Today marks the release of Scott Synder and Greg Capullo’s “Batman” #40. The issue marks the finale of the “Endgame” arc that began all the way back in October. It sees The Joker mount his endgame plan against Batman in an attempt to bring everything into one final huge tragedy. And it delivered. Both Batman and Joker are dead.
The final reveal at the end of Batman #39 proved that Batman was willing to do whatever it took to take The Joker down, and #40 cemented that. Whatever it takes may seem vague, but let me be clear: Batman is dead. It’s a twist that was spoiled earlier this month. Despite this, the final revelation of how and why Bruce Wayne is dead still worked. Here’s why:
For the entirety of Endgame, Joker had been teasing that he was this immortal figure. And, it’s still unclear whether or not he was telling the truth. The short answer is: it was probably a joke, but the long answer is much more complicated. The Joker gained his “immortality” from a liquid located beneath the surface of the city. Deep beneath the surface. Here, underground he and Batman have one final showdown.
The brutality of the fight was well earned. Joker cuts a smiley face into Batman’s back, sticks a playing card into his eye. Joker has his spine broken, and, amidst all this, the cave starts to collapse. Batman holds the dying Joker against the ground, and as the cave collapses the two lie there together: dead. Equal sides of the same whole.
There has been no better representation of their relationship. The implications from this storyline means that Batman cannot live with the Joker, and although Bruce refused the taunt of immortality both will assuredly be seen again. Writer, Scott Synder teases that he wouldn’t tell the story of death if he didn’t know how to do the rebirth.
In many ways, this storyline proved to be a thrilling tribute to one of the most famous rivalries in comics history. In essence reminding us what Batman stood for, and that The Joker basically killed himself out of boredom. Both cannot live without the other, and there is something beautiful in seeing them die together.