Originally written February 29, 2012

Batman is my favorite DC Comics superhero, and I think it’s because (aside from the fact that he’s a badass) he’s easy to relate to, not a quality many other DC Comics characters have. This adds a hint of realism to it all, and I like that. Merge this with Batman’s usual dark tone and its great gallery of villains, and you have a great mix. Well, Batman: Cacophony delivers on this very well.

The first thing I need to point out is who this was made by. It was written by Kevin Smith, who I’ve said in quite a few reviews is one of my favorite comedy filmmakers. Well, as evident in his movies, Kevin Smith is a big comic book geek, and so he’s actually made a few comic books. I was just surprised he did a Batman one. His style of writing does show in this though. Also, the artwork is done by his buddy Walt Flanagan, which looks good.

Cacophony starts out with The Joker sitting in his cell at Arkham Asylum. Another villain, named Deadshot, breaks into Arkham to kill the Joker. However, his attempt is interrupted by a new villain named Onomatopoeia. He saves the Joker from Deadshot and breaks him out, and the two have an “alliance” of sorts. Once out, Joker has a sort of turf war with Maxie Zeus because Zeus is using his laughing gas in his own products to sell for lots of drug money. The Joker won’t have that, but it’s up to Batman to stop the Joker from reigning chaos, as well as investigating into the new mysterious villain Onomatopoeia.

The comic takes place over three issues total, which isn’t all that long. However, it is worth it. The first issue is just kind of all right, but each issue is better than the last, and I really enjoyed the third one a lot. There’s especially a great conversation between Batman and the Joker about whether or not they really want to kill each other. Overall, I’m impressed with Kevin Smith’s work on this. It’s a good Batman read.

4/5