COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Batman 100 Modern
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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3737942018
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Owner:
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ParadoxTremors
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Bought from uncanny_stash on eBay 11-15-2020.
The favorite of all my "Jimenez Variant" covers that I have.
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Synopsis (spoilers ahead): At the clocktower in Burnside, Batgirl activates the clocktower computer and steps into the familiar role of Oracle once more. She shuts down any Bat vehicles currently in operation and opens up a broadcast to the citizens of Gotham City. As the Bat-Family fights on, Oracle levels with the citizens of Gotham and issues a lockdown, promising that the Bat-Family will win back the city block by block.
On the streets, a GCPD officer runs up to Bullock, issuing new directives from City Hall mandating that the police shut Oracle down. Commissioner Bullock refuses, throwing his badge on the ground and asking his fellow GCPD officers if they want to be cops in a crooked city or if they want to do what’s right.
At Ace Chemicals, Batman dodges Joker’s attacks and carries Alfred’s Jokerized zombie corpse to safety. Joker, in his own updated version of the Batsuit, pursues Batman relentlessly, using Batman’s old tech against the vigilante. Joker stabs Batman in the back and appears to get the upper hand, taunting the hero with the idea that the two should switch roles for a while. Batman presses a gadget on his belt that shuts off the lights, and he uses this momentary disruption to smash the Batman mask off of Joker’s face. Joker responds by blowing the chemical factory sky high.
Across the city, Punchline expresses frustration at Joker diverting from his own plan by blowing up Ace Chemicals early. As she demands an update from her clowns, the Underbroker arrives to inform her that their partnership has ended. The money is gone. Underbroker leaves, and before Punchline can properly react, Nightwing engages her in a duel. Clowns arrive to assist Punchline. In turn, the Bat-Family arrives, and both sides clash.
At Ace Chemicals, Oracle hacks through Joker’s signal blocker to inform Batman that Punchline will be apprehended in minutes and that Joker’s clown army is aware that the war is over and are giving up across the city. She tells Batman to take down the Joker. Then, this will all be over.
Batman picks himself up from the rubble, and he has Alfred’s corpse in tow. Batman shouts out to Joker that the war is over, that his family is winning. Joker stabs Batman in the back once more, telling the hero that the war has been over for a while. Joker’s robbed Batman of his bright, shiny future with his bright, shiny new Batsuit weaponized against him. Joker’s bred distrust and discord in Gotham City and brought forth its ugly, violent face once more.
Joker strips off the Batsuit, and the two fight once more. “Nobody has faith in anything anymore,” the clown prince of crime gloats. He gains the upper hand on Batman, taunting the hero with how he’s stripped the Dark Knight of everything. Right as Joker is about to carve Batman’s face with a batarang, Harley Quinn shoots Joker through the eye.
Harley tells Joker that Batman needs to make the decision on Joker’s life. She straps Joker with a bomb and ties him up. Then, she plants one on her own body and runs off, telling Batman that the bombs will both explode within seconds. Batman tells Joker that with the suit the clown prince of crime was wearing, Joker had access to a gadget that would disarm the bomb strapped to him. Joker tells Batman that Batman’s going to need to do the disarming, thus damning Harley to a grisly fate. Mr. J notes that Batman wouldn’t leave him to die, as well as leave Alfred’s body behind to roast in the flames.
Batman leaves, and Joker shouts, seemingly terrified, mere seconds before an explosion goes off.
One week later, Harley Quinn wakes up in a hospital bed. Batman’s in the room with her, and she expresses surprise at being alive. Immediately after, she asks if Joker is dead. Batman tells her that Joker used the gadget in the Batsuit to disarm the bomb.
The two talk about how the city has changed so much and Harley notes that while Gotham is ugly, the people out there are trying their best. She notes how Batman keeps them alive, which is “pretty neat.”
Batman tells Harley that he had to bury his father again and that going forward is going to be hard. He commits himself to being a better man and a better Batman.
In an epilogue, the Ghost-Maker expresses disappointment in how Bruce Wayne has made a mess of Gotham City. “Our teachers would be ashamed of you,” Ghost-Maker says. “The truce is over....”
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Backup Story #1 – “Intervention” by writer James Tynion IV and artist Carlo Pagulayan
Clownhunter, out of his vigilante outfit, enters his apartment only to find Batman waiting for him. At first, Clownhunter heaves sarcasm at Batman. Batman responds by saying that he knows Clownhunter’s real name. It’s Bao Pham. Batman also knows that Bao’s parents were killed by Joker five years ago.
Batman asks Bao why he killed those clowns, and Bao tells Batman that he finally stopped believing that a guy in a bat costume would save this city. Bao then mentions that he received a call from the GCPD telling him that his parents had been dug up and their bodies were found at a burning theater. Batarangs were also found at the scene.
The two talk some more, with Bao throwing more barbs Batman’s way. Batman tells Clownhunter that in another life he’d come here to frighten Bao. For now, Batman offers a card for Dr. Leslie Thompkins’ clinic and tells Clownhunter to get help. This, Batman says, will be Clownhunter’s only warning.
After Batman leaves, Clownhunter expresses that help would be nice…once he’s finished....
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Backup Story #2 – “Dead Ringer” by writer James Tynion IV and artist Guillem March
At a bar in the Robbinsville area of Gotham City, a hooded Joker sits next to a bar patron with a stack of newspapers in hand. Joker mentions that he had an accident a few weeks back, which took him out of commission. He’s catching up on the news.
The bar patron and Joker change the topic to Punchline, who has been all over the news. The patron tells Joker that Punchline is under house arrest. Then, he shows Joker a video she put out. In the video, Punchline reveals her real name, Alexis Kaye. She tells viewers that she was under the influence of a “bad man” and is, like everyone else, a victim of the Joker. In her lengthy speech, she paints a portrait of a college student taken advantage of. She says that she didn’t kill anyone and that she only wants to own up to her responsibility in the Joker War.
Joker comments on how “good” Punchline is at this act. At first, the bar patron thinks Joker is just making a joke. When he questions whether or not this “comedian” is actually the Joker, Mr. J exhales chemicals in the man’s face.
“You are,” Joker says. “Well, your body will be. They’ll find it down by one of the docks in a day or two, all bloated, with the skin bleached just right.”
Joker notes how he’s going to take a vacation for a bit while the cops figure out if the body is really the Joker or not. Then, he’ll return for his big goodbye....
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