Death of a Fan
The "epic conclusion" of this heart wrenching and anxiety building story arc has was rather lackluster compared to the build up.
What went down:
So up until this point the Joker has tracked down and screwed with the Batfamily, and now the Joker has them all together. The Joker pretends he cut off everyone's faces like he did to his own and is about to kill them all when all of a sudden, Batman breaks the ceiling of the cave and water rushes in and he saves the day in THE biggest cop out since Superman "didn't actually die." Then everyone goes home. Sigh.
The Good:
So I did like seeing the Joker's plan revealed completely; it was brilliantly psychotic. The best thing though was when Batman was fighting the Joker, now wining, when Joker's face started to fall off, turning his creepy smile into a scowl and slowly fading. I thought that process was brilliantly drawn and thought out. Also I love how after he is defeated, which is in a great way, Bruce immediately rushes to Damian who shows real fear and emotion. Showing the relationship of the Bats is rare in the New 52 and seeing it was great.
The Bad:
Alright, this is where I have too much to say which saddens me. First thing is the blowing the ceiling to put out the fire. I believe there could have been a different way to say the day without that cop-out. Then we have the ending; everyone is saved a happy and Bruce want's to spend time with them, try to patch the rift between all of them. But, no. They all make excuses to go. It's the Death of the Family alright, the death of their relationship with them in fandom. The message is pretty clear. One of the things that I loved about the Batman and associated comics was the relationship the characters had with each other. I've been reading the titles in hopes I would enjoy the plot and characters and such, but honestly this ending? I might not be reading DC for a little bit.
