. This book also is an integral chapter to the over-arching DC story being told by Snyder, including his Batman, Justice League, and Metal stories.



The Batman Who Laughs launches a plot to corrupt Gotham with Dark energy by gathering genetic material from various Batmen across the multiverse and reappropriating Batman’s secret city fail-safes. The story recalls every bit of history from Snyder’s legacy with Batman (all the way back to Batman: The Black Mirror) and it’s been a while since I’ve felt such danger to Bruce Wayne (since maybe "Court of Owls"). Bruce is fighting for his life here and you really feel it as he struggles to keep his sanity and save Gotham while trying not to stumble down the same dark path as the Batman Who Laughs. But how can Batman fight someone who knows his every move, someone who has the same cunning and skills as him but is also paired with the chaotic madness of his greatest enemy? You’ll have to read this cool book to find out.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if the Batman and Joker turned into one evil being? Such is the horror in this tale as Batman risks all to defeat this opponent.

Rampant themes about becoming the monster to fight the monster.

MY GRADE: B to B plus.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Impossible to care about so many batmans and waynes who only exist to be killed for plot fuel.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.

Is happiness a state of complete release of all worries in the world? Is it an indicator of one’s own satisfaction with his behaviour and accomplishments in life? What happens when you live a life where you simply can’t indulge such a luxury? Writer Scott Snyder continues to develop the complex ramifications of his dark multiverse by looking into the mind of one of the deadliest villains to have ever been created. Drawing upon all of his work, from The Black Mirror to The Court of Owls, he creates one of the most terrifying stories that pushes Batman on the verge of insanity looking for solutions to the impending end that is promised in this war where only one Batman comes out alive. This isn’t about revenge or about proving a point. This is a battle about winning or losing against one another. And Batman does not plan to go down gently.

What is The Batman Who Laughs about? Following the events of Dark Nights: Metal, the dark multiverse is introduced to the DC Universe and paved the way for dark versions of Batman to reign havoc. Among these alternate evil creatures born from the fears of people is the Batman Who Laughs from Earth-22 who succumbed to the Joker’s toxin and lost his sanity. By far the most chilling version of Batman, he’s now enacting a sinister plan across the Multiverse and has Bruce Wayne right at the heart of it. Although the future now lies in Batman’s hands as he’s forced into contemplating breaking the one rule he’d never break, the Batman Who Laughs brings into play another Batman whose mere presence crushes all hopes of life: the Grim Knight. Facing these deadly threats, Batman now has to play a very perilous game and seek help in the dark corners of Gotham if he wants to win this war.

Collecting The Batman Who Laughs #1-7 and The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1, this limited mini-series is Scott Snyder’s most personal story as he looks into exploring the little voice in the back of everyone’s head, the one that reduces everyone into nothingness and irrelevancy. By far the most gruesome Bat-centric story—definitely rated R—the level of violence escalates to unprecedented levels. There are limbs sliced off, heads rolling down mountains of corpses, and an incredible amount of blood covering each page of this story. You just can’t help but fall into a never-ending loop of insanity as Batman struggles to find the right approach to taking down the Batman Who Laughs and the Grim Knight. As expected from Scott Snyder, this is what writer Grant Morrison would have created in his prime but with a bit more trouble gauging the pacing and the amount of exposition in his stories. It’s his ambition and endeavor that made me enjoy this more than I should’ve but the ideas explored remain sublime in every way possible.

Throughout the story, Scott Snyder also explores the meaning of happiness: what is it and how do you attain it? With the Batman Who Laughs’s personal experience, Batman receives a whole oratory on his own perception of happiness and the symbolism behind the bat he wears honorably on his chest. He thus limps his way through the creature’s torturous plan and slowly realizes that he might indeed be the worse Batman in the multiverse and there’s nothing he can do about it. To accentuate the dread, the despair, and the chaos within himself, Scott Snyder leans onto artist Jock’s phenomenal visual style. Relying a lot on shadows, smudges, and vibrant contrasts, his artwork relays the horrors that Batman lives through as well as his continuous and strainful battle with insanity.

Letterer Sal Cipriano also plays a big role in contributing to the overall theme of this volume as he utilizes a horror calligraphy in red for The Batman Who Laughs but also for Batman when he is pulled into the lunacy. He even leaves some letters in white, conveying a coded message that expresses the terror within Bruce Wayne and how he’s trying as well as he can to hold on to reality and remain sane. The colours by David Baron also give the story a peculiar and atmospheric tone. It’s safe to say that this creative team made sure to work in sync and explore the madness taking place right in Bruce Wayne’s mind.

