Review: Detective Comics Vol. 5- The Joker War

Quick Summary

Pros: Portions of the Two-Face storyline are enjoyable and work for Two-Face as a character. The Alfred stories are absolutely fantastic. The volume’s closing stories are a nice mix of action and emotion. About half of the book’s artwork is great.

Cons: The Joker War tie-ins feel intrusive in the middle of a Two-Face storyline. About half of the book’s artwork is just alright.

Overall: The stories within this collection range from fantastic to average. The Two-Face storyline is the average entry, as it is unfortunately weighed down by intrusive tie-ins. However, several of the more individualized stories are wonderful and work very well on their own. Together, this makes for a book that will appeal to fans looking for stories about Alfred, Killer Croc, or ones where Batman is forced to deal with his emotions.

Story

Detective Comics Vol. 5: The Joker War is pretty split down the middle when it comes to quality. About half of the book is just average. The Two-Face storyline starts out strong but is weighed down by chaotic tie-ins to The Joker War (Review) (Reading Order) event. However, the portions of the book celebrating Alfred Pennyworth or focusing on individual Batman stories are fantastic and are some of the best tales in this era of the Detective Comics series. Because of this, the volume trends positive and will definitely be worthwhile to some readers.

(spoilers start here)

The bulk of The Joker War details a conflict between Batman and Two-Face. This starts strong, with Two-Face struggling with an entirely new version of his affliction and going about his crimes in an interesting new way. It also ends strong, with Two-Face achieving some measure of peace, despite still being confined to a jail cell.

Unfortunately, the middle of this story arc struggles quite a bit. This portion of the read is a tie in to the larger Joker War event but the way in which it ties in isn’t the most pleasant. It distracts from Harvey’s story and makes it more about the Joker and a few other minor criminals. It also features a rather intrusive appearance from Lincoln March, one that offers very little to anything else going on. As a whole, this storyline is still alright but it feels like it could have been much better if the intrusive tie-ins didn’t take place.

The rest of The Joker War collection gathers together shorter but far more enjoyable stories. The volume opens with two chapters looking at Alfred Pennyworth’s life and the impact of his death. These chapters are nostalgic, sweet, and emotional in a way that works as a fantastic eulogy for a fantastic character. Then, the volume closes with short stories about Batman dealing with various problems. Like the Pennyworth stories, these manage to be heartfelt and interesting, though they also add some action into the mix as well. Together, all of these stories help elevate the collection to a much higher level.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The quality of the artwork in The Joker War is split in a way similar to the story. About half of the book features visuals that are just alright. The visuals in the Two-Face storyline do a nice job depicting the characters and locations but occasionally struggle when depicting coherent action scenes. However, the work in the book’s shorter stories looks great. A variety of artists contribute to making the Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P. story look fantastic, pulling in different styles while always making sure to express great levels of emotion. The same can be said about Detective Comics Annual #3 and a story from Detective Comics #2027, which utilize unique styles to tell unique stories. Plus, Kenneth Rocafort’s work at the end of the collection simply looks great and does a solid job in depicting action. In the end, the quality here makes for a reading experience that ranges but, ultimately, is very enjoyable.

Continuity

Detective Comics Vol. 5: The Joker War continues the story from Detective Comics Vol. 4: Cold Vengeance (Review).

The story here continues in Detective Comics Vol. 6: Road to Ruin.

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• The first two chapters of this collection heavily reference a death that occurred in the Batman: City of Bane (Review) storyline.
• Dick Grayson’s (Reading Order) memory loss is a result of something that happened in Batman #55, collected in Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days (Review). His new personality is explained across Nighwing: Knight Terrors (Review).
• At several points, there are references to a few of Joker’s (Reading Order) most infamous crimes. This includes shooting Batgirl (Reading Order) in Batman: The Killing Joke and killing Jason Todd (Reading Order) in Batman: A Death in the Family.
• Tim Drake (Reading Order) originally stepped in to fill Jason Todd’s shoes in the “A Lonely Place of Dying” story arc, collected in Batman: A Death in the Family.
• In Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P. #1, Barbara Gordon (Reading Order) mentions dark versions of Batman recently running around Gotham and something that happened to her father. Both of these events are depicted across The Batman Who Laughs (Review) (Reading Order).
• A bullet was lodged in Two-Face’s brain back in Batman and Robin Vol. 2 #28, the conclusion of the Batman and Robin: The Big Burn (Review) storyline.
• In a flashback in Detective Comics #1022, Joker’s unusual appearance reflects his appearance during the Batman: Death of the Family (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• Batman originally faced off against Lincoln March across Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review) and Batman Vol. 2: City of Owls (Review). Lincoln March was most recently defeated in the Robin War (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• The GCPD Bat-suit, seen in Detective Comics #1023, was created for Comissioner Gordon’s time as Batman (Reading Order). This time began with the Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review) story arc. 
• Detective Comics #1025 references the fact that Batman and Batwoman (Reading Order) haven’t worked together since Detective Comics #981, collected in Detective Comics Vol. 7: Batmen Eternal (Review). This was when they served on a team that existed throughout James Tynion IV’s time on the Detective Comics series (Reading Order).
• Detective Comics #1026 references Croc’s position at the conclusion of the Gotham City Monsters storyline.