Right now this is my favorite Batman story being published.  I was underwhelmed by Denny O’Neil’s “Last Days of Gotham” and I’m confused with what Grant Morrison is doing over in “Batman”.  So this story has been a nice cleansing of the palette.

As per my previous blog on this story arc, it’s written by Andrew Kreisberg; mostly known for writing various television shows over the past few years.  The story he’s crafted is fantastic.  It’s tight and each issue has ended with me wanting more.

The Joker is still on trial and the issue opens with a psychiatrist testifying about the Joker’s mental state. In the past two issues, the Joker has found new and interesting ways to kill people. He does so again here as the psychiatrist is killed - with a banana peel. Genius!

Batman of course makes an appearance in this issue as he goes undercover as Matches Malone to get into the mind of the Joker. A great scene which had me at the edge of my seat.

The story also continues the subplot of the first victim husband’s - a Gotham City police officer. He has fallen off the wagon and almost kills the Joker in the court room.

The issue ends with another shocking cliffhanger and the story as a whole will conclude in next month’s issue. Unfortunately a new creative team will take over as the new story arc begins. I will be sticking around for that one. It will introduce the 1960s Batman TV show villain King Tut into comic book continuity. Should be fun. It will also feature the return of veteran artists Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan so if you like their work, make sure you get it come February.

I highly recommend “Do You Understand These Rights?”  (the name of this story arc). It’ll probably be collected into a trade so maybe pick it up then. It’s Batman the way Batman should be.