The Batman Who Laughs #6 Review

Writer: Scott Snyder
Art Team: Jock, David Baron, Sal Cipriano
DC Comics
Release Date: June, 11, 2019
Cover Price: $4.99

He Who Laughs Last ... 

Batman Who Laughs enters its penultimate issue, remember it got promoted to seven, with Bruce having really having given in to the 'dark side' last issue.  That enough is reason to come back and see what a fully committed to the dark side Batman is capable of. So I wont waste anymore of your day and get right into this twisted nightmare Batman is having in his life.




The issue begins with the Gordons, father and son, begging Batman to not go through with the Last Laugh protocol.  Batman gets the point across, that yes he looks awful, but he's not 100% gone yet and has one last ditch effort to try and get Gotham from falling into the Batman Who Laughs gross hands.  It involves his now control to the Power Grid due to L.L's launch, a bunch of Dark Metal, some duck tape, a coconut, and what seems to be a whole bunch of fortunate circumstances ... only two of those are made up, can you figure out which?

All this eventually leads up to the big showdown we've all been waiting for Batman, under the Toxin, vs the Batman Who Laughs.  The other big payoff here is we get to see the Gordon's team up to enact part two of the plan, which is get outfitted with Batman Beyond suits, and take the fight to the Grim Knight. Yeah it doesnt last too long but at least Jim Gordon gets in a great one liner. So after what was more of a setup issue in the previous effort, we get an issue more reminiscent of the earlier issues in the series, where I was having a blast and a lot of different wheels are in motion.

There are some problems I had with the closure of the issue, mainly that some of Batman's greater plan right now doesn't seem like it makes a whole lot of sense ... yet.  Without outright spoiling any of the main events in the issue, the one aspect of the plan regarding who comes through the portal is my gripe in particular, but I have a feeling it will play out to a satisfying conclusion towards the end of the series.  Other than that the fight's that occur are gruesomely beautiful and full of surprises.

What I did like is Scott Snyder continues to be excellent at putting Batman up against great odds. I find a lot of the fun in his writing is seeing how he gets the hero of the story out of the dire situations he puts them in, so I cant wait to see how this concludes, despite a my minor nitpicks. Jock's work here has won me over with his unique style in this series. It really lends itself to the horror vibe of this Batman story in particular and I find it compliments the story progression nicely.

Overall, the Batman Who Laughs beings to come to close in a way that really makes you wonder how will Batman find his way out of this one, which is always a way I like to find myself going into the final issue of a series, especially a Batman book. Scott Snyder seems to be having a lot of fun telling this story of putting Batman through the ringer, coupled with Jocks art, I'm having a heck of a time reading it, and cant wait for the conclusion to hopefully continue to impress.

8.0/10