Justr read End Game and I have to say...

[Castiel]

Wow it is the best story I've read. I love how story is written it toys with the idea that Joker is really immortal but it makes you doubt it to. I mean I genuinely want to believe Joker is who claims in the story but at the same time I have reason to doubt it. Ultimately if I can say one thing I don't want Joker to be a stantard run of the mill bad seed like how that Doctor believed because that would be boring and unoriginal.

If there's one thing I can say is I never want Joker's origin to be boring and him being a child psychopath would be the most boring thing they could do. I do feel though it's possible though that Joker never wanted Batman to die I think he wanted to share his immortality with Batman. I think he wanted a friend or partner to share his immortality with him escpecially since the concept of a friend was a recurring theme. However I do like the idea that Joker's own lie was his own undoing.

Like how Batman was calling him on his bluff and said if he was really immortal he had nothing to worry about or something like that. Honestly I also loved the Five different stories and if any and the stories told by the kids in the school. If anything I feel End Game gives readers the chance to decide Joker's past and that's why I like it. If I had to choose I'd say Joker is an immortal Dionysus(word got thrown around a lot which is fitting because Dionysus was the god of drunken style crazy partying and fittingly madness) human that's been around for centuries and became the basis for many myths. However as the Joker said once in the comics "If I have a past I prefer to be multiple choice." and I feel End Game Embodies this line which is what makes it a great story.

[JBatmanFan05]

The immortality angle was clever because Snyder meant it in a meta way, an in-story play on the 75 years so far of surefire immortality of Batman & Joker as comic and pop culture characters, outliving us all.

Snyder did it all just right: no answers, just questions. But Batman knows his answers (but are we quite as sure as Batman? You can be. Or your imagination can make you think maybe Batman missed something.).

I never want Joker's origin, period. Nothing known beyond him being the Red Hood (and even then, you shouldn't know like anything about what the Red Hood was like, except that he fell into those chemicals).

[Castiel]

The immortality angle was clever because Snyder meant it in a meta way, an in-story play on the 75 years so far of surefire immortality of Batman & Joker as comic and pop culture characters, outliving us all.

Snyder did it all just right: no answers, just questions. But Batman knows his answers (but are we quite as sure as Batman? You can be. Or your imagination can make you think maybe Batman missed something.).

I never want Joker's origin, period. Nothing known beyond him being the Red Hood (and even then, you shouldn't know like anything about what the Red Hood was like, except that he fell into those chemicals).

Very true and that is what makes Joker so interesting. He could be any one or anything.

[son of booyah]

Definitely one of the highlights of Snyder's run, specifically the second issue. Got me in the gut, rare comics can do that.

[Metamorphosis]

The immortality angle was clever because Snyder meant it in a meta way, an in-story play on the 75 years so far of surefire immortality of Batman & Joker as comic and pop culture characters, outliving us all.

Snyder did it all just right: no answers, just questions. But Batman knows his answers (but are we quite as sure as Batman? You can be. Or your imagination can make you think maybe Batman missed something.).

I never want Joker's origin, period. Nothing known beyond him being the Red Hood (and even then, you shouldn't know like anything about what the Red Hood was like, except that he fell into those chemicals).

Outstanding post.

Us not knowing anything about the goon in the Red Hood mask that fell in the vat in Secret City was very well done by Snyder too.

I thought Endgame was brilliant. I'm probably doing a disservice to myself by not having read the tie-in stories that weren't included in the initial trade, aren't I?

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm probably doing a disservice to myself by not having read the tie-in stories that weren't included in the initial trade, aren't I?

No, I didn't care for them much and thought they upset the flow of Snyder's stories without adding anything worth remembering.

Snyder and Morrison are 2 writers where I've learned to be quite wary of tie-ins to the their work. The tie-ins tend to hurt and throw off the flow and quality of Snyder and Morrison's work.

[mdotluci]

The only set of tie ins I liked from Synder's work was Zero Year.

[Kingcrimsonprog]

I want to buy the tie-ins but the Owls tie in book was so underwhelming compared to the main story that I've never since bought a tie-ins book.

[JBatmanFan05]

I want to buy the tie-ins but the Owls tie in book was so underwhelming compared to the main story that I've never since bought a tie-ins book.

Yup, that was my first lesson that you don't need or even want tie-ins for Snyder (unless he's writing them! Then they're not even really tie-ins, but basically chapters).

Gone are the 90s and etc days of wanting tie-ins more, because they were more quality and fit more.

[ekrolo2]

It's probably the best arc he's done. The one where everything pretty much sticks the landing, especially the two alternating problems Snyder has: pacing and endings. Court suffered from both, DOTF didn't leave much of a mark, Zero Year's pacing dragged in the middle as did Superheavy but Endgame is where he really didn't mess anything up.

[Thom1]

This may sound dramatic, but this story made me a little more comfortable with my own death. In the opening chapters I thought there was a little too much time devoted to the mechanics of yet another "plague in the city" plot and was ready to be disappointed. However, the last chapter really brought home Snyder's message that death, finality and struggle are what give life meaning, and really hit me in a way that not many other superhero stories do. It also had the benefit of selling the "Joker and Batman codependence" trope better than any other story. Without death, there is no life, without life, there is no death. Really, really well done.

[son of booyah]

I dropped off the boards for a good while and didn't know the community felt positively about this story. That's awesome, as it got REALLY negative on Snyder in here a few years ago.

[Serddar]

Yea, it was a wonderful story.

[Slim Shady]

Real good Joker story, better than DoTF. One of my favorites from Snyder's run. He even gave Joker his face back in a way that made some sense.