Batman #25 Review

Writer: Tom King/Artist: Mikel Janín/DC Comics Tom King’s officially been in the driver’s seat for Batman for a year. And what a year it’s been. To celebrate the journey we’ve all taken thus far, King brings us an event DC’s been building up to for a while. When I first heard about “The War of Jokes and Riddles” I was a combination of curious and confused – the former more than the latter. There are plenty of reasons one could come up with to have The Riddler and The Joker face-off. But would the one King chose be any good? The answer is yes. The latest issue of Batman keeps Batman in the background as he narrates the story of a time when two of his greatest foes went to war, essentially over him. If your main points of reference for either the Joker or Riddler are from another medium, it’s time to catch up and find out just how incredibly powerful they both are. If this issue does anything, it shows just how destructive and capable they both can be with the proper motivation.

Ah, speaking of motivation. Allow me to stand up and applaud the mental acrobatics it took to figure out that Batman was the spark to starting this war. Both of our main characters, because Batman’s working increasingly well as a supporting character, are staving off bouts of depression and complacency in their lives. After their countless run-ins with the Dark Knight, neither have anything to show for it outside of busted riddles and ruined punchlines. How do they plan to fix it? Well, Joker believes …