Aaron Sowd

"The Man Who Laughs" is an excellent Batman-hunts-a-serial-killer story about the first appearance of The Joker, and if it can feel somewhat by the numbers compared to more complex tales of the sort, that kind of works in its favour since the conceit is that this is one of his first encounters with the themed supervillain variety. "Made of Wood" -- another serial killer hunt -- is rather more forgettable, at least to someone like me without a lot of nostalgia for the Alan Scott character, show more and does pull my rating of the collection down a notch, but it manages some solid stuff with James Gordon, and the final beat between Green Lantern and Batman was quite surprisingly sweet and emotional. show less

Ed Brubaker collaborated with Greg Rucka on Gotham Central: Jokers and Madmen, which is the best Joker story in my opinion, so I was looking forward to seeing his take on the character's first meeting with Batman here. Unfortunately, the slim story told here doesn't really impress. It would be fine as one of any number of confrontations between Batman and the Joker, but I came away with no insight into their dynamic. What makes the Joker the greatest of the Batman's foes? From this story, I show more have no idea; it doesn't seem like he'd leave any more of a mark than Hugo Strange or the Scarecrow. It comes across as a fannish box-ticking exercise that was left better off unticked until someone had a better idea.

To fill out this volume, there's also "Made of Wood," a three-issue Detective Comics tale set almost two decades later, about Batman, Gordon, and Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern. Not amazing, but a competently-executed, thoroughly-enjoyable procedural. I don't know why it was collected with The Man Who Laughs, but I guess I'm glad it was.

Batman "Year One" Stories: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

So this one has two stories in it: "The Man Who Laughs" and "Made of Wood." The first story is aptly named as it is the story of Gotham's first experiences with the Joker. I really enjoyed this one and already, it sets up this strange relationship between Batman and the Joker where he really wants him to pay for all the lives he has taken, yet has an understanding for what the Joker sees (literally due to the venom). "Made of Wood" was neat because we got to see Alan Scott as Green Lantern show more coming back to a Gotham which he used to protect and which still haunts him. Seeing the stark differences between these two heroes who have each served as protectors to this dark city is interesting. While Green Lantern is a more traditional "super hero," Batman is just a man and must use more elusive and violent means to achieve similar ends. However different their techniques may be, the mutual respect only grows as they work together to take down a serial killer that seems to have come back from the past. show less

A classic Joker story, the visuals of what his laughing gas does to his victims are appropriately grizzly and disgusting. It's totally fine and cool to re-visit this story, I just feel like I've seen/read it so many times that it loses a bit of its lustre. Maybe a victim of its own success? I found White Knight to be a much more fresh, compelling take on the Joker/Batman narrative.

Edit: Switching to 4 stars because the second part, Made of Wood, is so great. Such an incredible art style and show more having Batman and the Green Lantern team up was a treat, both visually and from a writing perspective. show less