To preface this review, this is one of the best batman books i have read since the court of owls.

To say Tom King is a divisive writer would be a gross understatement. While he has written several critically acclaimed books such as mister miracle, supergirl: woman of tomorrow, and the human target; he has also written more widely criticized books such as heroes in crisis and, most infamously, his run on batman. King’s batman run has been one of the most talked-about ongoing comic runs i’ve seen and while i think there are some good stories in there such as cold days, most of them either felt like filler, were dragged out, or they flat-out misunderstood the characters.

This story, however, i can confidently say is one of the best books i’ve read from him. It is a modernized retelling of Batman #1 from 1940 and shows the first time batman met the joker. This concept has been done before with Ed Brubaker’s the man who laughs. However, i believe this is a far superior book to Brubaker’s take. For one, i love how it is a direct follow-up to year one, even going as far as to have batman in his year one suit and gordon mention the ending of year one. Brubaker’s take, while loosely a follow-up to year one, didn’t really mention anything from that book and mostly did its own thing while still canonically taking place directly after.

I also love King’s portrayal of the joker. While he is still announcing some of his murders, he also kills random people throughout as well, making him much more of a wildcard. His appearance is extremely creepy too, not only because of his white eyes but also because we don’t see much of him. In the book, joker hardly ever talks directly through normal speech bubbles. Instead, he mainly talks through silent film era dialogue cards. Not only does it give the joker even more mystique, it also is a call back to the 1925 silent film the man who laughs, whos main character inspired the appearance of the joker.

I also have to mention Mitch Gerads gorgeous artwork. His art in this book almost feels nightmarish at times. From what i’ve heard, the last issue of this book was delayed due to Gerads failing to meet deadlines but when the art is this good, i’d wait an extra year if i had to.

While i do have some slight issues with the book, such as an over abundance of censored swearing and child’s dialogue being somewhat awkward, i feel that they don’t detract from the overall enjoyment i have when reading it. If you love batman and want to see a fantastic modern take on when he met the joker, this is definitely the book for you.