JOKER HC

Review by: Tork

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Avg Rating: 4.4
 
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Size: pages
Price: 19.99

Since the release of the Dark Knight into theaters, the world is abuzz with the Joker.  Heath Ledger’s performance as everyone’s favorite serial killing clown has ignited talks of an Oscar while normal day people tell their friends “Why so serious?” and “How ’bout a magic trick?” on the streets.  Amidst all this excitement and furor, DC has tapped Brian Azzarello of 100 Bullets fame and Lee Bermejo of several covers’ fame to bring a brand new Joker OGN tauted as the best Joker story since The Killing Joke.  Originally called Joker: The Dark Knight (similar to the team’s other work, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel), the graphic novel is now titled simply “Joker.”

The book is told from the perspective of Jonny Frost (any relation to Joe Chill?), a Ray Liota as Henry Hill type small time thug who now works for his idol, the Joker after the clown somehow convinced Arkham he’d knock off all that evil.  Immediately, it’s fairly obvious this isn’t in the mainstream DC canon: the Joker and pretty much all the other characters look and act vastly different from their typical counterparts.  The Joker looks a bit like the Ledger version though he acts a tad different, less nihilist philosophizing and more gangster-esque motivations.  In actuality, this might be the same Joker several years removed from the events of the movie, now more business-like and less philosophical than his more oddly idealistic younger counterpart.  Likewise, Dent here looks very similar to Eckhardt’s character yet is more traditionally criminal than the movie version.  The other villains– a greasy and parasitic Penguin, a buff muscleman Croc, and an eccentric Johnny Depp by way of Raoul Duke-esque Riddler– all feel like twisted, crazed versions of the Nolan universe.  Likewise when Batman is actually seen, it’s the black clad Bale interpretation, giving credence to this somehow being an odd Nolan-verse off-shoot.

The story itself is a pretty standard crime tale: the Joker is released from Arkham and decides to take back what’s his.  What follows is a nutty yet sinister trail of blood and psychosis as Frost goes from idolizing the Joker’s Cagney-ish ways to fearing and despising his Frank Booth-esque insanity.  It’s a tale that can only end one way and when it does, it’s a gut punch.  All throughout, the paranoia and rage of all the characters is omnipresent, brought through both Azzarello’s story and Bermejo’s grity detailed art.  It’s a story of madness, fear, and the need to feel important and all the costs involved.  It’s a tale that you could easily see under the banner of Brubaker’s Criminal or a Martin Scorsese film.  If you like rough and dirty crime noir or are just curious to dig into a slightly off-kilter interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime, this book just might be worth picking up.

Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent

Comments

  1. i agree 100% with this review – excellent book!  and if you listen to the dark knight soundtrack (as i did) while reading, the experience is that much richer!

  2. This was my pick this week.

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