Some thoughts about Batman #100

Can the Joker be truly defeated?

Batman and his nemesis are having their final confrontation but Harley believes that the only way to stop him and save the city is to finally put an end to this fight.

This event has finally come to an end and its conclusion is just as underwhelming as the story itself.

James Tynion IV delivers the final chapter of his big storyline and based on his other works and his inspiration, Scott Snyder, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to have an unsatisfying finale, although I got to give this to Snyder, at the very least he had the sense to give the villain a feeling of defeat when the story actually ended (Well, during his Batman run at least). Tynion's run had its ups and downs and , while Joker War some entertaining chapters for what it was, it never managed to get away from that creatively-bankrupt concept and this conclusion is just as transparently manufactured as you would expect.

Yes, the Joker tries to confront Bats from a personal level, saying stuff like "You have failed this city!" like we haven't heard that countless of times before, only for things to abruptly end with Harley planting a bomb that of course the Joker is going to survive somehow and now even giving Bruce a glance of accomplishment because he didn't really beat the Joker, nobody did actually, he escaped and he's going to continue doing his usual stuff. Is not like I was expecting the Joker to die obviously but I was at least expecting... something, a vague sense of a conclusion but that's not how Tynion works obviously.

Oh, we do get some epilogues! One about a new crime fighter, one about the Clownhunter (who Batman doesn't even arrest despite that he killed several people for reasons that really escape me) and of course, one about Punchline who is having house arrest for even more ridiculous reasons only because Tynion wants to keep exploiting his Mary Sue. Nice.

Hey, at least Jorge Jimenez' artwork never disappoints thanks to his energetic style and creative storytelling.

Aside from that, we need new, more imaginative voices in Batman.