Batman #37 Review: Like A Batman Zombie Movie

If you’ve ever wondered what Batman would be like if up against a zombie apocalypse, you need to read Batman #37. It’s not the walking dead he’s up against here, but the citizens of Gotham City succumbing to an airborne virus created by the Joker. And in some ways, that’s actually worse.

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Snyder has said all along that he felt like “Endgame” would get to a darker place than “Death of the Family,” and I think we start to see it here. He makes Batman watch what he does to Gotham, then springs some very personal mind games on him. Discussion of those particulars has tobe saved until after the spoiler warning, but it’ll be interesting to see the reaction to the Joker’s particular bit of knowledge that allows him to hit Batman where it hurts most came about. There’s certainly an air of finality to all of it that makes the name of the arc a worthy one.

I can’t really decide if I’m digging Capullo’s Joker or not. It’s so tough to say because the villain literally has a new face, and it’s possible I’m just not used to it yet. But everything else is, as usual, top drawer, including a dynamic two-page spread with Batman and Jim Gordon going through parallel challenges at the same time. Plus he gets to draw Batman crashing through windows multiple times and showing off his wide range of different grimaces.

“Endgame” has been the thrill ride you’d expect it to be as soon as it was found to be a Joker story, and this issue doesn’t let you have much time to breathe or consider getting off. Good stuff.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

When last we saw them, the Joker basically had Batman at his mercy. Killing the Dark Knight wouldn’t have been that much fun, so Bruce finally breaks the hold of the paralysis toxin and finds he’s back with Alfred and Julia. Things in Gotham City have gotten pretty bad since he’s been out, with Bruce learning that the Joker has cooked up the most ingenious virus he’s ever concocted, one that makes people laugh and then spreads through laughter. Nothing Alfred and Julia have tested int he way of previous cures has worked.

Bruce decides he needs to see if there’s a Patient Zero with some initial resistance, and he finds that person might be at Gotham Presbyterian. Naturally, that hospital is located in the middle of the affected area and has a reputation for being haunted.

On his way into town by air, Batman gets a call from Jim Gordon. He’s ready to put a contingency plan into place the moment Bruce gives the word …

… only he soon has his hands full with a certain smiling visitor. Love the boxing glove that Joker uses to knock him out from the closet.

Batman battles his way into and through Gotham Presbyterian while being accosted by Joker-ized citizens. He finds Patient Zero and it’s … Joe Chill? Adding to the psycho-drama, Joker has part of the hospital done up to look like Crime Alley the night Bruce’s parents were killed. Batman manages to save one boy from people who have fallen victim to the toxin, including the boy’s own mom and dad, but the dread is starting to set in that the Joker knows his secret identity.

Meanwhile, Gordon thinks he’s shot and killed the Joker, but he’s either miscalculated or been overcome by the toxin himself. The issue ends with Joker calling Batman by his real name.

The Big Question: Obviously, Joker had every opportunity to peek behind the cowl at the end of issue #36. The question is, would he? As much as I like Snyder’s writing and feel like Joker might be motivated to play by slightly different ruels after Bruce ruined his “gift” during “Death of the Family,” I can’t decide how I feel about this. Part of me thinks that Joker wouldn’t care who Batman is, because all that matters to him is matching wits against the Dark Knight.

Final thought: This story almost has to end with Joker’s death, right? Because now that he knows Batman’s identity, there’s really no going back …

Final, final thought: You know, even though Identity Crisis was a pre-New 52 story, Bruce does know people with the power to do mindwipes. Wouldn’t it be ironic if he had to call upon them to do the same thing to the Joker at the end of this arc? It would be another victory for his arch-foe, in a way, since it would mean compromising his principles.

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