What is this book about?

Batman: Cacophony is the title of a three-issue comic book limited series. The series was written by Kevin Smith with art by WALT FLANAGAN. Yeah, that’s right Walt Flanagan as in, the man who is referenced throughout all Kevin Smith movies? You know what I’m talking about right?

Jizz moppers?
Cigarette purchaser/protester?!
“Tell ‘em, Steve-Dave!”?!!
“Damn, that bastard’s faster than Walt Flanagan’s dog”!!!

Ring any bells?

In the Kevin Smith film Clerks: Walt Flanagan was the cigarette protester who bought the cigarettes immediately after the protest and the customer offended by the lewd “jizz mopper” discussion.

And in the movie Mallrats: Walt Flanagan played Walt Grover, the Fanboy. The Fanboy is known for accompanying his friend Steve-Dave with his trademark phrase “Tell ‘em, Steve-Dave!” Also, when Jay and Silent Bob are running away from the mall-cop LaFours? Jay gets up and remarks: “Damn, that bastard’s faster than Walt Flanagan’s dog!”

Also, apparently Walt Flanagan was the guy who got Kevin Smith into comics AND he is the influence for the Brodie character, down to the Dixie Cup full of soda that the character carries with him everywhere!

Wow. That’s awesome!

Now, he the artist for Batman: Cacophony

The series begins with a character named Deadshot who is breaking into Arkham Asylum with the intent to kill The Joker but is stopped by a character called Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia then releases the Joker, leaving him a briefcase of money with the intention of creating mayhem in Gotham to draw out Batman; who is Onomatopoeia’s actual target.

The Joker uses this money to attack Maxie Zeus, who is a psychotic gang lord in Gotham City, who turned Joker’s joker gas into a designer drug, a use of his creation the Joker sees as degrading.

Batman is eventually made aware that he is the latest target of the vigilante killing villain Onomatopoeia.

Action and hilarity ensues…

Why should you read this book?

Because “Kevin Smith manages to find a fresh voice for one of the industry’s most heavily exposed characters.” – Grant Morrison, writer

To be perfectly honest, the only reason to read this book is if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith and the work that he does. For the most part, this book is pretty generic. There are thousands of Batman/Joker battles and confrontations where the Joker points out to Batman that they “need each other.” Even though a part of me feels that I could’ve gone my entire lifetime never seeing another Batman/Joker battle, I do realize the importance of such a book.

A dichotomy between these two characters such as the one displayed in this book is very important because we assume that there isn’t a fine line between good and evil and that one can exist without the other. Because often times we don’t look past our original ideas on these (instinctual?) “truths;” maybe we don’t know how…but that is why I recommend this book. A thousand more writers could walk into the DC Comics publishing offices and say they have a great idea for a Batman/Joker book, in some cases maybe it will end with a clear defined statement by one of the characters saying in not so many words “you need me,” and other times the writers will leave metaphors or use interpretative story telling to let the reader determine the “moral.”

Whatever the means of transportation for this message, is irrelevant. The fact that it is brought up time and time again with two very recognizable figures just goes to show that we are paying to see this message over and over again. This very message was viewed a lot in the recent highest grossing movie of all time, The Dark Knight Returns. It’s theorized that the only reason this movie did as well as it did was because of the additional support of hype, word of mouth, press and the timely death of Heath Ledger brought in crowds that would otherwise never watch a “superhero” movie. Maybe no one payed close attention to the Joker’s words, “Why would i kill you batman? You complete me,” but maybe they did. Maybe it’s somewhere in their subconscious? Point is, a lot of people heard this. And people like Christopher Nolan and Kevin Smith who know how to draw an audience to present a profound (controversial?) thought such as this leads me to feel that this book, Batman: Cacophony, is far more important than a lot of the other books where the writer lets the reader determine the moral.

Here Kevin Smith is presenting it straight up, no metaphors, no confusing what if’s, and no other interpretations. And where most of Kevin Smith’s fan base are people who like dick and fart jokes, I feel it is quite a feat and calling of true brilliance and power to display such thoughts to an audience that stereotypically wouldn’t think nor care to think about an important message about questioning what you always thought was true.

So actually even though, I originally said: “To be perfectly honest, the only reason to read this book is if you’re a fan of Kevin Smith and the work that he does.” I retract. This book is literally for everyone…and if you’re a fan, it’s just a bonus that he happens to write it.

If you would like to purchase the book you can buy it here. It’s actually very cheap!

Discussion: What do YOU think? Do you think Batman would have nothing to fight against if all the super villains gave up or he killed them? Do you think the “evil” he fights exists because he does? And vice versa? (Please leave your comments in the comments section below, do not message or IM me with your answers)