As a Joker fan, I love it.

The artwork is pretty much amazing and fits the mood and overall theme of the story perfectly. A snapshot into the Joker's existence, with one of his newly recruited lackeys as guide. Can't say this one paints the Joker as disturbing as previous works have, so much as an unpredictable force which acts on its own without any known reason or regard for consequences. Joker is Joker and neither Azzarello, nor Bermejo, nor his lackey attempt to paint him as anything else. In that regard, it is at least not pretentious. From the get-go, you are an outsider looking in and the glass is frosted - have fun.
Batman makes only one appearance towards the end, but his presence is felt nevertheless. Great ending is all I can say :) ( )

The plotline/gimmick (or what ever you call it) isn't terribly orginial but the story is well written. The illustrations are slightly terrifying. Good read. ( )

The premise is fairly straightforward: Upon a rather questionable release from Arkham, the Joker wishes to get his 'sandbox' back, having lost the stranglehold he once had on the city to the other crime bosses while he was locked away. Although it's hardly Shakespearean, Joker certainly has the trademarks of a tragedy, not only because of the never ending psychosis the title character is trapped in, but also because our narrator Jonny Frost is doomed from the outset, telling his tale flashback style whilst on the verge of death. A sort of unintentional riff on Double Indemnity, perhaps? Jonny has been criticized for being too dull or uninteresting to be the narrator for this story, but that's the whole point - he's meant to be boring. At least boring in comparison to the supervillains or Batman. He's a flawed man, not always in possession of the proverbial heart of gold, but poor Jonny Frost is the only character in this melee we can sympathize with.

Still, it's the Joker we all want to read about here. Azzarello's vision of the Joker is a clear nod to Heath Ledger's take on the part, both in visuals and characterization. He still has the same Johnny Rotten manic intensity we saw in The Dark Knight, although the character seems a bit more learned and haunted this time around; he's clearly been around the block a few times in the clown makeup and purple suit. One possibly controversial panel sees the Joker weeping in the lap of his girlfriend Harley behind closed doors, another sees him downing half a dozen pill bottles in one go. This man has no fear of death, although it's never quite clear whether or not he actually has a death wish (he plays Russian roulette with himself at one point, but then again he seems to be having too much fun blowing shit up to want to die). If it weren't for Mr. Azzarello's well-known disdain for the heroes, I'd say he was making his petition to be one of the screenwriters for the third Bat-film through this graphic novel.

Indeed, the whole novel seems to take place in the same pseudo-realistic Gotham that Christopher Nolan has created for his film series. One of the most satisfying elements of Joker is witnessing Azzarello's re-imagined supervillains. He tones down the Penguin somewhat, turning him into a crooked embezzling accountant, the Joker's main numbers guy. Two-Face no longer wears outlandish double-sided suits, although have no fear, he's just as deranged as ever. The Riddler has been altered dramatically, morphing into a tattooed cripple who rides around with a band of hired heavies in custom BMW's. It's so weird seeing Nigma like that, but somehow it works for this book.

The most startling alteration to a character is Killer Croc, the Joker's top muscle in this story. Azzarello turns the sometimes silly crocodile man into a roided up gangbanger with scaly skin, possibly from a burn accident (thus giving him the nickname 'Croc'), or maybe it's just a really nasty skin disease? Either way, this version of the character could easily work in a Nolan film as a secondary villain - he would certainly provide a real physical challenge to Bats, that's for damn sure. It's also wonderfully disturbing when Croc's... um... 'unique' way of getting rid of evidence is revealed to us.

The Batman is a silent watcher, venturing out of the shadows for only a cameo at the climax, and the lone police officer here is on the take, working for one of the other criminal elements in the city. There is virtually nothing to protect Gotham from the murder and mayhem the Joker's presence triggers. It's a book filled with violence, certainly (illustrator Lee Bermejo has one panel where an unfortunate associate of the Joker's has been flayed alive), but Joker never descends to the purely gratuitous Frank Miller/Garth Ennis levels of torture porn that seem so popular these days. Sometimes it's a lot more effective to force the readers to use their imaginations than to simply show everything.

Comparisons with Alan Moore's The Killing Joke are almost mandatory, I'm afraid. Azzarello's Joker is somewhat similar in tone to Moore's masterpiece, but it presents the story from a completely different perspective. Whereas The Killing Joke was a glimpse into the mania of the Joker through the eyes of Batman and Gordon, Joker is an up-close-and-personal take on the day to day life of the Clown Prince of Gotham, told by a more mundane, sympathetic character. Perhaps, in the grand scheme of the comic book landscape, Joker will not be heralded as a big game changer like The Killing Joke was, but it's still a fine work for fans of the character, and certainly the best Joker tale in a long, long time. ( )

Awesome portrayal of the Joker! No more clowning, this is the sociopath hinted at in the comics. Re-imaginings of Killer Croc, Harkey Quinn, and the Riddler are wonderful. Definitely not a graphic novel for your kids. ( )

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