In the trade paperback review of Batman: The Winning Card we relive the events from the pages of Batman: The Brave and the Bold #s 1-2, 5 & 9.
This Review Contains Spoilers
Batman: The Winning Card (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Vol. 1)
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Colors: Mitch Gerads
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Main Cover: Mitch Gerads
Synopsis: A Year One story exploring the Batman and Joker relationship that honors the legacy of comics and TV that have come before.
Review: Batman the Winning Card is the latest entry from superstar comic duo Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Many fans, including myself, are probably familiar with their previous work on Sheriff of Babylon and Mister Miracle. The latest project from the duo features a kind of retelling of the first meeting of Batman and Joker in Year One. Joker’s schemes in the plot of this story draws from the earliest appearances of the character in comics and in TV. He has threatened to murder a rich man and steal a diamond. As the police mobilize the bulk of their resources to help the rich man, an average Joe cannot obtain police help to locate his lost daughter. The child has the misfortune of running into the Joker himself.
The visual technique Gerads, Clayton Cowles and King use to introduce the Joker in this story is one that is unique and also befitting of the character. They elect to use panels that look like black cards with the dialogue written on them; similar to the ones used in very old, silent films. Not seeing the Joker but knowing he’s speaking heightens a sense of foreboding in the reader. The transition from the regular panels to the pure darkness of the dialogue card plays on the Joker being a force of evil or a void of light. The writing looking like writing on a chalkboard conjures that dry, rasping noise his voice likely sounds like. This technique is utilized consistently across the four chapters of this story. Furthermore, the dialogue of the Joker on these cards is often reminiscent of the Joker’s “multiple choice” stories in the film The Dark Knight. He tells these stories or jokes that may or may not be true. This keeps the reader off balance and guessing, which also increases the level of fear. I also want to praise Gerads’ design for the character himself. When we first see the character with the old-fashioned tuxedo with the pants that are perhaps (intentionally) a bit too short, holding a balloon and sitting on a park bench in the rain, you can understand what would draw an innocent child to approach such a figure. The next panels we see his face, we see the face of someone who is truly demonic. The trademark perpetual, unnatural grin and eyes that are drawn as the inverse of the normal human eyes with tiny white points in a sea of darkness. This is a look I personally think works best for the character and it’s worth noting that it was done once before in the animated series in the late 90’s. It also plays off being the opposite of Batman’s eyes usually being depicted as a field of white due to the lenses in the cowl.
While the police fail to save the rich man and the Joker presumably kills the child and her father, Bruce has disappeared from a high class party to chase down a domestic abuser as Batman. This is the first time we see Batman in the story and he’s appropriately intimidating. Gerads’s design draws heavily from the Year One storyline. Batman moves on the fleeing, terrified criminal like an unstoppable shadow while the criminal screams obscenities and false justifications for his actions. Batman seems angry but also disappointed as he eventually casually knocks out the criminal. This interaction is worth keeping in mind and contrasting with the final confrontation with the Joker later in the story. Bruce returns to the party by joining a table with Brute Nelson. Gerads’ character design for Bruce is so obviously based on Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men that I’m surprised they don’t have to pay to use the likeness. Because this is the internet, I must clarify that last part is a joke and I do not wish for there to be any litigation against DC or the creative team. Gerads uses a cool technique in the party scene to show Bruce letting his alter ego slip through the party boy façade for a split second by using shadow to draw his eyes like Batman in one panel.
The second chapter starts the same way the first one does. Joker follows through on a threat to kill a person and the police are helpless. Only this time, Joker brutally kills and mutilates police officers as well. He leaves Gordon alive and Gordon recounts the incident to Batman. Batman decides to use his playboy Bruce persona to bait Brute Nelson into challenging the Joker. As Joker shows up to murder Brute, Batman is waiting. In this first encounter, Batman assumes the Joker is like other criminals. Joker quickly challenges this perception by jumping out a third story window despite being shot and injured. Batman is injured in the pursuit and Joker beats up an incapacitated Batman before dumping him off the side of a bridge into the water below.
