Batman Volume 7: Endgame is Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s latest addition of their Batman series. Engame is the sinister return of the Joker after his disappearance at the end Batman Vol. 3 Death of the Family. He’s back for their final showdown. For years, the Joker has regarded Batman with a sick, twisted love, thinking that one could never exist without the other. Last time the Joker set to kill members of Batman’s team, removing a weakness of the hero but now, he’s just out to kill Batman. The Joker has returned to Gotham City with a deadlier plan than ever before and is finally going to kill the Dark Knight. Collects Batman #35 - 40.This is it, one of the biggest Batman Joker epics ever told, for decades the Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight have battled it out for years with the Joker stooping to new lows and different forms of evil. The Joker’s latest agenda is to end all that and end the Batman once and for all. He’s deadly serious this time. The Joker’s first appearance in this New 52 Batman series was The Death of the Family story arc where he had returned to Gotham City after a year long disappearance after his face was cut off and reattached with belts, wires and hooks. Batman had thought he was gone for good at the end of the story. In this sequel, Joker has re-emerged with his face somehow repaired and he’s back with a vengeance this time. This story takes place after the events of Batman Eternal, Batman has a new base in Gotham and Alfred’s daughter Julia, who now works with Batman in his new base. Things kick off when Bruce Wayne is attack by members of the Justice League and battles the heroes on the streets of Gotham. Batman is horrified to learn that the Joker is behind the attack. What follows is a creepy, and sometimes bone chilling story. As the curtain is lifted on where the Joker has been hiding all this time is the first big chilling revelation of the sinister story. New light is shed on who the Joker is, it’s a thrilling read. Writer Scott Snyder first began his comic’s career writing horror comics, his unique style of horror had carried over to his Batman work and it’s been more evident in this Endgame story arc. His entire run has been horror driven, both the story arcs featuring the Joker have had a claustrophobic setting and a callous disregard for human life.
It’s a bit of a mind flip at times, twists turns and revelations, it messes with the readers head as well as Batman’s. What you thought to be true isn’t. its incredibly satisfying that readers are right there with a perplexed batman, so often is the Dark Knight depicted as a figure one step ahead of everyone else. One of the greatest stories of Batman run by Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, his artwork on the series reaches new heights of creative and gruesome imagery in Snyder’s masterful storytelling. The art complements to the horror elements of the tale. The ending duel is one the most brutal and bloodiest comic book battles I’ve ever read, this two icons slugging it out in a bloody frenzy to the end. It will considered as one of the greatest Batman Joker stories ever told.
Death of the Family was the first Joker story of the New 52 Batman series, Endgame is a brilliant sequel to one of the most significant stories of Snyder and Capullo’s Batman series. Endgame offers up a new mysterious origin for the Joker adding new mystery to who the Clown Prince of Crime was before what happened him in Zero Year, whilst still preserving the mystique that makes the Joker who he is. Endgame is an appropriate title for the story act, not only was the story originally intended to be both the creators final arc on their four year Batman run, that celebrated both the 75th anniversary of Batman and the debut of The Joker but it’s conclusion drastically changes the status quo of the Batman universe, opening the door to many new possibilities of storytelling. Endgame reads and feels like the finale, with its call-backs to the Court of the Owls and Zero Year events and serving as a sequel to The Death of the Family made it easy to imagine this as the series finale by Snyder and Capullo, thankfully it’s not. The creators aren’t jumping ship at a time they’ve made the title more interesting. It’s their second Joker epic is a brilliant story adding new mystery to an already mysterious character.
Batman Volume 7 Endgame brings a brutal and bloody conclusion between the Batman and Joker long running conflict to a close for who knows how long. Its display of action, tension and dark moments. Even though it may feel like another Batman Joker story this is the one to end all Batman Joker stories with raised stakes than ever before. Taking what has been done before and injecting it with more excitement. Batman Endgame is the biggest, boldest story told to date and will be for a long time, a modern classic. It’s the biggest story line during the creative duo’s excellent four year run on the series. A thrilling story of the most famous rivalries in comic’s history in honour of its 75th anniversary.
