I’m super late on the nerd wagon, but I finally got around to reading Joker by Brian Azzarello. Along with the gritty, yet gorgeous illustrations by Lee Bermejo. Like the manga cows I unfortunately read the entire thing while sitting in Boarders. This original story begins with the Joker making his exit from Arkham Asylum. He’s greeted by a low level goon by the name of Jonny Frost whom also narrates this tale. The Joker takes a liking to Jonny and invites him into the seedy underbelly of Chica--*cough* --Gotham. They end up at a strip club named The Grin and Bare It which the Joker previously owned before his incarceration. The first cameo of the novel is revealed in the form of a stripper. It’s none other than the Joker’s sultry blonde bombshell Harley Quinn. With all of his money and power now gone, the Joker decides to enter the crime world yet again with a bang…by skinning the current owner alive in front of the audience. The story continues to escalate with various acts of violence and cameos by The Riddler, The Penguin, Killer Croc, Two-Face and of course the Batman. I was a little disappointed to see that Poison Ivy was not included in this all star villain line up. I really would’ve liked to see what she could’ve brought to the story line and how they may have illustrated her especially since the Riddler was depicted so differently from his classic version. I found it compelling how the tone of the illustrations fit the character’s moods in this story. The Joker as we all know is usually shown as a criminally insane thrill seeker who simply wants a “good laugh“. This version of the Joker however seems to be quite based in reality. He is shown being very emotional, crying with his arms wrapped around Harley’s waist. Also in various points of the novel he consumes an exorbitant amount of liquor, cocaine and pills . This left me to think, was the Joker simply tired of being bloodthirsty just for the hell of it? Does he need this new found crutch to continue his madness? This version of the Joker is a very tired and seasoned version of himself. Yet with still enough zest to continue being the Ace of Knaves . Perhaps this was just another way to keep us fans lost in the blurred and schizophrenic world that is the Joker. One interesting tidbit about this graphic novel that stood out to me was during Lee’s visual development of the Joker primarily the Glasgow smile scarring around his mouth. This depiction was created prior to the Heath Ledger version of the Joker in The Dark Knight film. This graphic novel is definitely worth a read-through, I was satisfied with most things except the ending. Nevertheless, I’ll leave it up to you to read it and let me know what you think. Then perhaps this blog can be transformed into a discussion! “Cause he‘s a picker, he‘s a grinner, he‘s a lover and he‘s a sinner…”
“A bit of advice…don‘t ever apologize for the way you look.” -Joker
