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Donovan's Reviews > Joker
Joker
by
Thank you, Brian Azzarello, for this Joker mini series. Batman only has two scenes, so this book is one for the villains, pure Joker.
Azzarello creates a low level thug named Jonny Frost (read: Joe Chill?) who narrates and serves as Joker's right hand man. Let me tell you, Jonny sees some wild shit. So wild, at one point he stands on a rooftop edge for an entire afternoon he's so dumbfounded at what's happening. Yeah, it's pretty intense.
What's most brilliant about the writing is the Joker is at his most psychological: human, fragile, broken, disguised beneath his war paint. He laughs, cries, rages. He sucks down pills and liquor, lusts after women, projects his own self-hatred and disillusionment onto others through his brutal and senseless acts of violence. Jonny says he isn't crazy and I think he's right. Joker is just pure evil, one complex villain, and my favorite.
Even the best writing can suffer from terrible art and doom a potential classic to be forgotten. But Lee Bermejo absolutely kills it. It's scratches and slashes, dark and muddy, and maybe wouldn't work with a different subject. But the art perfectly complements the writing and the "weather" Joker creates. Azzarello just gets dark and gritty Joker.
This comic is overwhelmingly good. It's close to being on par with the Killing Joke. Close. Not enough Batman for that. Not quite timeless enough. Not enough jokes. But here's one for you: Where's the safest place to hide when the world is against you? In sanity.
by
Thank you, Brian Azzarello, for this Joker mini series. Batman only has two scenes, so this book is one for the villains, pure Joker.
Azzarello creates a low level thug named Jonny Frost (read: Joe Chill?) who narrates and serves as Joker's right hand man. Let me tell you, Jonny sees some wild shit. So wild, at one point he stands on a rooftop edge for an entire afternoon he's so dumbfounded at what's happening. Yeah, it's pretty intense.
What's most brilliant about the writing is the Joker is at his most psychological: human, fragile, broken, disguised beneath his war paint. He laughs, cries, rages. He sucks down pills and liquor, lusts after women, projects his own self-hatred and disillusionment onto others through his brutal and senseless acts of violence. Jonny says he isn't crazy and I think he's right. Joker is just pure evil, one complex villain, and my favorite.
Even the best writing can suffer from terrible art and doom a potential classic to be forgotten. But Lee Bermejo absolutely kills it. It's scratches and slashes, dark and muddy, and maybe wouldn't work with a different subject. But the art perfectly complements the writing and the "weather" Joker creates. Azzarello just gets dark and gritty Joker.
This comic is overwhelmingly good. It's close to being on par with the Killing Joke. Close. Not enough Batman for that. Not quite timeless enough. Not enough jokes. But here's one for you: Where's the safest place to hide when the world is against you? In sanity.
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Reading Progress
July 7, 2015
– Shelved
July 23, 2015
– Shelved as:
all-time-classic-comics
May 19, 2016
–
Started Reading
May 19, 2016
–
Finished Reading
May 20, 2016
– Shelved as:
owned
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by
Lono
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rated it 4 stars
Jul 08, 2015 05:20AM
This one was an instant classic for me too, shocked it wasnt better received. Nice review.
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Thanks, Lono. This one was on my radar for a while, and I waited for so long because of the mixed reviews. Which I think are unfounded. I'll be selling and recommending this at the bookstore I work at.
Nicely done. I picked this one up when it first came out, I'm a huge fan of Azzarello and Risso, and 100 Bullet's in particular. The only reason I can see for why it didn't get a warmer reception is that it's a pretty quick read... the original hardcover edition wasn't expensive, but some might have been hoping for a more substantial read. I fucking loved it, and it would have worked just as beautifully as a straight-up hard-boiled crime story, sans the clown prince.
But Lee Bermejo fucking killed it; he became an instant favorite, and turned a brilliant little Gotham Noir into something special. DC released an Absolute edition collecting 'Joker' and the other Azzarello/Bermejo collaboration, 'Luthor'. That's some art that'll look phenomenal in the over-sized format.
Eisnein wrote: "Nicely done. I picked this one up when it first came out, I'm a huge fan of Azzarello and Risso, and 100 Bullet's in particular. The only reason I can see for why it didn't get a warmer reception i..."Thanks, I appreciate it. I'd been mulling this for a while and happened to freaking love it. First thing I'd read by these two. I don't love the whole Supes universe but the story and of course artwork sound spectacular. Maybe a library find?
Maybe... 
For the Luthor: Man of Steel book on its own, there's a new paperback edition coming out November 10, for 12 or 13$.
And then there's this one. Still pricey though -- 93$ CAD. I've got a few Absolute Edition's, they're well made but over-priced.
I'm not a fan of the characters, I just follow a few writers and artists who take me into Metropolis once in a while.
See I'm Joker obsessed. But I kind of hate Supes. He doesn't do it for me. Maybe because I love Bats so much and he hates Supes. Maybe I'll read Luthor by itself and buy it for 12 bucks. I already own the HC of Joker.
Yeah, Batman's a far more interesting character than Superman, and the Joker's a brilliant villain. Clark Kent and Metropolis are just way too white bread; even as a kid, I was more drawn to Batman and the X-Men than any other comics on the stands. Batman has a wide array of stories that are modern classics appealing to adults: The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, Arkham Asylum, The Killing Joke, Joker, Year 100, Broken City, The Long Halloween, etc., etc.Superman, on the other hand: I've got Absolute All-Star Superman, which is great, but that's owing entirely to Morrison and Quitely; and I've got the Red Son hardcover by Mark Millar... entertaining, but not that memorable. And that's it, really. There's no other Superman books I can think of, and none I'm interested in reading... unless you consider Final Crisis, by Grant Morrison and JG Jones, a Superman story; it is, basically, and it's the only event comic I liked. But Luthor's an interesting villain, considering how outmatched he is by Superman; it's not a fair fight at all, like an adult wrestling a toddler.
Yeah. I guess he's a more mature character than most. I tried going back to read the 80s X-Men and found I can't stand Claremont's cheesy writing. I'm hoping Mark Waid or Jason Aaron can finally pique my interest. Haven't read Arkham Asylum or Year 100 yet because of mixed reviews. But I loved all the other ones you mentioned.
Arkham and Year 100 are excellent, especially if you love the art side of comics as much as the written. If not, it's possible you might feel underwhelmed, I suppose. I'm just getting back into superhero stuff, after a long while of reading art comics, alt-lit-comics, BD, Manga...Jason Aaron's fist two Thor books -- The God Butcher and God-Bomb, which I'm finishing now -- are both quite entertaining, but his crime series Scalped and Southern Bastards are even better.
Josh wrote:"I second Year 100 and Arkham. Both are off-center as Batman books go, but they are beautiful. I enjoyed the story as much as the art, but I know some people don't care for Year 100. "
Paul Pope has been working his way up toward critical mass for years now, and he's had some success with Year 100 -- it's being reissued as a deluxe hardcover, right about now -- and his book Battling Boy and the spin-offs have been really successful.
But there's not going to be any explosion of popularity for him in the mainstream. His style, his energetic, vibrant chiaroscuro brush and pen-work, is still too 'weird' for a lot of fans. I say good. I'm tired of seeing brilliant artists wasted on idiotic Marvel or DC F-List bullshit. Fuck 'em if they don't know good art.
Year 100 I'll check out. Arkham Asylum looks a little hard to read/classic Morrison spacey. I don't mind art beyond the mainstream. Miller has really impressed me. But his writing usually matches his art.
