Joker is the comic we will be looking at today. It is a 2008 American comic book based on characters from DC’s Batman series, published by DC Comics. The focus is on one villain, as the title suggests, but it is narrated by one of his minions, making the comic even more enjoyable. Joker was supposed to be a miniseries in October 2008, but DC decided to release it as a standalone hardcover in time for Halloween instead.
It is written by Brian Azzarello, the author of such classics as Broken City and 100 Bullets, and it is illustrated by Lee Bermejo. It is a unique take on the Batman mythos, set outside of regular continuity and told by one of the Joker’s goons. It has delivered a new, breath-taking perspective on Batman’s arch-enemy, as well as a distinct image of Gotham City, possibly the most heinous metropolis in modern popular fiction, that has appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, it is one of the few successful attempts to pierce the Joker’s impenetrable psyche.
Despite its clear plot and deluge of gruesome violence, Azzarello and Bermejo’s story reaches a level of sensitivity rarely seen in a Batman comic, let alone one starring his deadliest and most colorful nemesis. The Joker is a wonderful work of warped imagination. It is a work of anarchy, gore, grit, guts, filthy gutters, and astounding craziness all rolled into one. It is also a horrific dive into the guts of fiction’s filthiest and most disgusting city, led by its filthiest and most terrible individual.
Another miniseries, Batman: Damned, is a standalone sequel to the graphic novel, with specific details, locations, and images implying a connected plot between the two tales.
Joker: A Descent into Madness
The Joker had been imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, but he has been declared “cured.” No one knows how he managed this feat. On the eve of his release, his employees quarrel in a pub about who will be responsible for picking him up–no one wants in. Jonny Frost, an underling, decides to step up to the plate, not because he is particularly brave, but because he wants a piece of the power and respect that comes with being linked with Gotham’s scariest villains. Thankfully, we are told the story from Frost’s perspective throughout, sparing us the excruciating effort it would take to understand the workings of the Joker’s mind.
Frost is in over his head and has an incessant need to be someone, someone with power, someone who can be known. Joker is immediately taken with him and starts using him as a chauffeur. This makes Frost feel like he is a part of something big. Joker wants to go to Killer Croc’s lair immediately after being released because the criminal authority in Gotham City has been redistributed among mid-boss mobsters and some familiar faces during the Joker’s stint in Arkham.
The three head to the Grin and Bear It, a strip joint where the Joker murders one of his old minions, the owner of the club, with the help of Harley Quinn and declares his goal to reclaim Gotham City. He then holds a bank robbery the next day and persuades the Penguin, whom he mockingly calls Abner, to invest the looted funds.
Joker goes on a murderous rampage, slaughtering a slew of goons who have stolen his money, turf, and a strange sense of notoriety. Penguin then informs him that Harvey Dent, also known as Two-Face, his leading contender for control of Gotham, is refusing to speak with him, which enrages the Joker.
In the following few panels, we see that Frost is detained by Dent, who warns him that Joker will murder him. He had said there is no loyalty among thieves; however, Frost feels he is on an equal footing with Joker. As a result, Frost is late for the rendezvous between the Joker and the Riddler, a handicapped weapons dealer. The Joker doesn’t take the indiscretion lightly and kicks Frost in the gonads. Joker and his posse leave after exchanging a briefcase. Just then, they are ambushed by off-duty officers hired by Dent while they are on the road, and Frost saves Joker’s life in the battle.
Dent meets with Joker at the city zoo after Joker launches a turf war against him. Joker, carrying the briefcase he got from Riddler, claims to have discovered Dent has two wives and threatens to use the contents of the bag against him. This obviously makes the entire meeting hostile and results in Dent’s wrist being slashed by the Joker. Harley, on the other hand, ambushes and executes his other henchmen.
After assisting Frost in recovering his ex-wife Shelly from Dent, Joker rapes her in front of Frost, claiming that this “evens things out” because Frost “cheated” on Joker by not disclosing his own encounter with Dent. Like I said, thank you, Azzarello, for not making us read this comic from the Joker’s perspective because you really can’t tell what goes on in his mind.
Harvey later draws a bat in the spotlight to get Batman’s attention and begs him to stop Joker. Later, when Joker and Frost arrive home to find their window destroyed, they run to Croc’s lair. Croc and his crew, on the other hand, have already been dealt with by Batman. They are found hanging on the meat hangers, some bound, some dead.
Joker and Frost race to a nearby bridge in a last-ditch attempt to getaway. While the Joker is “screaming through tears,” Jonny somehow finds himself laughing uncontrollably. They come upon Batman, who is waiting for them, and Joker keeps getting enraged by Batman’s taunts. Joker demands to know why Batman disguises himself as a monster but exposes his mouth, ruining the illusion. “To mock you,” Batman responds. This is the last straw, and the Joker goes insane and shoots Frost in the chin, giving him a Glasgow grin.
While Batman and the Joker fight, a dying Frost laments how the Joker is a disease as old as mankind, bringing the first few lines back and creating a full circle. Frost goes on to say that he has now recognized how destructive his connection with the Joker was as he falls to his death from the bridge. After that, it’s assumed that Batman subdued the Joker and took him into custody for his crimes.
Thoughts and Reviews
There haven’t been many attempts to explain the Joker in comic comics. They don’t have to, either. The mystery surrounding Joker’s origin is his most intriguing feature. Not to mention attempting to understand why he acts the way he does. This comic by Azzarello and Bermejo shows the Joker as more than a deranged evil whose deeds have no rhyme or reason other than chaos. We’re introduced to a Joker with a plan, a motivation to get out of bed in the morning. If he sleeps at all, that is.
Azzarello effectively casts us as bystanders to his anarchy. Thanks to Jonny Frost’s narration, the book immerses you as the third man in the Joker’s desire to wreak havoc in Gotham. When it comes to Gotham City, the city’s most famous crime fighter has only five sentences in the entire book, yet even those five words add a whole new layer to the interaction between Batman and the Joker. This is just great.
Lee Bermejo’s art, here, is just as crucial as Azzarello’s writing. His Batman rogue gallery character design is essentially a template for future films. Killer Croc is now a very enormous, badly skinned street thug with a hunger for raw flesh rather than a giant green reptile. With a limp and question marks tattooed on his stomach, The Riddler resembles Hunter S. Thompson.
Harley Quinn is a silent, lethal stripper with a slew of weapons at her disposal. Bermejo adds that the book’s clown star was drawn before the first images of Heath Ledger with his now-iconic Glasgow smile were shot, making it seem like a direct sequel to The Dark Knight. Particular views and sequences are painted in the intricate style of Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, while the majority of the book is rendered in a more traditional style, which can feel odd at times when switching styles. This was most likely done to save time and get the movie out to the public while The Dark Knight is still fresh in our minds.
While Bermejo said he doesn’t know if Heath Ledger’s depiction of the role in The Dark Knight was influenced by his own, the similarities are unmistakable. The artwork creates gruesome and graphic details of gore and bloodshed. It is pretty violent and should have a mature rating, but that doesn’t stop its brilliance in any way.
I think this is one of the rare comics that bring the villain alive the way they deserve to be shown. The comic also gives us a darker look at Batman. I say he is darker in this comic because we don’t see any immediate reaction from him when the murders start happening. Batman isn’t shown like a law-abiding goody-two-shoes the way he is in other comics like Riddle me that. It is an excellent take on both the characters giving us a glimpse of the duality of man.