Batman Volume 3: Death of the FamilyAuthor/Art: Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion
Reviewed by: Sandra Scholes
What could be worse than The Joker attacking The Batman? The Joker attacking all those he considers friends. Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Nightwing and other superheroes are targeted to frustrate Batman enough to take action. Only a terrible secret that comes to light will hurt Batman even more and cause him to lose sight of his true objective.
Batman Volume 3: Death of the Family is one part of the New 52! comic series featuring Batman and his greatest ever foe. When the Joker strikes again, Batman had hoped he was going to lay low permanently before, but true villains don't stay down too long without turning up to cause more mayhem. Gotham has become a city of strangeness over the past month with areas that many have cited as clues for even worse things to come. They might be right if the Joker has anything to do with it - rain so heavy it sends a river flowing the other way and a two-headed lion cub are only the start. The Joker has plans for the city and its not just pranks and jokes.
After a broadcast, voice recognition software is used to find out the Joker's real identity and who they find is someone who has a history with the Joker. Over the past few series the Joker has got darker as it's not all jokes, japes and fun at the expense of others, he's become a sinister character where he's ben away with Harley Quinn as his sidekick and still intends to torment Batman by kidnapping Alfred Pennyworth.
Batman has to go through several trials if he wants to live. For the reader's delight there is an all-star cast of villains and less than perfect heroes among them. Harvey Two-Face, The Penguin, Scarecrow, The Riddler and Mr Freeze all have a part to play in a darker comic that could destroy Batman's resolve forever. With an interesting colour scheme and very dark shadows not just cast by the Batman, other characters show up in these darker times of Gotham.
