This is the stuff the future is made of.
Scott Snyder is creating Batman stories for the next generation.
Snyder knows how to frighten the reader.
He threatens to commit atrocious harm to long-lived and beloved characters.
Thats what Snyder does: he makes you believe the worst and delivers the unexpected for manipulate those anxieties.
The recurring motifs in Death of the Family are masks and identity.
Joker removes his own face to show the world that beneath the flesh theres still the maniacal grin.
Joker is angry that Batman had found new foes and a family.
He thinks these elements distract Batman from his mission as Gothams protector.
Snyders Batman stories center on Gotham City itself as a corrupt entity that has been manipulating people for centuries.
The Joker is the being that is meant to test Gothams champion.
Batman could only be perfected through a foe that is every bit his equal and every bit his opposite.
Snyder broaches the question of why Batman just doesnt kill the Joker.
Snyder finally gives us the answer no other bat writer could.
The answer to this question is the dramatic conclusion to the saga.
Batman doesnt kill the Joker, because if he does, Gotham will replace the Joker with something worse.
If Batman is to be tested by Gotham, then it needs to be a test he can navigate.
The fear causes a rift between Batman and his companions.
The reveal of what has been hiding under the covered trays is Jokers greatest and most shocking punch line.
The past three months have been devoted to showing us just how unstoppable the Joker can be.
Snyders most effective moment is when he teases pulling back the curtain on the Joker.
In the end, Batman defeats the Joker, not with his fists, but with knowledge.
This is the stuff legends are made of.
