Ever since Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and the assortment of other talents launched “Death of the Family,” it was anyone’s guess as to how it would end. This week we finally get the conclusion to Snyder’s “Batman” arc and the grand finale of the event itself.
Despite the leak of “Batman” #17 and previous availability of previous issues, this review will remain as spoiler free as possible. Nothing here has not been mentioned in previews and solicits, so the common knowledge is out there.
“Batman” #13-17 Scott Snyder (W)/Greg Capullo (A)
It comes to no one’s surprise that the main “Batman” series is by far the stand out in “Death of the Family.” This story is the best story arc that Scott Snyder has written while on “Batman,” and, as a reference, “The Court of Owls” was fantastic. The relationship between the Joker and Batman is definitely one of the strong points and the Joker’s argument is valid. The Bat-Family has made Batman weaker, and it shows here. It’s hard to review the arc and remain spoiler-free, but thankfully the story is incredibly strong and all loose ends are tied up in the end. In addition, the ending is truly surprising since it was something no one was expecting and doesn’t end with any cheap shock-value, which is one of the biggest fears that any Joker arc can suffer from. Greg Capullo’s art is fantastic as always, with issue #17 being one of the best single issues he’s ever done. Overall, the “Death of the Family” arc in “Batman” is the definitive modern Joker story and is destined to become one of, if not the, definitive Joker stories ever writer.
FINAL GRADE: A+
“Batgirl” #13-16 Gail Simone (W)/Ed Benes, Vincente Cifuentes (A)
Batgirl’s “Death of the Family” tie-in started rough. Issue #13 mostly wrapped up the previous arc and contains only a few pages with content related to the Joker. But the premise of the tie-in is that the Joker has Barbara’s mother and will only let her go if she agrees to marry him. As crazy as it sounds, it works. “Batgirl” is easily one of the better tie-ins. Gail Simone has had a great run on the title already and the “Death in the Family” story continues it. Simone has perfectly captured Barbara’s voice, and that plays heavily into the story since Joker paralyzed her when she was 17.
However, this tie-in does have some flaws. James Gordon, Junior seems shoehorned into the title at points. Gordon leading Batgirl to her mother worked in the beginning, but some of the events in the last few issues seem unnecessary. But overall, I feel that “Batgirl” is one of the better tie-ins to “Death of the Family.”
FINAL GRADE: B+
“Catwoman” #13-14 Ann Nocenti (W)/Rafa Sandoval (A)
Arguably, Ann Nocenti’s “Catwoman” tie-in doesn’t need to exist. Issue #13 sets up her encounter with Joker in #14 and in the most bizarre way possible. It involves giant chess pieces and doesn’t completely make sense, even after reading it multiple times. In #13, there’s one, maybe two times the Joker could have appeared, but nothing ever happens. Things are only slightly better in #14.The first two pages of #14 would fit so much better in #13. The Joker’s appearance could have easily made the ending of #13 better. The rest of that issue involves Joker randomly torturing Catwoman with bizarre methods to recruit her to be Batman “Black Queen.” This bit only makes sense after reading “Batman” #16, so “Catwoman” #14 does have some redeeming quality to it; it just took two months to happen.
FINAL GRADE: D-
“Suicide Squad” #14-15 Adam Glass (W)/Fernando Dagnino (A)
The only reason “Suicide Squad” makes sense as a tie-in is because of Harley Quinn. The relationship between her and the Joker seems extra weird in these issues. Joker never was one to beat Harley, but in these two issues he has no problem with that at all. Plus, #14 doesn’t seem to get that it’s a tie-in. The story still goes on, and thankfully the book was at a point where newcomers could easily jump on. But at the same time, #14 had too much of the Squad and not enough Harley and Joker. Thankfully, things change in #15. A majority of the time is spent dealing with the twisted relationship between Harley and Joker. It lets Harley shine and adds to her character. The Suicide Squad isn’t in this issue much, but the ending feels like it’s trying to hook new readers in with the series. Overall, this tie-in works well, but since it ended before the event really kicked into gear, it will probably be forgotten, and that’s disappointing, because the unexpected take on Harley and Joker is something that could have benefitted from more time.
