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Ah, MFreitas. Lose shit, flame out, pretend it didn't happen. Classic.
The problem with this reading is that it isn't really supported by the stuff that actually happens in the text. The Batman of Z-E-A isn't black and red - he's red and yellow and purple and cetera. The Batmite is giving pretty good advice - keep moving, remove the radio transmitter (assuming that there is a radio transmitter - this is, of course, a common belief among schizophrenics. Who can't process metaphor). The Batman of Z-E-A isn't crazy, as such - he's just pure Batman. He sees the psychogeography of the city, because Batman is an urban creation, and specifically a creation of Gotham. He makes intuitive leaps rather than detective deductions - he instinctively analyses Caligula's failings and insecurities, even though his batself pretends he has a gadget (the Bat-radia) that can detect his weaknesses. He's scary, but Batman is scary.
In my humble, the Joker hasn't won, because the Joker winning would be a shit story, and I think this is turning into a better arc than that, at least. I'd been underwhelmed rather by some of the build-up - it was very pretty, but the storytelling wasn't gripping me after the excellent Club of Heroes episodes, and the crossovers and Batmans of the future and other palaver I found rather distracting, which was probably not the intention. This issue, though, I thought was very strong, and nicely contained - apart from the identity of the to-be-lobotomised prisoner in Arkham, you didn't even need the previous issue, much less the previous 12, to know what was going on. I'm hopeful that the denouement will keep the dynamism of this issue, rather than the portentousness of "The Clown at Midnight". |
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