Detective Comics #17

While trying to hunt down and stop the Merrymaker and the League of Smiles before the Joker-obsessed group adds to the list of victims, Batman searches the past of the sadistic Dr. Byron Meredith who once treated all members of the group while employed as a doctor at Arkham Asylum.

Batman tracks the three mentally-unstable members of the League to the Gotham Children's Hospital where he also finds the Merrymaker and reveals to his fairly angry followers the true reason behind the League's murder spree. The issue also includes a backup story involving Meredith's time at Arkham, how he used the Joker to further his own career, and the reasons behind his elaborate hoax.

Unlike much of the endless teasing, Bat-Family bickering, and grotesque nature of Death of the Family, the Merrymaker storlyine involves Batman doing a bit of old fashioned detective work and using his brains to take down another threat to Gotham City. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]