(Please note: the following blog was originally posted on my old blog
Why Yes I Am Quite Random, Why Do You Ask?, a blog I can no longer
access for some unknown reason. This is being put at the start of
each blog I'm uploading, in case anyone comes across the blog and
accuses me of plagiarism. This is explained further in my
introduction blog.
The following was originally posted on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 at 7:38 pm)
And welcome to the first blog of the
new year! So, what do I have in store to mark the occasion? Oh,
something special, something I've been planning for a while,
something so out-of-the-box with its thinking and-
Actually, no, nothing like, it's just
another comic review. I HAVE been planning this one for a while,
though. And it is a little different, for not only is this perhaps
the first alternate universe tale I'm reviewing, but also the first
DC title I've done. Today, we dive into the work simply titled Joker,
written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Lee Bermejo.
Before I go into the review, perhaps I
should go over the “alternate universe tale” angle a little.
In comics, people will come up with a
great story idea but can't utilize it in the main universe because
it's often in the future or involving altered versions of previous
events. Thus, they write it as an “out-of-canon” (canon meaning
the history of the universe) story, or set in the canon of another
universe. So, if you want to spin a yarn about Superman fighting the
Terminator, you can! (And they did, it's called Superman Vs. The
Terminator).
Marvel has its own series that it does
every now and then called What If? While DC has the banner
Elseworlds. Now, usually what makes the two different is that Marvel
goes the “path unchosen” direction, usually taking an event and
altering it slightly to produce a different outcome, but otherwise
things are the same. DC usually creates whole new worlds with bold
new premises, like The Nail, which offers a scenario in which
Superman wasn't adopted by the Kents because their vehicle had a tire
punctured on the way to the orphanage. Because of that, there is no
Superman in the modern day.
Or the classic The Dark Knight Returns,
set in an alternate future, where Bruce Wayne steps out of retirement
and comes back as the Caped Crusader, ready to deliver fresh Hell
upon the scum of Gotham City.
Actually, Batman gets a lot of these.
He's been a vampire (Batman And Dracula: Red Rain and its two
sequels, Bloodstorm and Crimson Mist), a Victorian era crimefighter
(Gotham By Gaslight, the very first Elseworlds title, though not
baring the Elseworlds logo), a pirate (Leatherwing) and the Green
Lantern of sector 2814 (In Blackest Knight). However, today's focus
is on his arch nemesis.
Joker is narrated by Jonny Frost, a
henchman dispatched to retrieve the Clown Prince Of Crime from
Arkham Asylum, with the implication of money changing hands leading
to Joker's early release. What follows is Jonny's observations of the
Ace Of Knaves and how he goes about his days, with a little insight
into the underbelly of Gotham.
Simple premise, executed masterfully.
Joker may be well known for being unpredictable and scary as all
Hell, but what makes this one terrifying is that he lacks the tricks
of the mainstream Joker (despite the title of my blog). No electrocuting joy buzzers, no flowers
that can squirt acid if he so wishes, no Joker venom. Much like the
Joker portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, this Joker relies
on the simple pleasures in life and has no grand plan, just falls
into whatever he wants to do and does it until he gets bored.
Speaking of The Dark Knight, I should
address something now. While Joker is drawn to heavily resemble Heath
and his mannerisms are nearly spot-on, from what I understand, it's a
huge coincidence. Though it was originally going to be called Joker:
The Dark Knight, due to the creative team having previously done Lex
Luthor: Man Of Steel (another damn fine book), but with the movie on
the way and all, obviously they had to trim it to the one word.
About the art, it's really good. The
detail in the faces is exquisite, the violent imagery is striking and
Gotham inspires a noir-setting. In this universe, Killer Croc's just
a regular looking guy and Lee makes him look as menacing as he can
and I don't think it would have worked if he had been drawn to look
like a large crocodile like in the main universe.
Speaking of the differences, the
biggest difference is perhaps the aspect that leads me to declare why
I love this story. Besides Batman, there are no other heroes in this
story. All other supervillains are portrayed as looking regular and
if they have garish clothes, it's nothing to do with a supervillain
motif and everything to do with a gangster lifestyle. Even the
Riddler's clothes look like they belong on a flashy drug dealer
(though in this universe, who's to say he's not a flashy drug
dealer?) Slightly off-topic, Riddler gets only one big scene in this
book but I love it, makes the Riddler seem more badass and he still
gets to be a man of mystery. Kind of reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne, the
way he's drawn...
But anyway, my point is, even though I
love the exploits of costumed crimefighters duking it out with
madmen, murderers and marauders, this is almost like if the Batman
mythos was getting the British gangster film treatment. Seriously, I
could see Guy Ritchie directing this. Jonny Frost reminds me a little
of Paul Bettany's performance (and Malcolm McDowell's narrating) in
Gangster No. 1, a British gangster film that while not being directed
by Guy, it could pass for it. The character's descent into madness
even resembles the Joker's, so it works for both characters. Despite
me imagining Joker with Heath's voice and Two-Face with Richard
Moll's (the voice actor for the character in Batman: The Animated
Series), almost everyone else I can imagine as being characters from
a Guy film, whether it be Snatch or Rock'N'Rolla.
Speaking of characters, you know who's
barely in it? Batman. Hell, he gets all of four words in this story
(three in one sentence) but that might also be why he's so effective:
he says little but what he does say is among the most memorable parts
of the book. I will not spoil it for those yet to read it but if you
enjoy the book like I do, you'll probably regard that as a
well-written part. And I should add, he does get more dialogue than
Harley Quinn,who gets not a word but she is there to essentially be
the sanity for Joker. Ironic that despite this Joker being a bigger
bastard than arguably most of the other incarnations, he has more
regard for Harley in this continuity and she seems much less of a
goofball and more a consort that knows how to keep Joker calm.
So, if you want a fantastic DC story
that you don't need years and years of backstory to understand, pick
this up. Realistic to a point and filled with great dialogue, it's
one of my favourite Elseworlds titles. And once again, I also
recommend Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel. But Brian's run on the Wonder Woman
title in the New 52? So far... approach with caution. I may get to that one eventually.
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