I will admit to having a Grant Morrison bias. I honestly love everything about his Batman run. (See my previous post on Batman, Inc.) I only read "Death of the Family" to see what all the hype was about. I read Batman #13-17 in one sitting. I've gotta say, it felt very empty and meaningless as I was reading it, and now that I've taken it all in, I find it particularly perverse and over-the-top ridiculous. That said, I can't tell if it's a bad Batman story, or a really good Joker story.
People complain about Morrison writing "Batgod," I have to call out Scott Snyder for writing "Jokerdevil." This version of the Joker has transcended regular human levels of villainy. He's become extraordinarily capable at committing crimes and yet he remains entirely elusive, like some sort of pale ghost demon. He lives in a delusion where the only thing that matters is his relationship with Batman; everyone else is peripheral, or even worse, disposable--a means to the end of making Batman notice him.
On a metafictional level, this book satisfied little more than the typical horror fan's desire to gaze into the dark abyss yet from a safe distance where he or she can walk away unscathed, save some slight emotional trauma, just like all the main characters at the end. Their skins weren't saved by the efforts of their own heroism, surprisingly it was thanks to the mercy given from the Joker himself. Not only his mercy, but also his deep-seated fear of pushing Batman too close to the breaking point. The story undermined itself, concluding that no matter how homicidal and torturous the Joker becomes, the Bat-Family and their secrets are off limits because in some warped way he needs their (and especially Batman's) "loving" attention.
It's an interesting story conceit that a man so completely criminal and deranged would have the wherewithal to drive so much of the plot. In a way, he earned the mechanic's outfit he wore in this arc with his workman-like ability to craft and commit so many crimes. I still find it bizarre that DC would decide that the New 52 Joker should display a greater fondness for grotesqueries, and yet continue to assault Batman with little more than empty threats, cheap stunts, and outlandish bluffs like in the Silver Age. Either he's a legitimate threat, or he's not--Snyder can't have it both ways. I almost hate to admit it, but I appreciate the Joker more when his actions have more serious consequences (like in The Killing Joke, A Death in the Family, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker). Very often, he proves that he's more than just an ineffectual clown, but unfortunately that's what he's ultimately revealed as here.
We all know the reasons (both fictional and realistic) why Batman can't kill him, but it makes absolutely no sense that no one else would (or could). In real life, somebody would have killed him after his first crime spree. Look at what happened in the news recently to madman Christopher Dorner... I just realized how much this story makes me appreciate what happened in the opening pages of Grant Morrison's first arc (when the cop impersonating Batman shoots Joker in the head). The Joker may be one of the greatest comic book villains of all time, and I'm no fan of capital punishment, but it's hard for me to suspend my disbelief that Batman and Gotham City would continue to tolerate his existence.
In fact, the most unsettling aspect of the story for me was the reveal that Batman finds himself literally captivated by the Joker's personality, enabling him to resurface time and time again. The last page of issue 15's main story said it all, and his talks with the sidekicks and Alfred made it even more explicit. He keeps playing right into the Joker's hand as he tries to understand him. He doesn't realize that the more he chases the Joker, the more he validates the Joker's sado-masochistic fantasies. Is this the secret that has slightly alienated Batman's allies? The Batman himself has some strong delusions and blind spot that tends to allow the King of Chaos enough power and freedom to establish his rule. The Joker may pretend be the jester of Batman's court, but it's all just a ruse to make King Batman play the fool.
In the end, Batman caught on to the Joker's devices and turned them on him by bluffing back. Bruce doesn't really know who the Joker used to be and probably never will. The real ironic twist is that the Joker is more afraid of having his secret identity exposed than Batman is. His new face-cutting hobby was little more than elaborate misdirection--a literal metaphor exposing Joker's actual face as his true mask. When Batman finally gave the Joker the undivided attention he kept begging for, he couldn't handle it, once again letting himself fall into oblivion. Thus we have the dramatic reveal that the Joker actually has little to no interest in Batman's "secret" identity, while Batman remains haunted by the fact that the ghost clown seems to have entirely forsaken not only his former identity, but even more-so his fundamental humanity.
For the most part, I found this story too disaffecting, but it wasn't completely without merit. Greg Capullo's art definitely deserves a mention. It was appropriately dark and disturbing, but with a cartoonish sensibility that really fit. I'm not sure I'll ever be a fan of deadface!Joker, but I'm almost convinced that Snyder does indeed 'get' who the Joker is, even if it seems to be on a more subconscious level, considering how much of this storyline lacked substance. I mean that literally; the Joker in this story ended up being much more of a psychological threat than a physical threat. Usually, I would not complain about a psychological Batman story because he and his villains have always been largely psychological characters, but in this case it totally worked against the plausibility of the plot. Still, this was one of the more memorable Joker stories in recent history, and it borrowed enough classic elements to make it noteworthy. I guess the creepy clown was about due for a major spotlight in the funny books. I can deal with the gratuitous facelift because I'm certain his face won't be floppy forever. He reinvents himself far too often to stay that way.
Look forward to my future post, "Batman vs. Joker: A Homophobic Fantasy?"
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