Batman #40 - "Endgame: Part 6" Review

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers!

An explosive and beautiful finale that will bring a tear to your eye

Holy shit.

That's about as much as I could say initially. So much goes down in this issue. I expected it to be good, but I never imagined how incredible the events which unfold could truly be.

Batman #40

April 29, 2015 by DC Comics

40 page Comic • $4.99

In Depth

I'd first like to note on the magic juice in the restorative spring of Dionesium. The name Dionesium come from the greek god, Dionysus. Dionysus was worshiped in a great outdoor theatre where the great tragedies were performed. These plays were a method of catharsis for the citizens of ancient Greece, and a great parallel exists in the cathartic element of this story. Like the worship of Dionysus brought the ancient Greeks to view these tragedies, the Dionesium is the catalyst for this fantastic tale depicting demise of the book's yin and yang. 

The fall of these two great characters couldn't have been more bombastic. The beatdown that ensues once Joker shows up in the cavern with Batman and the Dionesium is, in a word, epic. It's hard to create a battle in superhero comics that has a lasting impression, but this fight leaves the reader truly feeling the characters' pain. It's beautiful in a perfectly cringing sort of way.

Now when I first read the issue (before FCBD), I had grand ideas for the Bat signals shown to by filling the sky at the end of the issue. I thought it could be an allusion to the future of the DC universe, hinting at multiple Bats from the Convergence event appearing in Gotham to take up the mantle. Or perhaps the New 52 cities had finally entered Convergence? All these ideas of grandeur are denied in the Free Comic Book Day Divergence issue, but I'll address that in another review.
However, there is still the We Are Robin allusion when the kid is bandaged and walking through Gotham with the Robin R pinned on his chest.

The parts I didn't like about this issue seem like minor gripes when compared to the greatness of the rest of the book. I feel like there was no payoff to the teaser at the end of the last issue. The villains of Gotham all team up with Batman to fight though the Joker-ized citizens between Bats and the Joker. Readers were lead to be excited for this team up, and in the end, it was very short-lived. Of course, all better to get to the meat-n-taters of the issue, but still. Also, the cure for Joker's death-gas was pretty lame. "I knew there was going to be a death-gas so I put a super-cure vapor in everyone's masks..." Really Batman?... Really? Oh well, this issue more than makes up for it.

Verdict

When this arc started, I asked, "Why do Joker again? It feels too soon. Do a different character. Give me something new!" Despite my concerns for an overload of Joker, Snyder delivered with a story both amazing and new in it's own way. Snyder has never failed me yet, and I was a fool to think that this arc would be any different. From the questionable use of Joker-ized Justice League (I say questionable because of how quickly they were dispatched. "Goon today, gone tomorrow" and all that.) to the epic, heart-wrenching finale, this arc has been fun and has kept readers on their toes. It also boasts some of the greatest art currently in comics by Capullo with Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia truly bringing the art to life in intriguing and beautiful ways. The day that Snyder and Capullo are no longer doing Batman will be a sad day indeed. 

So what are you waiting for? Go buy this book! Can't make it more simple than that. This is a superb issue that no Batman fan should be without.