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Kevin Smith’s (hopefully) triumphant return to comics!

Ah, Kevin Smith. He may be known to most of the public at large as a filmmaker of such classics as Clerks, Mallrats (one of my personal favorite films… no, really), Chasing Amy and most recently Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but to the tried-and-true fanboys, he is best known for being responsible for relaunching and bringing his brand of awesomeness not only Daredevil for Marvel, but also Green Arrow for DC. He’s also incredibly infamous amongst the same community for missing deadlines, finishing a six-issue mini for Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do not one nor two but THREE YEARS after he started it, and for a totally unfinished project; Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target. Although his work on Green Arrow and Daredevil are bright shiny moments, those other moments take away some of his fanboy cred. So now, instead of going back to Marvel, where his last two projects were either late or never, he comes back to DC to do some work on The Dark Knight himself and also to bring back one of the most mysterious and strangest villains in the DCU, the near-silent hero-killer Onomatopoeia in a three-part mini called Batman: Cacophony.  But is it a bang or a whimper?

Issue #1 starts out at Arkham Asylum, where major badass Deadshot has broken in to kill The Joker to collect on a contract. Joker is relatively unfazed by the prospect of his imminent death to one of the greatest assassins in the world, but still he wants an explanation as to the terms of the contract, and these are terms that are slightly vexing to The Joker, but not for the reasons you’d think. Apparently, Z-Grade Gotham crime boss Maxie Zeus has been taking a stash of Joker Venom and cutting it with the drug Ecstacy, calling it ‘Chuckles’, and making a decent profit, because when cut with Ecstacy, Joker Venom gives a pretty good high, and is relatively non-lethal. But a high-schooler OD’d on it, and the father put a hit on the Clown Prince of Crime. Like I said, The Joker doesn’t seem to be mad that he’s about to die, but he’s very angry at Maxie since he’s, for all intents and purposes, infringing on one of The Joker’s most infamous trademarks. But fortune smiles on The Joker because as Deadshot is about to take him out, Onomatopoeia mysteriously intervenes with his guns trained on Deadshot. Well, Ono (it just takes too much space to write his full name) gets the drop on Deadshot and shoots him right between the eyes, leaving him to take The Joker outside, where there’s a few misunderstandings (one that’s just goofy and one that is just ewww…) and with a briefcase full of cash, The Joker makes his getaway from Arkham yet again. Meanwhile, Victor Zsasz is also out of Arkham and on a fresh new killing spree, which Batman is able to stop, but not before two more of Gotham’s children are orphaned again. He gets a message from Gordon which is simply ‘Code Green’, and instantly Batman is in overdrive. Because everyone knows that an escaped Joker can only mean insanity and death. He goes to the scene of the breakout to hear about Deadshot’s murder. But… they don’t call him The World’s Greatest Detective for nothing. Meanwhile, Maxie is trying to prove that he’s no longer a psycho wannabe world-beater and that he’s just a legitimate businessman/philanthropist who has actually opened a private elementary school. Unfortunately for Maxie and his plans to keep making his legitimate money on top of the ‘Chuckles’ drug money, The Joker has arrived at that school, and the outcome of the confrontation has left Maxie with a desire to wrap himself up in his toga again and go to war with The Joker. And Ono is standing above it all, but to what end?

The first thing that I want to talk about in this issue is the art by Smith’s lifelong friend and comic illustrator Walter Flanagan (who is referenced quite a bit in Smith’s films). I thought that the ugly head of Nepotism was going to be reared, but he’s actually quite a good artist. He’s far from great, and I’m not that crazy about his rather non-threatening portrayal of Zsasz, but he does a commendable job on such a high-profile book, and is particularly good at conveying emotion. But this is really Smith’s comic, and I have to say, while I wasn’t totally bowled over by it, I am pretty darn pleased with the outcome. If nothing else, it’s obvious to anyone who’s seen his films or read any of his previous books that he has a real gift for dialogue and humor. The one-liners from The Joker and Deadshot are really funny, and just their whole exchange at the opening is great. As the plot gets rolling though and the action really starts coming into play, he also is very good at that. Smith, as he proved with Batman’s brief appearance in the now-classic Green Arrow re-launch arc “Quiver”, is very good at writing Batman not just as the scary guy who beats people up, but as the detective that he was always meant to be. A lot of writers do seem to forget that, but Smith doesn’t and he injects some of that here, and hopefully will continue down that road. Also, lest we forget the villain Ono. He is really one of the stranger and creepier villains out there because we have no idea who he is, or what he really seems to want, other than killing heroes. He seems to have a deeper purpose and grander scheme here than in Green Arrow, and one can only hope that Smith will probe a little more into the character here with a much larger potential audience.
Batman: Cacophony #1 is not a great book, but it’s a really good start, and let’s just all hope that Smith doesn’t let anything get in the way of completing this book.

Batman: Cacophony #1
“Part One: Bring The Noise”
Written by Kevin Smith
Pencils by Walter Flanagan
Inks by Sandra Hope
Colors by Guy Major
Letters by Jared K. Fletcher

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