Escalate

The second chapter of Tom King and Mikel Janín’s “The War of Jokes and Riddles” unfolds in Batman #26, as a new dynamic continues to be forged between two of Batman’s most notorious villains. Both darkly comedic foes figured strongly into Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s New 52 run on the title, but were featured in largely independent storylines. Here, King takes the opportunity to establish a backstory to connect these two supervillains, one that goes beyond their mutual animosity with the Dark Knight. RELATED: Batman: War of Jokes and Riddles’ Inciting Incident Revealed In fact, Batman continues to serve as little more than as a narrator, relaying the story in past tense to Selina Kyle, as revealed at the end of last issue. That presents no problem story-wise, though – King continues to excel with his typical superb pacing and structure, while Janín brings King’s story to life with almost lifelike precision, taking his place comfortably alongside the roster of artists that have bea