The Batman Who Laughs is a ghastly tale that mutates Batman into his worse nightmare to outplay a deadly scheme drawn by a monster straight from the underbellies of the Dark Multiverse.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following his work both Detective Comics and Batman, writer Scott Snyder haven't quite lived up to the brilliance of before, even with working alongside the artist Jock on some issues of All-Star Batman and Wytches for Image. Especially after doing DC's 2017 event Dark Nights: Metal, Snyder fell into the pitfalls of the typical event comic. However, if there is one thing to like about Metal was the evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse, including the Batman Who Laughs, a Joker-like figure that could exist in the demonic world of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser.

Combining everything that makes the Caped Crusader a hero and the Clown Prince a killer, the Batman Who Laughs teams up with another evil version of Batman known as the Grim Knight, to turn Bruce Wayne's home of Gotham City into an incubator for evil. As Bruce and Commissioner Gordon struggle to stop these multi-versal forces, both compromise in their own way to stop this threat, from the former losing his insanity to the latter confronting his past.

Reuniting the writer and one of the two artists behind The Black Mirror — one of the best self-contained Batman stories — Snyder and Jock presents their most demented Bat-tale, on the basis of its eponymous villain, showcasing Snyder's love of horror. Snyder's pushing of said horror is also evident in not only the appearance of the Joker, but our heroic Bruce Wayne slowly loses his mind, due to contacting with the Joker's toxin that will turn anyone into the next Clown Prince of Crime. Although you can see plot similarities to the 2015 videogame Batman: Arkham Knight, Snyder makes his story a psychologically scary one with Bruce becomes his own antagonist, as well as towards his allies such as Alfred and Gordon.

Although The Black Mirror was a self-contained narrative that may evoke elements of Bat-history, The Batman Who Laughs juggles a lot more elements that heart back to previous DC titles that Snyder wrote, including a brief appearance from the Court of Owls, which seems padded on. Being a loose continuation of Snyder's run on Detective Comics, Gordon reunites with his psychopathic son James Jr. in order to stop the evil Batmen. Although the relationship between the two Gordons was the standout theme previously, there are echoes here that remind us of the tension between the father and the son, although the attempt of redemption towards the end feels unearned.

Ever since reading The Losers, I have been an instant fan of Jock's artwork, which is gritty and applies well to the crime-ridden streets of Gotham, especially under Snyder's horror-based writing. Showing three different versions of Batman, Jock achieves each of these characters their own unique look, from our hero slowly becoming Jokerized, to the Grim Knight packing as many guns as he can, to finally the Batman Who Laughs looking more demonic than ever before. It also helps that the lettering by Sal Cipriano serves a device in capturing the language of several characters, including Bruce Wayne's word balloons becoming red and scratchy as the series goes on.

In between the main series, Snyder and co-writer James Tynion IV do a one-shot issue about the origins of the Grim Knight, showing how Bruce's life (in another universe) was changed by not only the death of his parents, but also killing that mugger by his own gun. Presenting a more dystopian spin on Gotham City — stunningly drawn by Eduardo Russo, who references Frank Miller's two Bat-masterpieces from the 1980s — it really shows the worst scenario of Batman taking the laws into his own hands and bending the citizens to his will, much to the resistance of the former police commissioner.

After the baggage of Metal, this miniseries reaffirms Snyder's strength by writing more self-contained tales, which have a more singular vision that does more justice to the Dark Knight, along with Jock's freakishly awesome art.

[Ronald · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this back as single issues but gave up the story was so bad. I had hoped the story would be better when read in a collection. But I was wrong. I do not understand the fetish of writers wanting to have a "BAD! and EVIL!" Batman. I mean there are already dozens in the DC Comics Universe there really no reason to make up a new one. I mean I read comics to find heroes as the real world is full of uncaring evil. I don't need to see Batman as evil or anything like that he is just Batman if you can't tell a good Batman story without inventing an entire side universe that is dark and evil and the true mirror into the souls of man then you are not really trying.

I guess the worst thing is the writing is sloppy and gets boring. The same story could have been told in just 4-5 issues without having to repeat itself a couple of times. How many times do we need to hear Alfred wail at Batman "Don't go evil, give up the fight, just find a cure." Sigh.

[Marco · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much needless babbling, I couldn't wait to finish reading this.