Batman & Robin #15 Preview/Discussion

[Nite-Wing]

Gleason wins
He definitely drew the most disgusting Joker Iv'e seen this crossover

[Coal Tiger]

Holy crap, Gleason kicked the shit out of Capullo in the art department. He actually did something inventive with the lame "jokers face as a mask" concept.

[Nite-Wing]

Yeah he used his imagination and actually realized that by now Joker's face would be rotting and attracting lot's of flies.
I also love Tomasi's writing he's not ignoring the fact that Morrison's run did happen and it definitely works in the context of what Snyder is doing with this event.

[Barresi]

Best tie-in issue so far. Really enjoyed it.

[DarkKnghtJared]

O_O

Well, there goes breakfast. JESUS that was unpleasant to look at.

...

More please.

[Namtab]

Holy crap, Gleason kicked the shit out of Capullo in the art department. He actually did something inventive with the lame "jokers face as a mask" concept.

Yeah, this.

Best tie-in issue so far. Really enjoyed it.

and this.

I even like Tomasi's Joker, in this issue, more than Snyder's.

[Vil_Dee]

Holy Silence of the Lambs Batman!

Joker's face was maggolicious.

Oh my god, when his face was upside down on his face, nightmares forever. Very Pan's Labyrinth, the whole thing was.

[Theozilla]

Gleason was amazing in the art department this issue, his Joker is definitely on par with Capullo's in creativity and disgustingness. I liked how Tomasi also references back to both Morrison's Batman And Robin issues and TKJ, wonder if being his past experience being editor makes him more inclined to reference past stories meaningfully than other writers?

[JasonTodd428]

Read this one and thought it was decent. Still a bit predictable and a tad heavyhanded in places but it was loads better than he NotO crossover issue was. In fact there were a few places that I found to be absolutely brilliant. Now if Tomasi would only tone down Damian's arrogance a bit and have him move beyond his "I'm the best Robin ever" mentality we might have something here.

[nosocialize100]

Am I crazy to think this was stronger than Batman #15 in a lot of ways? I reviewed it with pictures here if anyone is interested.

On to Spoilers!

spoilers:

Damian points out Bruce asked him to stay in the bat-cave. Of course he won't do this. He tells Titus(the dog) he's gotta go out and find Alfred. He picks up some urine from an animal. Most likely the zoo. CUT TO: The zoo. He finds some Hyenas chewing on some bones. He thinks they are Alfreds. Luckily it's just the zoo keepers bones. He fights them off but gets some stuff on his fingers that make him pass out. He falls throw a skylight (that contained birds). He wakes up hanging from inside a giant egg. Joker is there to welcome him with his face upside down. (seriously shouldn't Joker have infections all the time?) Robin tries to fight him but is weak from the stuff that came off the Hyenas. Joker says a lot of sick stuff you should pick the book up to see. Stuff about Robins having the same scream etc. One line was my favorite of the week that read: "Clownclownclownclownclown — That’s always been the misconception! I mean, have I ever made you laugh without a little help–or a pharmaceutical push? I don’t think so!” One line reads as if he's jealous of Robin (see the review in the link above for that shot). Joker somehow spills maggots and bugs on Robin. From the bugs rises a figure. It appears to be Batman. Joker refers to him as if he is Batman and he's going to have to kill or be killed, which is his (and Batman's) greatest fear.

end of spoilers

Anyhoo, I thought this was a very strong issue. What did you guys think?

[DrSimonHurt]

I enjoyed this book the best this week. Sadly, Capullo's hype is going to overshadow the genius that Gleason put into this issue. Capullo is a great artist, but his Joker face has been pretty plain so far. It's just a mess of horizontal lines with no real structure to it. Gleason's really feels like a skin mask and I love how he toys with it from panel to panel. It reminds me of Quitely's transitions with Professor Pyg a few years ago. Just GREAT stuff.

No knock on the main Batman team, but I wish Capullo would take some cues from Gleason at this point. Joker chin puppet isn't something I can forget now.

[DrSimonHurt]

We already have a discussion topic, but I'll bite.

Great issue. It topped Snyder's hype machine. Unfortunately, Capullo is now baby jesus and no one is allowed to draw Batman but him. He should take tips from Gleason on how to draw the Joker. Gleason's Joker was a frightening inventive playful monster with Capullo's looking like a guy with a wrinkled paper towel on his face. Unimaginative...Which is disappointing given how much Capullo usually excels at this sort of thing.

So yeah, I give Batman and Robin the top score between them, but hype will carry Snyder to the top. No that Batman 15 was bad. It was good. It just wasn't drawn as well.

[nosocialize100]

We already have a discussion topic, but I'll bite.

Great issue. It topped Snyder's hype machine. Unfortunately, Capullo is now baby jesus and no one is allowed to draw Batman but him. He should take tips from Gleason on how to draw the Joker. Gleason's Joker was a frightening inventive playful monster with Capullo's looking like a guy with a wrinkled paper towel on his face. Unimaginative...Which is disappointing given how much Capullo usually excels at this sort of thing.

So yeah, I give Batman and Robin the top score between them, but hype will carry Snyder to the top. No that Batman 15 was bad. It was good. It just wasn't drawn as well.

But this is spoiler!

[nosocialize100]

We already have a discussion topic, but I'll bite.

Great issue. It topped Snyder's hype machine. Unfortunately, Capullo is now baby jesus and no one is allowed to draw Batman but him. He should take tips from Gleason on how to draw the Joker. Gleason's Joker was a frightening inventive playful monster with Capullo's looking like a guy with a wrinkled paper towel on his face. Unimaginative...Which is disappointing given how much Capullo usually excels at this sort of thing.

So yeah, I give Batman and Robin the top score between them, but hype will carry Snyder to the top. No that Batman 15 was bad. It was good. It just wasn't drawn as well.

I'm just surprised this is the first instance of Joker playing with the mask so much.

[Rakzo]

Wonderfully creepy. This is probably the best drawn Batbook this week, Gleason is brilliant.

Great interaction between Joker and Damian too, I especially liked how Tomasi linked previous events to their conversation including the time where Damian beat him with a crowbar. Great issue.