At the end of issue #47, as Jim Gordon being swarmed by an army of Mr. Bloom look-a-likes, things looked pretty bad.
Batman #48, however, is here to show you it can get worse. Much worse. Gordon is hanging on for dear life after a police van crash, and now Mr. Bloom is hoisting him high above the city as an example of everything wrong with Gotham city. It leads to some powerful imagery from Greg Capullo, as Mr. Blooms grotesquely disproportionate body stretches across the city's streets, Gordon in hand.
In fact, most of this issue consists of a rousing speech from Bloom. He compares Gotham to a garden, continuing the analogy by explaining how gardens are unnatural, filled with weeds and plants that don't go together, all battling for water and sunlight. Gardens are kept by gardeners who think they know best.
Jim, the police and the government are the gardeners, but they've failed to ensure the safety and stability of many in Gotham, their garden. There are still plenty of poor, disenfranchised men and women in the city who feel like they have no options left.
So Bloom gives them one. He plants seeds across the city so that ordinary citizens can join his cause.
In that one moment, the stakes are raised considerably. Jim is powerless. Hundreds of new power hungry people will take to the streets to "take what is theirs." The world needs Batman.
Which brings us to the other half of this issue: Bruce Wayne's discussion with what appears to be a "cured" Joker. The issue gets heavy here, as Joker discusses how he was a victim struggling with thoughts of suicide. Their conversation is deep on a number of levels, especially when one thinks about the nature of comic book superheroes themselves. We all know Bruce Wayne will soon return as Batman. It's an inevitability. No major hero in the DC universe (or villain, for that matter) stays gone for long.
So when Bruce and Joker discuss "going back to the way things were" and how pointless their lives seem if they simply slide back into the status quo, it works on multiple levels thanks to Scott Snyder's always excellent prose. They both have new lives now, lives they are happy with. Yet the two characters will soon return to their "normal" selves, regardless of whether they are happy or not. It's simply in their nature, not only as character's but because of what they are: a comic book hero and villain owned by a business called DC Comics.
Issue #48 should give readers plenty to muse over in the month long wait for #49. We all know where this train is heading, but so far it hasn't stopped the ride from being one of the most entertaining Batman storylines yet.
