I'm not sure what counts as spoilers for comics readers; I tend to treat them like Shakespeare and other classic literature, in which the conclusion is already widely known, even by those who haven't actually read the book.  I don't think I've "given away" anything extraordinary here, but my apologies to any who disagree.

18.
Title: [Death of the Family]
Author: Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
Genre: Comics
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: IS Research
Date Completed: March 20, 2016
Rating: *****

I'm finding it difficult to review this book casually; every time I begin writing I come to conclusions and observations I wish to save for the paper I'm crafting, and so I come back to square one.  The basics are straight forward: this New 52 title is a play on its predecessor, Death in the Family in which the Joker violently beats Jason Todd to death (at the encouragement of fans who voted, if I'm not mistaken).  Though this may read, and in the moment does, as a hugely significant narrative moment, for the Joker death is just another day at work, and play.  His history is tumultuous, with a few constants: mayhem, Arkham Asylum, and Batman.

In this new arc the Joker escapes one and uses another in order to achieve the full attention of the third, targeting the "Bat family" in the belief that they have sentimentalized Batman, and therefore made him weak, and thus less of a capable adversary. For an antagonist who identifies so intensely with his protagonist, this holds serious implications, and a year after disappearing from the asylum he sets out to "right" their dynamic through exceptional violence worthy of the most psychotic Joker arcs.

I sought out this book specifically looking for a moment of violence - when the Joker has his face removed by the Dollmaker, leaving it on a wall as a bloody calling card; this is apparently viewed as a moment of "rebirth" for the figure, and it's pertinent to my current research to think about what this means.  This moment proceeds the current book, but that doesn't detract from its interest. One point of contention I have is a major missing story - that of Catwoman. Though the Joker singles her out as a member of the "family," she is suspiciously missing from the final reunion.

Most of my conclusions and observations will (hopefully) end up in a paper this term, so I'll just end simply: I liked it.  More so, I think, than The Killing Joke, and certainly more than Death in the Family.