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A review by unladylike
Batman Vol. 4: The War of Jokes and Riddles by Tom King
5.0
Tom King and crew are killing it in this retrospectively-told tale of a major ongoing bloodbath that occurred when Batman had just a year of caped crusading under his utility belt. If you've been following Batman in recent years, you know Riddler has leveled up to being one of the most menacing antagonists. He still speaks in riddles all the time, but his Question Mark symbol is now dripping in gruesomely shed blood. He derives his power not from cheap, gimmicky parlor tricks and elaborate death traps, but by being a tactician who uses his psychological manipulation skills to control others while seeing all likely outcomes and moves in any given "game."
This book has plenty of great easter eggs, like when Joker takes a cab to 69 Dick Sprang Ave., which the driver points out is kind of a funny name for an address. At first the reference was lost on me, and I just remembered the time in university when some of my friends looked through the phone book (those thick books with thin white, yellow, and grey pages that nobody uses now except as a doorstop) and found a Dick Weiner who lived on Wood Street, and paid him a visit just to confirm it was real. Anyway, Dick Sprang is actually the artist who first drew Riddler back in 1948!
This volume is also a milestone for the culmination of its narrative mechanic - Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are talking in bed in their underwear throughout the whole book, and they adorably call one another "Bat" and "Cat" both in and out of costume. Minor plot spoiler that's probably not a secret by now: they get engaged to be married! I'm actually enjoying their chemistry and complicated romance in this series, but it pisses me off more that they're allowing this after refusing to allow Batwoman's previous writer to have her (Kate Kane) marry her long-time girlfriend, claiming that a wedding in the Bat Family was not allowed.
The art throughout is superb and fitting for the story. There are some plot holes, but the overall point is achieved to great effect. Batman is basically ineffective and powerless against the murder and mayhem Riddler and Joker are able to cause. This is shown in some particularly powerful pages by just having a multi-page spread of black and white photos of a sample selection of the deceased, listing their name, how they died, and who killed them. It is a very long list.
I found it a bit incredible that Joker and Riddler were so quickly able to recruit ALL of the Gotham-based villains (aka Batman's Rogues Gallery) to their respective sides. Like, it wasn't really explained at all how those two had that much leverage, especially in the case of villains with tremendous superpowers, invulnerability, and no family or loved ones. But aside from that little squabble, this is just a fan-fucking-tastic Batman book.
This book has plenty of great easter eggs, like when Joker takes a cab to 69 Dick Sprang Ave., which the driver points out is kind of a funny name for an address. At first the reference was lost on me, and I just remembered the time in university when some of my friends looked through the phone book (those thick books with thin white, yellow, and grey pages that nobody uses now except as a doorstop) and found a Dick Weiner who lived on Wood Street, and paid him a visit just to confirm it was real. Anyway, Dick Sprang is actually the artist who first drew Riddler back in 1948!
This volume is also a milestone for the culmination of its narrative mechanic - Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle are talking in bed in their underwear throughout the whole book, and they adorably call one another "Bat" and "Cat" both in and out of costume. Minor plot spoiler that's probably not a secret by now: they get engaged to be married! I'm actually enjoying their chemistry and complicated romance in this series, but it pisses me off more that they're allowing this after refusing to allow Batwoman's previous writer to have her (Kate Kane) marry her long-time girlfriend, claiming that a wedding in the Bat Family was not allowed.
The art throughout is superb and fitting for the story. There are some plot holes, but the overall point is achieved to great effect. Batman is basically ineffective and powerless against the murder and mayhem Riddler and Joker are able to cause. This is shown in some particularly powerful pages by just having a multi-page spread of black and white photos of a sample selection of the deceased, listing their name, how they died, and who killed them. It is a very long list.
I found it a bit incredible that Joker and Riddler were so quickly able to recruit ALL of the Gotham-based villains (aka Batman's Rogues Gallery) to their respective sides. Like, it wasn't really explained at all how those two had that much leverage, especially in the case of villains with tremendous superpowers, invulnerability, and no family or loved ones. But aside from that little squabble, this is just a fan-fucking-tastic Batman book.