This is Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Winning Card. This book is a short story found within the ongoing series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. It is Written by Tom King. It is Illustrated and Colored by Mitch Gerads. It is Lettered by Clayton Cowles. Trigger Warning: This book contains elements that one may find disturbing such as child kidnapping, poisoning, gore, blood, moments of intense violence, references to domestic abuse, invasive surgeries, and frightening imagery. Readers’ discretion is advised. This book takes place in the first year of Batman’s war on crime. And Batman faces a mystery that pushes him to his limits. A series of horrifying murders and robberies have been occurring all over Gotham City, with the perpetrator calling himself The Joker. These crimes are both completely random and meticulously planned, with no pattern on when The Joker switches his plans. Batman and Detective Jim Gordon make it their mission to take out this new Joker character. Who is this mysterious Joker and will Batman take him out?
This book is terrifying in the best way possible. I have sung Tom King’s praises so many times, I don’t think you all need another reminder. I’ll just say that he is one of my favorite comic writers for a reason. But, now on to the actual story itself. I absolutely adore how this story is a horror spin on the actual Joker first appearance issue, Batman #1 (1940). Which is great, since that original issue was also supposed to be a horror story, at the time (many of the moments are no longer scary by modern standards). So it is less of a modification, and more of a modern-day update. It is great seeing a lot of classic scenes from the original story in a more horrifying light. Speaking of the scares, they are really something. Due to the structure of comic books, jump scares aren’t really something is possible. But, believe me, this book tries its darndest to spook you with very sudden and shocking panels, usually whenever you would turn a page. But you can’t have a good scare without some decent setup. And, oh boy, does this story have some great setup. Overall, this book just has some amazing scares, while still being enjoyable.
Along with this book being a horror story, it is also a crime thriller. This book is supposed to be a retelling of Batman and The Joker’s first meeting. And this is a really good retelling of that concept. This, of course, is rather early in Batman’s time as a crime fighter and detective. So, he is rather inexperienced and lousy when it comes to working with others and acting like a detective. While he is better at fighting criminals and dispatching justice. But when he faces an actual threatening combatant, he becomes overly confident and flounders. There are sparks of the master detective and fighter which Batman will become (at this point, more in terms of his motivations). But in this story, he still has a lot to learn. I always like these types of stories because they show a different side of Batman. One that is more susceptible to trickery and being overwhelmed. It is rather fascinating to see that side of him.
Spoiler Alert: One thing that I absolutely love is The Joker. In this book, The Joker is a pure horror movie slasher, and it is amazing. Every time The Joker says something in this book, he doesn’t use regular word bubbles (at least until the very end). Whenever The Joker speaks, his dialogue takes up entire panels in the way of cards from classic silent movies. I love this detail because it is a homage to The Joker’s main inspiration, The Man Who Laughs (1928), a silent horror film on a disfigured man who cannot stop smiling. I appreciate when writers homage stuff like that, since it shows that they are fans as well. But, along with that detail, I really enjoyed how The Joker is written here. The Joker knows that Batman is out of his depth with this situation, and he takes full advantage of it. He starts to gain a huge body count right out of the gate. And he is not picky with any of his victims. It doesn’t matter if the people he kills are men, women, children, people with disabilities, or individuals of high societies. If he can kill you, he will. One final thing that I want to mention is even though The Joker is terrifying, he is still wacky. The number of strange situations he puts himself in to get a kill is insane. Two examples of this are The Joker hides in the toilet section of a porta-potty and a whole suit of armor in order to kill somebody. That amount of effort is funny as hell (almost as if it were a setup for a joke). The portrayal of The Joker in this book is my favorite thing about it.
The art for this book is damn good. Mitch Gerads has been a well-known collaborator of Tom King’s writing for about nine years now, and it is fantastic to know he hasn’t lost his step. Mitch Gerads’ more rough and gritty style really adds to the horrifying tone portrayed. I also love how much of a cinematic eye Mitch Gerads has for his artwork. There are some amazing shots that look so cool that I just stare at them for a while. I’ve also have never fully appreciated how good of a colorist Mitch Gerads. The coloring for this book has such a shine to it, which enhances the artwork to a whole other level. Overall, the artwork and coloring for this book is just so nice to look at and admire.
Overall, this book is just brilliant, in every sense of the word. The story is an amazing homage to the classics, with some great scares to wrap it all together. There are some great characterizations from all of the main cast. The tone is fun and rather unique for a superhero story. The art is very fitting and cinematic, with the coloring really adding to both those descriptors. Overall, this book is a phenomenal horror story.