Review — Batman: The Brave and the Bold #5 — Killer Laughs
<p><strong>Ray:</strong> With three continuing stories this month, it’s business as usual — but the headliner that kicked off this run returns after two months off, as Tom King and Mitch Gerads take us back into Joker’s first attack on Gotham in part three of “The Winning Card.” We’ve seen some twisted things from Joker before, but the seemingly random attacks he pulls off this issue make him seem more like a hard-boiled horror villain than a comic book rogue. And in the middle of this, Batman is physically and mentally broken after his previous conflict with the clown, Alfred is desperately trying to keep him alive while dealing with his charge’s fraught mental state, and Jim Gordon is trying to stay ahead of the killer with little success. This is the first time we’ve seen the Joker’s first attack in such stark terms, with the narrative making painfully clear that this is the best Gotham has — and they’re largely defenseless.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/0*DcJPVuxiZyHqkMTv.jpg" style="height:1077px; width:700px" /></p>
<p>Last laugh. Via DC Comics.<br />
“Stormwatch: Down with the Kings” is the only story in this book that has been in every issue, with Brisson and Jeff Spokes continuing their tale of the DCU’s new black-ops team. This story is usually just okay, an expansion of the work Brisson did on Batman Incorporated, but the team does something very unexpected this issue — pitting the team against a literal God. The return of Apollo, most associated with the Azzarello Wonder Woman run, is a great twist that adds much higher stakes to the latest superhero battle.</p>
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