The fatal flaw of Death of the Family is the same problem with the ending of LOST. The serialized nature of their respective mediums and the months in between each issue/season gave fans way too much time to speculate about and over-hype the ending. It was inevitable that the ending could only ever be a disappointment to some. If Death of the Family had been released as a graphic novel, it would have—and probably still will—go down as one of the best Batman stories ever. Without going into spoilers I think a lot of fans will be initially disappointed by the outcome of this story arc. That being said, this is a masterpiece. When the hype settles down and the entire story is read in trade paperback form, this will be regarded as one of the defining Batman/Joker stories of all time.
First, let’s praise the artwork. Greg Capullo has done nothing but outstanding work on his run of Batman. This is the issue that lets him cut loose and in my opinion showcases him at his best. The way Joker’s face hangs off his flesh and slowly rots has been done so well. This issue allows Capullo to illustrate a lot of action and the pace is pitch perfect. I felt that this entire story arc was rendered beautifully and I love the way Capullo draws Batman.
Snyder made The Joker as terrifying as he’s ever been. He did such a good job at it that it ended up working against him, as fans thought that anything could happen in this issue and began theorizing of all the worst possible scenarios. As soon as that happened, any ending that wasn’t what people had theorized became doomed to be a let down. We do find out what is under the serving trays, and it is horrifying. When I saw the reveal, it turned The Joker into the most evil creature that had ever lived. Everything gets paid off and there are still some surprises after the reveal which I’m sure will be the source of the controversy surrounding this issue.
The real story in this issue is in the dialogue. What Joker says to Batman is what this entire arc has been about. It’s about the relationship between Batman and the Joker and what it means to both of them. The Joker feels that the Bat-family has made Batman weak and all throughout the story has spoken of his love for Batman. It’s a philosophical conversation about the nature of these two characters and points out why we love them. The ending of this issue contains a fantastic battle between Batman and The Joker and we learn as much about Batman as we do about The Joker.
Snyder adds to the Batman mythos in a way that will leave you pondering about these two characters. It’s a profound ending. This issue felt like a great episode of Batman: the Animated Series in a lot of ways and I think after the controversy has settled, it will be a Batman story that fans will revisit for a very long time.
This story is immensely satisfying in a way that a lot of fans probably won’t expect, which is what will make it so divisive. Go back and read this story arc from beginning to end and what you will discover is that Snyder and Capullo have crafted an amazing read.
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6 Comments
Great arc overall but I have to say, I didn’t really feel the ‘break up’ of the family.
I agree with the comments about Capullo’s artwork, it is sublime, and Snyder’s look at the dynamic between Bats and Joker is fantastic, however I feel it didn’t go far enough. It was called ‘Death of the Family’, and most people were expecting something bigger than ‘Death in the Family’, however it wasn’t so much a death, more like a divorce. The reveal of the serving trays was a shock, but the payoff cancelled it out and left it all a bit underwhelming, IMO. Will be interesting to see how it all goes from here on in though.
Good point. Like you I was a little underwhelmed but I think it was underwhelming because of all the hype that surrounded it. I think when someone with no expectations reads the story the whole way through I think they’ll enjoy it a lot. This is a story that’s going to age very well.
I totally missed the boat on the issues but will definitely be reading the collected hardback edition. Sounds fantastic!
I wouldn’t go as far as to say That it was an all-time classic Batman tale, but it was certainly a good one. I wasn’t too disappointed by the ending although rumour is that ‘the shocker’ will actually come in the release of a different Bat title next week!. Snyder is a great comics writer and his run on Detective (old DC) & Batman (New 52) has been pretty impressive especially after the vastly overrated & fairly baffling Grant Morrison run. I’d like to see him take a break & quit whilst he is ahead. I’d personally like to see a more traditional take on Batman for a while, I hear Geoff John’s Green Lantern tenure is coming to a close & I couldn’t think of anybody I’d like to see take on the character more (in mainstream continuity anyway, the excellent Batman: Earth One doesn’t count!).
Much like Court of Owls, I really loved the story until the end where the reveal left me with a disappointed “oh”. Snyder really nailed the Batman/Joker dynamic, but we were promised an event that would change the Bat Family in a meaningful, permanent way. Even the name, which alluded to the hugely important Death in the Family, told us something big was going to happen. What we got was a weird, interesting but ultimately meaningless bit of retcon at the end with the Arkham scene, and an early to mid 90′s style “everyone is peeved at Batman” ending. At the end, I didn’t feel that this was a real breaking point for the Bat Family, just another in a long history of family tiffs.
As for Greg Capullo’s art, I love the look of the heroes and villains in costume, but I think they look a little too “Disney” with their cowls and masks off. Still that’s a small, subjective complaint about what was, overall, some really great art.
What I like about Morrison’s run, and others, is that he did a big story arc with lots of smaller arcs inside. I’m not getting that feeling from Snyder. It feels as though he cleans up everything like it’s the end of his run after each of his Batman arcs so far. Court of Owls got a few mentions in Death of the Family, but they could have mentioned any non-Joker story and gotten the same point across.
[Insert spoiler part here]
Honestly, it could have ended with it all being a dream and had the same impact: a letdown where no real change happens.
[SPOILERS]
Even in the big reveal of what’s under the cloches, I found myself unimpressed. If everyone had their face removed, everyone would have their face put back on, Joker included. It completely killed the tension of the moment for me. I can only suspend disbelief for so much, and they went too absurd with it. The horse punch didn’t take me out of the story, but the reveal did. That’s how bad it was to me. The reveal I did enjoy was the single panel of the BatComputer showing that Batman didn’t really have Joker’s information.