While certain books in the DC New 52 have surprised me (Animal Man, I’m looking at you!), I don’t think there’s one book that has brought me joy more than Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on Batman.

Pairing the indie darling writer who made his mainstream name on an excellent Detective Comics run with the legendary Spawn artist has proven to be a masterstroke, and I’ve gobbled up every issue they’ve released to date with much joy.

Year two for the creative duo looks to be kicking off with a bang, as according to the new promo image released by DC this week, October’s Batman #13 will feature the return of classic Bat-villain The Joker.

From the image, one can tell that the controversial face-cutting from Detective Comics #1 remains, and Snyder is promising big things, telling Comic Book Resources, “…it’s the biggest, baddest, most shocking Joker story I could tell. This is Joker completely unleashed.” Given the twists and turns in his Batman run so far, it’s a big claim for the writer, but I think he can make it happen.

Batman #13 hits shelves in October 2012.

Source: Comic Book Resources.