The Joker War Saga (DC/Hardcover)

 

I haven't followed the regular Batman comic for some considerable time. The introduction of The Court of Owls" in the "New 52" left me cold and the constant crossovers made collecting both too difficult and far too bloody expensive (DC please note). In recent weeks I have either got around to reading and or picking up some Batman self contained mini-series or hardback collections so given this volume promised some extras to the The Joker War in Batman I thought I'd give it a go,

Trouble is so much had already happened by the time the opening pages of the book had even started. I don't know if they advertised a "prequel" collection or not (it's too late for me to go looking for one having read this book) but if there is such a thing do pick it up.

In previous issues it appears The Joker has taken control of the Wayne fortune, Wayne enterprises and is already using Bat-toys against the Bat himself as well as causing mayhem in Gotham City itself. There is a volunteer "Joker Army" on the rampage and most of the other villains appear to be in hiding, at least The Penguin, Riddler and Scarecrow certainly are.

Mr Freeze and his children (?) certainly aren't and there's some new girlfriend for The Joker called Punchline. At least Harley is practically on the right side of justice for once and has to pull Batman out of a haze. Also (in his own comic before this) Nightwing has become The Joker's Bitch as well.

At least I'm familiar with most of the rest of the Bat-family but who the hell are Orphan and Signal? Where's Damien? Was that Cassandra? Alfred's dead, I knew that but not how or when.

As a result of the way the story was constructed I wasn't overly impressed at first and there were some blips in the way the action flowed as a result of the crossover format.  It does make sense the more you read but this collection does illustrate the problem with crossovers being collected even with additional bits.

One last problem was I did find the way the volume was bound made a lot of the text difficult to read. 

Rating: 3 Stars