Off To A Fantastic Beginning

Batman 13
DC Comics
Scott Snyder, writer
Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion, artists

I've deliberately avoided buying the main Batman books since The New 52! relaunch of the DCnU. I don't hate Batman. I like the character a lot. But I can read about him interacting with his colleagues in Justice League and didn't want to get trapped buying a bunch of Bat books while trying to limit my comics spending since the birth of our daughter. The relaunch just seemed like a good jumping off point.

Having said that, I got caught up in the hype surrounding the Joker's return and decided to pick up the issues that related to the "Death of the Family" crossover event in all of the Bat books. There are a few titles I'm still not picking up, even for this crossover, such as Birds of Prey, Teen Titans and Red Hood and the Outlaws, because I'm just not that interested in the new versions of those characters. But for the duration of the crossover, I've added Batman and Batman and Robin to my usual Nightwing and Batgirl.

Except I apparently missed pre-ordering a copy of Batman No. 13, the kick-off to the entire thing. Even though I receive the bulk of my comics on a monthly basis, I try to keep up with what books come out each week so that I can read them as if I picked up the new books as they come out. That's how I became aware of the arrival of this issue to comic book shop shelves and noted that it was absent from my order sheet for that month. Several frantic trips to area bookstores and comic shops later, I finally managed to snag a copy and began to wonder if the issue would really be worth all of that effort.

It was.

All of the major players are written very well. Batman's mind is racing on a number of levels: how can he stop the Joker, how can he protect his friends and allies, how can he protect specific intended targets, what is the Joker's overall plan, where will he strike next. He's brilliant in his reasoning, and while he is distant and aloof to a casual observer, he isn't dismissive or abusive to Police Commissioner Jim Gordon or his costumed proteges. The Joker is twisted and maniacal, but as with the best Joker stories, this Joker also has much method to his madness. Here Joker is every bit the strategist Batman is, the two are truly each other's opposite.

This is a truly fantastic beginning for what I hope will be a wonderful crossover event. Fingers crossed.