Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles

Tom King keeps writing the Batman stories you didn’t know you want.

So much so, it’s worth spreading the word of the King collections of “Batman” again and again.

And King is a writer willing to take his time unraveling a story.

For example, the first 50 issues of his run as “Batman” writer is essentially an epic love story between the Bat and Catwoman.

Enveloped within this epic are numerous other story arcs involving Bane and others.

King’s restraint is also epic. Most Batman writers are chomping at the bit to toss Batman against the Joker. 

King took his time.

He didn’t introduce the Joker until his 25th issue of “Batman.” That’s two years into the run.

And King doesn’t really introduce the Joker in the present. Instead, “The War of Jokes and Riddles” story arc is Batman recalling a long ago gangland war between the Joker and the Riddler. 

The two villains amass an army of other Batman bad guys and go about wreaking a war of violence throughout Gotham.

As King often does, he tosses in an issue, a twist, most readers wouldn’t expect.

Here, it is Bruce Wayne calling a truce to negotiate a peace between the Joker and the Riddler during a nine-course French meal. This isn’t just an interlude of a few pages. No, the meal, negotiations, conversations, etc., run an entire issue. 

Again, a Batman story you didn’t know you wanted but you do want it and you want more. No matter the number of tasty dishes.

While “The War of Jokes and Riddles” is a grand tale on its own. It is again Batman/Bruce sharing a story from his past with his fiancee, Catwoman/Selina. He wants her to understand something about him. Something the Joker-Riddler war will explain about who he is. 

And another story, an smaller epic, enveloped within the larger epic of the Batman-Catwoman love story.

All contained in Volume 4 of the “Batman” King run in trade paperback.