Intense. That’s the word that best describes The Batman Who Laughs #6, the penultimate issue of this solid miniseries.

Writer Scott Snyder has been building to this moment in this series. The Batman Who Laughs #6 features the confrontation of Batman and The Batman Who Laughs for a hell of a cathartic battle.

There’s an intensity about the comic. It builds as you move along to those final moments which feature a bit of release. This is a perfect example of building the emotional moment and leaving the reader want more.

That emotional ride is helped by Jock whose art with colorist David Baron is amazing. There’s a horror aspect to the design and look of the issue. It goes back and forth between reality and the nightmare vision Bruce/Batman is experiencing as the toxin courses through his veins. As he devolves into his own version of the Batman Who Laughs, we see a distorted world whose horrors would break anyone.

The negative of the comic is the lettering. I’ll admit I read this digitally so have no idea if this is an issue in the print version of the comic. The narrative boxes with red lettering on gray are hard to read at times. I had to blow up the pdf to be able to full read the text and even then I struggled. But, at the same time, Sal Cipriano‘s lettering also captures the madness. It adds character to both Batman and the Batman Who Laughs.

The issue is a solid one leaving me excited to see where the finale takes us and wondering how Batman will win in the end. It’s a prime example of both Snyder and Jock being at the top of their game.

Story: Scott Snyder Art: Jock
Color: David Baron Letters: Sal Cipriano
Story: 9.0 Art: 10 Overall: 9.25 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Batman was in a bad position when we last left him as he was surrounded by Arkham guards firing at him as the Batman Who Laughs taunted his every move. This issue has Bruce further falling in to the deep of the toxin in his veins as Gordon must deal with his situation and a decision is made whether to activate the Last Laugh.

The Batman Who Laughs #5 is an interesting issue in that it makes little sense on its own and even as a slice of the bigger picture it still takes a few reads to totally get.

Writer Scott Snyder is clearly not just weaving a miniseries here but has a bigger picture in mind as well. This shouldn’t be too surprising as he has done this before leaving his mark on Batman and the DC Universe as a whole. Revelations here are interesting hinting at some things laid out long ago but where things go from here is the big question. The issue is the revelation one showing us, sort of, what the Batman Who Laughs wants. Whether our Batman will give it to him is another question as Snyder leaves it very nebulous as to what the correct direction to go is.

The art by Jock continues to be great with a mix of action and horror and flowing from one to another. The issue definitely falls more into the horror end of things with this issue as each panel seems to bring a bit more madness to the page. Jock is helped with that by David Baron but it’s Sal Cipriano‘s lettering that really stands out. Not only does he deliver a style that’s so befits the Batman Who Laughs, he also dips into that with our Batman showing the struggle within. The lettering in this case tells a a lot of the story beyond the written word.

The issue doesn’t quite stand on its own but has me intrigued as to where things are going next. As part of a miniseries this far in it’s the reveal to some extent and even with that it still leaves a lot out there. At this point it’ll be interesting to see where the team takes it especially wit the announcement this series would be leading into more to come in the next year.

Story: Scott Snyder Art: Jock
Color: David Baron Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.05 Overall: 7.55 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review