The third chapter continues with Joker committing even more horrifying murders as Batman reluctantly recovers from his wounds. Alfred shines as a voice of reason in this chapter. However, his role also goes beyond that as he uses his secret service training to help Bruce learn to withstand more physical punishment without collapsing. We get a brief look into Alfred’s conflicted feelings on aiding Bruce’s crusade on crimes. As Joker makes a move to assassinate a judge by killing and impersonating the police commissioner, Gordon and Batman work together to parse the Joker’s latest threat. Batman solves it by “getting” the joke. As Joker flees the scene in a cop car, Batman is in pursuit in the Batmobile.
The final chapter of Batman: The Winning Card opens with Batman causing Joker to crash and pursuing on foot into a forest. As they fight, Batman recites all the names of Joker’s victims. Batman beats Joker up badly, but Joker stabs Batman in the stomach. Batman blacks out and awakens hours later. He finds the Joker also there slumped against the base of a tree. The splash page of them together and barely conscious brings to mind the scene of their final confrontation in Dark Knight Returns as well as more recently in Scott Snyder’s Batman run. Batman cuts comms with Alfred and proceeds to continue beating up the Joker. As the Joker laughs maniacally, Batman decides to tell a joke of his own. As Batman laughs maniacally at his own joke, Joker’s smile fades and he tells Batman that he is insane. Comparisons of this page and interaction with the end of Killing Joke will be inevitable. I also think it’s worth comparing this interaction with Batman’s interaction with the criminal in the first chapter. With the random criminal, Batman appears more distant and doesn’t really say anything. The criminal is the one who does all the talking and also expresses that he doesn’t understand Batman and Batman’s actions. With the Joker, Batman is talking more than the Joker is and telling jokes! In light of this, I don’t interpret Joker’s statement “you’re insane” to be a pejorative statement. Rather, I think Joker is recognizing that this is someone like him but also not like him. Alfred also alludes to this in a conversation with Bruce that takes place after the fight was over. As Batman visits Joker’s cell in Arkham, the two acknowledge the connection as well. The unwritten implication is that Batman’s code is the only thing separating him from Joker in terms of actions. This scene also brings to mind some of the dialogue of their interactions from The Dark Knight film.
Batman: The Winning Card is a very well executed story from a technical standpoint, especially with regard to the art. The only critique I really have is that it’s not a particularly original commentary on the Batman-Joker relationship. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of this has been done in the Killing Joke and other places. Your perception of this story might also be dependent on your perception of how that story went. If you are someone who thinks Batman is just as insane as the Joker but the insanity manifests outwardly in a different way, then I think you’ll love this story. For someone who sees the difference as being much greater or that Batman actually isn’t insane at all, you may have some issues with it but hopefully can still appreciate the technical execution. If you are a fan of Tom King or Tom King’s run on the Batman series (like me!), you will no doubt be comparing this story with that. I’m not sure he nailed the Batman voice 100% in this one. Even factoring in that this is a Year One story, some of the lines feel a bit clunky. This is a minor critique and I would still classify this book as well written overall. If you are a fan of great art and a story that goes into the Batman-Joker relationship in a way that honors comics and TV shows of the past, then this book is for you.
Final Thoughts
Batman: The Winning Card offers yet another take on the beginning of the Batman-Joker relationship. While it may not venture into new territory in terms of narrative, it does utilize some new visual techniques that all fans of the medium can appreciate. The various homages to stories of the past keep it firmly grounded in the tradition of Batman stories that have come before. This book stands alone on its own merit even if it doesn’t quite match the heights of King’s other work on the character.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with copies of the original issues of this series as they were released but not of this new edition. You can find this collected edition and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this edition digitally either for Comixology through Amazon or as a physical copy in a hardcover form at Amazon or from Things from Another World.
