Death of the Family is becoming a really amazing and disturbing storyline as DC ushers in the New Year with a bunch of Bat-titles this week. For context’s sake, we’ll start with Batgirl #15. The Joker has Batgirl on a date and has even proposed to her (for reasons why this came about, read Batgirl #14), but if anything the new 52 has done with the Joker, we are shown here that he is a one-of-a-kind really crazy villain, with an example shown in the flashback portion of this issue.
  
On another note, Gail Simone, who has been doing a banged-up job writting Batgirl will no longer be working the title anymore. Which is sad though, as I can’t wait to see what Barbara Gordon would do, in a wedding ceremony from hell. 4.5 out of 5.
In Batman Forever, Jim Carrey’s Riddler asks the question: “Riddle me this, what sort of a man has bats on the brain?”. Well, in Batman #15, the answer definitely isn’t Batman… since his thoughts are on the Joker. One may argue that Death of the Family is a love story of sorts, and the star-crossed lovers, forever intertwined in a love-hate-borderlining-on-murder kind of relationship are both Batman and the Joker. It’s crazy, but Scott Snyder puts it all in this issue, setting up a “honey-I’m-home” confrontation in Arkham between the two. 5 out of 5 (BUY THIS BOOK).
OK, the last of the Bat-titles to be out this week is Batman and Robin #15. Here, Damian decides to go look for Alfred, and the conversations he has with his dog Titus is heartwarming, and appropriately child-like. But we all know that he is no ordinary kid. Captured by the Joker after clues led him to the Gotham Zoo, he must now face a…wait for it…(SPOILERS!!) a Jokerised-Batman!
Could this be the result of the upcoming fight between Batman and Joker in Batman #16? I don’t know yet, but I’m gonna put my vote in for Death of the Family to be the best Bat-storylines to hit the shelves in recent years. 4.5 out of 5!
Reading the Before Watchmen: Dr Manhattan #3, is like reading a foregone conclusion. Fans of the original Watchmen books are already pretty familiar with his backstory and unlike the Silk Spectre books, all this jumping back and forth in time/scenarios is starting to get really old. The art though, is brilliant and artist Adam Hughes gets to draw some pretty cool stuff (including that cover), along with his take on that hot minx, Silk Spectre. 3.5 out of 5!
