Legends of the Dark Knight #200

Writers: Eddie Campbell and Daren White
Artist: Bart Sears
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Mike Atiyeh


In this double-sized, anniversary issue the Joker returns to wreak havoc on the citizens of Gotham with several well-placed bombs. When the Joker is dosed with his own lethal laughing gas Batman must keep the lunatic alive long enough to find out where the rest of the bombs are planted.

I’m not sure, but it seems like this anniversary issue was thrown together at the last second. Not that the story or art seem lacking really. But it’s quite clear that this story was in fact supposed to be two separate issues. The break in the story is plain for everyone to see, ending on a cliffhanger 22 pages into the story, and then featuring two pages of recap before telling the rest of the story. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe DC felt that this story was good enough to turn into one story. But then why wasn’t there an effort made to meld the two issues together into a more cohesive story in the middle?

It’s not a bad story though. It’s a straightforward Joker vs. Batman yarn with a great hook (Batman bursting into the emergency room demanding the Joker receive care before anyone else), some nice tension and an exciting climax. But it definitely wasn’t an important story. And once again it made me question why in God’s name someone doesn’t kill the Joker. In this issue alone he kills several dozen people and, if not for Batman, would have killed several dozen more. At this point it is irresponsible on the part of Batman and Gotham’s law enforcement agencies to allow this man to continue living! He always escapes. He always kills a lot of innocent people. He will never be cured. His very existence at this point is totally beyond the realm of believability, even in a world of flying supermen.

As for the art, well I used to really like Bart Sears, but in the past few years his style has changed a lot. I’m not sure if it’s because he now inks his own work or what, but his style is sloppy and rushed. In places it looks as if he inked the book with a sharpie marker. And I know that he is famous for his overly muscled me and buxom women but I was not a fan of his ripped looking Joker. The guy looks like he’s been taking steroids. I always thought that the Joker was supposed to look gaunt and almost sickly, another way in which he is Batman’s perfect opposite.

Legends of the Dark Knight #200 is far from being a bad book and is actually quite a fun read. But there were little details that just kept catching me up. Maybe it’s because I’m too picky, but I would expect more from something as important as a 200th issue.

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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