Timed to coincide with the release of his new comedy
Zack & Miri Make a Porno -- which I hear is a great date movie, so which of you Bat-loving ladies would like to be my date? -- comes issue 1 of Kevin Smith's three-part
BATMAN: CACOPHANY. It's consistently a Kevin Smith product, even during the moments when being a Kevin Smith product isn't necessarily consistent with being a Batman product. But, whatever. It's fun.
We begin in Arkham Asylum, where Smith's narration tells us that budget cutbacks have eliminated the guards at the gates of Arkham Asylum because "nobody ever wants to break in to Arkham."
Huh.
Because Batman breaks in all the time (though I'm sure the staff doesn't mind) to coerce information from the crazy-house's denizens, and I'm sure more than one goon squad has tried to break its goon boss out of the place. But that's okay. I need to stop being picky and let Mr. Smith tell his story.
Long story short, one of the former gate guards gets revenge for his unemployment by selling off shifts, floor plans, and other insider knowledge. This allows master DC assassin Floyd "Deadshot" Lawton to waltz right in to kill The Joker for his current employer, the former toga-wearing mobster Maxie Zeus, because Maxie's been selling kids his own blend of Ecstasy and The Joker's toxin that gives one hell of a high (but still often ends in death). Sounds like Maxie needs The Joker out of the way for good. The Joker's reaction to all of this is trademark Joker.
Speaking of sound, no sooner has Deadshot shattered the glass will between himself and The Joker than a new player appears on the scene -- the Smith-created Onomatopoeia. This guy only speaks in noises. "Fwushhhh," he says as the flames roar around them. Or, "BLAM," as he fires his weapon. Visually, it's actually pretty funny, since he's saying in word bubbles all the sound effects written right beside them on the pages.
Onomatopoeia escapes with The Joker and sets him free ... with a suitcase filled with money. And The Joker makes an offer to the odd-talker that we should all be glad gets refused.
"Weeooo, weeooo."
"Shhhhhhh!"
Ha!
Elsewhere in the city, Mr. Zsasz is menacing a suburban family with Batman arriving just in time to keep it from being a total slaughter. Smith can't resist writing Batman just a little too hardboiled, but he also doesn't betray Batman's emotional core, so it works. The shot of Batman leading the children outside as the police arrive is nothing short of iconic.
The dialogue is smart and sharp throughout this bigger-than-average book, which clocks in at 30 pages of story (but for an increased price of $3.99). And as solid as most of it is, The Joker's gay jokes, sex jokes, and gay sex jokes seem a little too juvenile even for him. Smith's solution to Zsasz's choice of location for where on his body to cut in his latest tally marks is therefore predictable and a little silly, though in all fairness his portrayal of Zsasz as a naked psychopath is as chilling and as creepy as any other incarnation of the character I've seen, so maybe I'm giving it less credit than it deserves. (You can even see a lot of that same kind of despicable crazy in the way actor Tim Booth's knife-wielding, crazy-eyed Zsasz hungrily sizes up Rachel Dawes and the child she's protecting in BATMAN BEGINS.)
EVERYBODY gets excellent moments with Deadshot in this book -- The Joker, Gordon, and Batman, whose geeky reaction to the awesomeness of the assassin's gadgetry is instantly charming.
I think the character who gets the best showing here is Maxie Zeus, whom Smith actually makes into a fun and intriguing character.
And the book was worth the price of admission for me for the last two lines spoken -- they come from different sources, and each is an instant classic.
It's not perfect, and some of The Joker's behavior was a little too "Kevin Smith being Kevin Smith for the sake of being Kevin Smith." The art by Walter Flanagan does the job, even though the proportions of his characters' limbs could use some work. But the real draw here is Smith's way with words, and he doesn't disappoint with a fun read that will likely leave you waiting impatiently for the next chapter.
And we'll talk about it in 2009 since the next issue arrives on New Year's Eve, when the fireworks will go "KER-POP!" and "BOOM-FWZISH!"
Sorry about that. Or not. - John Bierly
