There are spoilers here but nothing that will spoil the already stale story. With that in mind, "Death Of The Family" stays mired in subplot that has little or nothing to do with the Joker here. This issue, "Nothin' But Smiles", provides anything but. Joker copycats are nothing new or interesting as gangs across Gotham adopt the greasepaint, spreading Batman thin. He deals with these problems because they really pose no threat. It's just a bunch of wanna-bes without a gimmick to call their own.
This was the series that saw Mr. J's infamous departure over a year ago and the tie-ins have done nothing to capitalize on that. The book itself has gone downhill since Tony Daniel's first two issues. John Layman's first two issues were respectable but the quality has gone sharply down the last two. Jason Fabok's art isn't nearly as detailed and textured as Tony Daniel's but is still respectable.
The Poison Ivy/Clayface story was at least somewhat compelling. I was actually looking forward to seeing the next chapter in that. Instead, I get to see the continued and likely inconsequential rise of Oswald Cobblepot's protégé, Ogilvy, now known as Emperor Penguin. We also get a brief introduction to another Joker neophyte called the Merrymaker, who looks an awful lot like one of the Court of Owls. This issue doesn't deliver the "pow", "bam", and "kaboom". It just gives us yuck, blech, and ptooey.
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