Absolutely nothing of substance happened this entire arc other than introducing a bunch of Clown OC's and another "original" villain who knows Batman's identity.
Worst part is they devoted the previous arc to setting up Joker War.

Tynion may be a good horror writer but I've seen nothing from him that suggests he should be writing DC's premium title.

This entire arc up until now could've been done in 2 issues.
What's even more disappointing is the fact that the previous arc also led up to this.
Will be dropping this book after #100

Good issue, liking the JL appearances

I really don't get this issue. It's supposed to show Bats is smart, but the plot can only happen if Batman is stupid.

The Planner or whatever his name is actually an animated corpse that can actually fence with Batman? The Joker has really seen an upgrade in his skill set. Yes, the Planner or the Archvillain or wahtever his name is was actually killed by the Joker and his corpse is being controlled by the Crown Prince of Crime.

Batman figures that out but actually just doesn't destroy the corpse while fighting it. Moron.

Oh, Catwoman puts her plan to steal Bruce Wayne's fortune into place to prevent the Archvillain from doing that, but guess what - the Joker is one step ahead and actually needs Catwoman's bank account info to steal Bruce's fortune. Oppsie.

So Catwoman trying to save Bruce's fortune causes it to be lost. That's actually the definition of irony.

All this happens because people acted dumb. Instead of securing Bruce's bucks, Catwoman steals it? Instead of just destroying a corpse, Batman engages in a fencing match and hero/villain monologue?

Also, the villain costumers are ugly. I just don't get this. Also, after King spent years building up Bat and Cat, Tynion has taken a few months to destroy the relationship. I like Bat/Cat and I hate it when new writers destroy all the work of previous writers. It destroys the sense of a story progressing and it makes stories just the playground of one writer and not the work of many over years.

Don't like this arc. Can't wait for it all to be undone in the upcoming event when Alfred returns.

Or I could be wrong. more

Predictable and underwhelming.

Cool that Harley got muted but the preview art for that page came out months ago.

I was really hoping for a twist with the Designer reveal, but stupid corpse twist and catwoman bank account switcharoo instead.

Confirmed that Bruce Wayne does not pay taxes lol.

After King's disastrous Batman arc, leaving more loose ties and unresolved plot points I can possibly name, DC decided to play safe for once and give fans a more... conventional story, one that wouldn't try to reinvent and deconstruct avery aspect of what it means to be Batman, one that wouldn't feature more filler than actual plot, and one that certainly would not smell its own farts pretending to be deeper and more intelligent than it really is. You know, exactly like a certain controversial game everyone hates and mocks, released few days ago.

Tynion crafted a big mystery that instantly captured our imaginations. It was big, it was convoluted, and and it was made with a plan in mind. It wasn't yet another War of Jokes and Riddles, promising a huge event and then turning out to be a shallow, pointless shell. No, the stakes were seemingly real and you never knew where the plot leads really. It lead here.

Depending on whether or not you've been a fan of Tynion's arc so far, this issue will either satisfy you with several important revelations and answers to questions you may have had, or it's going to convince you it was all just a marketing apéritif leading to the main event, Joker War. That I'll leave to your personal interpretation. To me the comic was definitely good, finally providing a ton of long awaited explanations and also setting up few new twists to be explored in the foreseeable future. Was it outstanding, though? Nah, I wouldn't say so. Not when it comes to uneven art drawn by several artists, not when it comes to storytelling. It's an example of a good, solid book, but as the grand finale, conclusion of an arc, especially in Batman series, I guess I expected a bit more. more

The only highlights of this issue was the fact that Bruce Wayne is a tax-evader.
A fact that makes no sense given the extremely trivial information provided in the issue.
Off-shore accounts, really? Did Tynion just pick the first thing that Google came out with when it comes to Tax-Offences for high net-worth individuals?

Also, the big "reveal" was incredibly underwhelming and predictable.
An 8 issue arc that only acts as a set-up for Joker War.
Mediocre at best unless you want mindless action with decent art. more