The Joker

The Joker

 by Brian Azzarello
(based on 64 customer reviews)

The Joker (Hardcover)
Author: Brian Azzarello
Publisher: DC Comics


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Most useful review as voted by customers:
24 out of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/4/08


The best take on the Joker since The Killing Joke

Few writers have ever really "gotten" the Joker like Alan Moore did with the prolific Batman tale, The Killing Joke. Grant Morrison seems to get the character to a point, but more than anything, the Joker is just a little too difficult a villain for many writers to really grasp. Not so for 100 Bullets creator Brian Azzarello, whose original graphic novel The Joker finds the Batman arch-nemesis freed from Arkham Asylum and seeking to reclaim what's his. Whether this means joining up with Killer Croc, intimidating The Penguin, or royally angering Two-Face; Joker makes his mark, and Azzarello puts a distinct spin on the character from the perspective of a low-rent hood named Jonny, who himself seeks to claim a little piece of the action by working for Joker. With spectacular pencil work and paint work from Azzarello's Lex Luthor: Man of Steel partner Lee Bermejo; The Joker is the defining Joker tale for a new generation of readers, just as The Killing Joke was all those years ago. All in all, if you're a Batman fan in the very least, The Joker deserves a place in your library.

16 out of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/4/08


Joker Returns

Ever wonder what it would be like to be in the employ of the Joker? Job security would certainly not be one of its selling points, nor would benefits like health and life insurance. In fact, it might be a good idea to purchase some beforehand. Just ask Jonny Frost, his new henchman. Brian Azzarello's much anticipated new Joker novel is seen and told through the eager yet anxious perspective of one of his new accomplices in crime, and no previous experience on the mean streets of Gotham is going to prepare him for the mayhem and madness that is to follow. This is a slightly different Joker than normally seen; more serious than silly, more reflective than refractive. He has just returned from yet another of his enforced sojourns in Arkham, this time released legally for a change, brutally back with a vengeance to reclaim lost turf, and heaven help anyone who gets in his way. Joining the party on various sides are Killer Croc, the Penguin, slightly reinvented incarnations of Harley Quinn and the Riddler, and the one unfortunate downside, an ineffectually depicted Harvey Dent. While this obviously is the Joker's story, it serves little purpose in the grand scheme of things to portray other villains as weaker in order to make the Joker loom larger. As Batman can attest, you're only as imposing as your adversaries. All of the rogues have delightfully different visual looks, thanks to the imaginative illustrations of Lee Bermejo, whose work overall ranges from simply remarkable to occasionally awkward. As for Batman himself, he is only seen briefly at the very end, a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion that did appear a bit abrupt and condensed, but then again, this is more about portent and personalities than plot and practicalities. Comparisons to the creators' fantastic Lex Luthor mini are natural and indeed inevitable. That tale took Lex in a completely different direction than usual, and was a major part of its appeal. While this project didn't break any shocking new ground, it thankfully didn't retread the same tiresome and inane gag fests and mindless mania that many of his stories do. Azzarello instead wisely incorporated his trademark grit behind the grin, added danger to the drama, and in the process possibly produced this generation's unique Joker saga. Fans of these two talented men expected no less.

5 out of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/8/08


Very Good, Very Dark and Disturbing

This book is amazing. Well written, well illustrated, very realistic. For instance Killer Croc is thought as a gigantic crocodile/man right? Well in this book he is a big African American thug with slightly scaley skin. People say "The Dark Knight" is a very dark film, but this is 10 times darker, and realistically dark and corrupt. It includes about only 5 pages or less of Batman, so don't expect a book focusing on batman's quest to lock up the joker. It is all about the joker. It includes a realistic Penguin, Killer Croc, Two Face, Riddler, and my favorite... Harley Quinn. In this she is the jokers corrupt, skanky, pole dancer who makes love to the joker and kills for him. Overall very good, and don't take this lightly but it is for mature people. I myself read about comics that say its for mature audiences, and me being twelve am just like "psssshh its fine for a kid like me." But not this book for it is very bloody, very sluty, and very very dark. Definitely read it if you are old enough to handle it, and love (as i do) the joker.

3 out of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/5/08


Why So Serious?

this graphic novel is all at once beautiful and disturbing. here we find a joke that is even more depraved than the one depicted in the killing joke (a classic). this is indeed a modern joker, portrayed as a drug abuser and a heavy drinker, who is both unstable and violent. i would definitely recommend this as it is amongst my top favorites of all time, but only for mature readers ready for the level of darkness it holds. as a side note, this is titled "The Joker" because batman isn't very involved at all, but that frees up the writer to portray the joker as well as he did.

p.s. i don't know where the abner name came from, but i liked the riddler and croc.

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