FINAL GRADE: C+
“Detective Comics” #15-16 John Laymen (W)/ Jason Fabok (A)
With it’s connection to “Death of the Family,” “Detective Comics” is kind of like “Catwoman.” Both don’t bring much to the table in terms of affecting the overall story, but “Detective Comics” does bring some light to how the Joker is affecting Gotham. Issue #15 barely features what Joker’s doing, but it’s still a good issue. The relationship between Basil Carlo, aka Clayface, and Poison Ivy is interesting and it does introduce a new villain in the end with Emperor Penguin. Issue #16 really shows how Joker is affecting Gotham, and it’s disappointing that it only happens in one issue. The ideas in #16 are interesting and there’s a lot more room for exploration if time allowed it. Even though these issues don’t directly affect the main story like some of the other ones, the “Detective Comics” tie-in is still good.
FINAL GRADE: B-
“Batman and Robin” #15-16 Peter J. Tomasi (W)/Patrick Gleason (A)
“Batman and Robin” is exactly what a fantastic tie-in should be. The story in these issues is that Damian Wayne, the current Robin and Bruce’s son, is looking for Alfred, and that leads him to the zoo where he has his run-in with the Joker. The tie-in works so well in this situation because it’s only Robin and Joker. While some of the Joker’s monologues can get a little wordy at times, it’s still a solid title. The art here has a style that compliments the insanity of the Joker well. At times his eyes aren’t present and it only adds to the distancing between his humanity and his insanity. Overall, this is easily the best tie-in to “Death of the Family” and could be the best series in the event if Scott Snyder wasn’t masterfully working on “Batman.”
FINAL GRADE: A
“Nightwing” #15-16 Kyle Higgins (W)/ Eddy Barrows (A)
Nightwing’s tie-in for “Death in the Family” is tragic. He watches everything go wrong around him, and that’s without spoiling anything. Without getting too specific, he watches friends die and his whole world come crashing down around him. Even though it isn’t completely one-on-one time with Nightwing and Joker, it works well. Joker refers to Nightwing a few times as “Bat-lite,” and it isn’t too far from the mark, so weakening his strength in issue #15 and then his spirit in #16, like Bane in the classic arc “Knightfall,” works well. It’s hard not to get into too much detail and remain spoiler-free on this one, but the end result works. For fans of Nightwing, it may be hard to see everything that happens since Joker does some damage to him, but it’s still worth getting through. Unlike a lot of the other tie-ins, the end of this one still leaves some questions unanswered and hopefully they’ll be answered in February’s issue with some small glimmer of optimism, since this is easily one of the darker tie-ins with what could be large scale results.
FINAL GRADE: A-
“Red Hood and the Outlaws” #15-16 and “Teen Titans” #15-16 Scott Lobdell (W)/Various (A)
Scott Lobdell has combined two of his books for a crossover within a crossover. While in Gotham, Red Hood and Red Robin get captured by the Joker and their teams come to the rescue. These tie-ins had a lot of potential, but unfortunately fell short. The 15 issues for both series were good since it set up the crossover and how the two teams came together. Unfortunately, when they did come together, it was a disappointment. “Red Hood” #16, where the two teams joined forces, was somewhat boring. Not much really happens that has a larger impact on the event, especially the few pages that teased future arcs. These felt like an unnecessary attempt to get more people reading the series. While the same thing happens in “Teen Titans” #16, it’s the introduction of a character that has been absent for a while, so her inclusion is exciting, but still unnecessary. At least “Titans” #16 is a better issue. Something finally happens that affects the event and the execution is great. Since the two #16 issues off set each other, it’s possible it could have been a better story had the two been mixed through the two issues. At least the execution could have been better. In addition, the art in “Red Hood” #16 seems off. Members of the Teen Titans seem different and some bizarre design choices are made. Despite the flaws of the crossover in a crossover, it still has some strong moments that make up for most of its shortcomings.
FINAL GRADE: C
As a whole, “Death of the Family” was DC’s biggest crossover since it launched “The New 52.” Nothing yet has been as involved in as many series for as long as this event did. While it surely has its ups and downs, “Death of the Family” never truly disappoints. Scott Snyder’s “Batman” series is such a solid story arc that it can easily carry the event through its hit-or-miss tie-ins. While the majority of the the tie-ins were good, there were those occasional moments that didn’t hold their ground and are forgettable. Thankfully, everything else makes up for it.
Now it’s only a matter of time before DC starts releasing trade paperbacks and hardcover volumes for these series, and in time, a version of the event that will most likely be titled “Absolute Death of the Family.” Since it will have a high issue count, it will most likely cost a pretty penny, but the pricetag is worth it for the high quality of everything presented here. Pick it up. It won’t disappoint.
FINAL GRADE FOR “DEATH OF THE FAMILY”: A
