It will be a sad thing when Grant Morrison leaves this book with the next issue because, with the exception of the second arc, this has been a ridiculously perfect Batman series. Not that Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason won’t do a good job, it’s just it won’t be the same, with Morrison off writing Batman Incorporated instead. The one hope right now is that the next creative team can keep this a consistently brilliant comic book about the best odd couple the medium has produced in decades.

Morrison has been crafting the ultimate Batman story for quite some time now; stretching all the way back to the introduction of Damien Wayne in Batman #655, and now the perfect ending seems to be finally within our grasp. Damien has gone full-circle; he’s no longer the irritating plot device he was when Morrison first started writing the book, he’s become a true hero, and understands the value of what he’s doing and who he is. Without Damien this book doesn’t even begin to work. The character is far beyond important to the Batman mythology now, and his relationship with Dick Grayson’s Batman is nothing short of flawless.

That said, the first chunk of the issue features Damien trading remarks with a character that is, on the surface at least, far more compelling than Dick Grayson. The opening scenes with Damien and the Joker talking about how Damien plans to hunt him down once this reluctant team-up is over are absolutely astonishing, and show just how well Morrison can write the Joker.

It’s also nice to see some wrap-up to the Dr. Hurt storyline, which was hinted at being near its conclusion when it appeared in the penultimate issue of The Return of Bruce Wayne last week. As long as Professor Pyg sticks around, this can be the end of Dr. Hurt’s arc as far as the character’s relevance is concerned; Pyg was always the more frightening villain anyway.

Now, onto the artwork; Frazer Irving is, reportedly, the reason this issue, and the preceding two, were so abysmally late. But when his work is this fantastic, you can forgive the six-week wait since the last issue. His style is perfect for a Batman book, and his design for the Joker, in particular, are perfect in keeping with what has come before, while adding a layer of threat and sadism that only comes from Morrison’s version of the character. His choreography is also second only to Frank Quitely; the fight sequence between Damien and an army of brainwashed Gothamites was stunning to behold, and harkened back to the second issue of the series, featuring a similar fight sequence drawn by Quitely.

There’s not much else to say about this book, but it’s obvious it would be the best thing released this week, especially when you glance at the last page, and see the return of a famous character; finally, beautifully, perfectly.