Has DC killed Batman and the Joker?

WARNING - SPOILER ALERT

DC Comics publishes blockbuster ending to story Endgame, with a climactic fight between the caped crusader and his enemy that leaves both dead – for real, says author Scott Snyder

Batman: has he reached his final battle? Photograph: DC Comics

Stuart Kelly

Thursday 30 April 2015 - The Guardian

Scott Snyder’s run on DC Comics’ Batman has already garnered its fair share of controversy as well as plaudits. They will probably fade in comparison to the twist in the final part of Endgame, in issue #40, which appeared yesterday.
There had already been some consternation at Snyder’s rewriting of the Joker. At the end of a previous arc, Death of the Family, where the Joker seemingly knew the secret identities of Batman and all his allies, Bruce Wayne bested his nemesis by whispering that he knew the Joker’s true identity as well.

DC Comics’ Batman #40 cover, by Danny Miki and Greg Capullo. Photograph: DC Comics

In Endgame itself, there were constant hints that the Joker was not just a psychopathic man, but an immortal, legendary figure with supernatural powers, a “Pale Man” haunting Gotham’s history. Certain groups of fans bridled at this swerve towards the magical. Equal to the Joker’s mysteriousness has been the sense that he is nonetheless just as mortal, just as lacking in superpowers, as Batman. 
The previous issue, in which the Joker lopped off Alfred Pennyworth’s hand, seemed to show that all bets were off in terms of game-changing developments.
But none of this prepared readers for the twist in the final part. There was always going to be a climactic battle – and it is one of the most gruesome in the comic’s recent history, with a highpoint being the Joker being skewered by the ears on Batman’s costume. Exhausted, both wounded, it ends with the two of them lying on a cave floor.
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