BATMAN #34 Preview/Discussion

[Grayson]

It feels great to be out of Zero Year. (Not that it was bad I just wanted the main Bat title to go back to the present timeline again) But pretty good one shot issue. I wasn't sure if that mysterious killer was Joker in disguise, but nonetheless still creepy.

[Maxpower00044]

I'm pretty sure the guy digging the grave is supposed to be the new serial killer who tries to make it in Gotham, that this issue is about.

I'm sure this seems obvious, but that fly on that one panel really makes you think. I do think it's the villain of the arc more than I think it's the Joker, but it's hard to deny that doesn't make you at least think it's the Joker. At least, for me it does.

[Nite-Wing]

Its obviously Joker
Snyder is very on the nose when it comes to the Joker just like with red hood #1

[MajorHoy]

A friend of mine just pointed out that the dude digging in the first page of the preview could be The Joker. The smile, the nose, and the fact that on the last panel of the pages has a fly in the foreground could all be clues (or red herrings).

[AlexanderLuthor]

I've only looked at the preview, but odd that in the montage page Bruce says "And the clown is still missing" - just an odd reference if this isn't going to ba Joker tale. He also mentions that Gordon is still in Blackgate so I guess that doesn't get wrapped up in Eternal

[FHIZ]

Its obviously Joker
Snyder is very on the nose when it comes to the Joker just like with red hood #1

No, it's not.

And this issue is not set after Eternal. There's no indication of anything being different or contrary to present (during Eternal) continuity. One major point is that Arkham Asylum is still standing, there's no Arkham Manor just yet. Pretty sure Snyder just misspoke when he said this was after Eternal, or Newsarama misinterpreted something.

[EnterDuration]

Sorry, how does the fly in the foreground relate to the Joker?

[Samson3191]

I might be in the minority here, but I LOVED the artwork. Really nailed the whole vibe perfectly. Very creepy ending.

[Maxpower00044]

I might be in the minority here, but I LOVED the artwork. Really nailed the whole vibe perfectly. Very creepy ending.

Definitely not in the minority. Matteo Scalera is a beast!!!! Can't wait to read this later.

[Dzetoun]

Okay, since we are well past the spoiler free time:


It was interesting to me how much this underscored that Snyder (who wrote the story but not the actual script) remains committed to many of the themes he explored in DOTF. In this case, it's the idea of anonymity or unknown identity. The killer here is anonymous and holds firmly to his lack of identity just as the Joker does, seeing it as a source of power, just as evidently the Joker does. Batman punishes him by at least partially stripping away the anonymity, just as he wished to do with the Joker, or at least threatened to do whether he was capable of doing so or not. Ironically, of course, he strips the killer's anonymity away by deliberately associating him with the Joker, the other great anonymous (or "identity unknown") killer.

The setup for the Joker's return is obvious, from playing with the identity theme, to the actual reference to the Joker being missing and his absence being like the eye of a hurricane, to the actual use of his cell at Arkham, to the final reference of the orderly. The last reference (i.e. "won't the Joker be mad?" about Batman using his cell and his reputation in the way he did) underscores Snyder's reference to how, when the Joker reappears, it's all going to be about hatred. This may or may not signal Joker's presence in ENDGAME or Eternal, but the foreshadowing couldn't be more obvious if it were drawn in the blacker-than-black color that Dr. Leslie mentions.

[Claude]

Nice little one-and-done. Hope we never see this villain again, though - making him Big would seem to defeat the point.

I was more surprised to see that the back-pages teasing "Endgame" mentioned that the Justice League is going to be in it! That's a bit of a surprise!

[ispacehead]

A decent issue. Not wonderfully memorable, but I did enjoy it more than the past several.

Seems like Snyder's one and done's are at least tolerable.

[ABH]

Good issue, though with the art and story, it actually made me think more of "Detective Comics" than "Batman", but that's definitely not a bad thing.

I kind of lol'd at Batman successfully disguising himself as Leslie, though.

[Vil_Dee]

No, it's not.

And this issue is not set after Eternal. There's no indication of anything being different or contrary to present (during Eternal) continuity. One major point is that Arkham Asylum is still standing, there's no Arkham Manor just yet. Pretty sure Snyder just misspoke when he said this was after Eternal, or Newsarama misinterpreted something.

Well it at least has to take place further along in the Eternal storyline then we are currently at since Selina has not become the underworld kingpin yet. So what did this issue spoil? Gordon was actually convicted of killing all those people. Batman's relationship with the police force went down the crapper again (so either Bard soured to him, or someone else was put as commish who is hostile). And I think that was Arkham Manor. Look how clean and orderly it was. How could that be the same rubbly, blood soaked, spirit infested Arkham Asylum we've been reading about in the last few issues of Eternal? If this is not after Eternal then it has to be right near the end of it. Plus the sudden mention of the Joker is weird, since Batman hasn't mentioned him at all in the present tense since Dotf, and he hasn't come up in the Eternal storyline so far.

[Claude]

And I think that was Arkham Manor.

Nah - why would the Joker have an "old cell" in Arkham Manor?