Read our review of Batman #142 from DC Comics, written by Chip Zdarsky with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Sorrentino.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Batman #142 Review:
The Joker: Year One storyline kicks off in this issue with two different timelines. In a flashback illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli, we find out some of what happened after Joker fell in that vat of chemicals. And in the future sequences illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino, the world gets taken over by The Joker. Uh-oh!
Host Justin Tyler called the future flashes “very interesting,” and was particularly intrigued by the glimpses of Barbara Gordon as the new commissioner of Gotham. And while he thought it was “great” and liked the issue, the idea of getting back to the Three Joker story gave him pause.
Meanwhile, Alex Zalben added, “Chip Zdarsky has been slowly and meticulously building everything that is going on his Batman run… To your point about Three Jokers, I wonder how that meshes with everything else that Zdarsky is setting up. Like how does that gel with Failsafe stuff, Zur en arrh stuff, or Vandal Savage stuff that’s bubbling in the background?”
Though Tyler expressed that “it feels separate,” Zalben continued, “I think he has a plan… I don’t think he would bring it in unless it was weaving together into something. I don’t think we know what it is. But this feels very purposeful in terms of jumping back — and jumping forward –and working the Joker in here.”
On the art side of things, Zalben said, “Giuseppe Camuncoli has made himself into the commensurate Joker artist at this point… And Andrea Sorrentino’s art is always stunning.”
Batman #142 Official Synopsis:
THE JOKER YEAR ONE, REVEALED BY CHIP ZDARSKY AND GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI! The tragic “death” of the leader of the Red Hood Gang in a vat of chemicals has become the subject of myth…but what is the heartbreaking and gruesome tale of the monster who walked away from that violent birth? And how does it affect Batman’s distant future? “The Joker Year One” begins here!
