Brian Azzarello’s Joker Graphic Novel Review
Contains minor opinionated spoilers.
I was excited for this graphic novel. Brian Azzarello has done amazing work with 100 Bullets and Lee Bermejo has a very unique style. Never have I been so excited to see the Joker in a one-shot story before, but I'm not ashamed to admit that the excitement stemmed from The Dark Knight. The interviews that I've read and the scans I've seen made this seem as it were more of a sequel to the Dark Knight instead of a story revolving around the Joker. After reading, I feel that we have been misled.
Not divulging too much information, the best spoiler I could give without spoiling the story is the premise of the story. Joker has been released for reasons unknown from Arkham Asylum with a clean bill of health. Though, a lot doesn't make sense in this story when you begin to realize that the fact that he was released was simply a plot device to speed the story up. No daring escapes, he simply walks out the front door.
I don't mean to sound incredibly negative about the story, as a lot of liberties were taken with a few villains, such as Killer Croc, but I did like the ideas. Croc was stripped down from his mutant visage to his more original circus attraction persona. Albeit, I did like some of the ideas, don't even get me started about the Riddler. I did find Brian and Lee's vision of the Batman-verse fitting with a more human approach to the Gotham villains intriguing, the biggest change had to have been the Joker's scarred and chemically ruined mug.
At first, like many, I immediately made the connection to the Dark Knight with the Joker's permanently etched smile, but this artwork predates Christopher Nolan's motion picture by at least three years. The Dark Knight was kept under wraps for a very long time with very little released revealing the Joker. Needless to say, this is a very good coincidence for the Joker graphic novel team. Sadly, it does not play as a sequel anymore than it plays a classic story of a once great, now washed up crime boss trying to regain his former glory.
Joker is told through the eyes of Jonny Frost as he witnesses the man he idolizes attempt to regain what he thinks he rightfully his: the throne of Gotham City's underground organized crime. The bloodshed, carnage, and psychotic dialogue that ensues does seem a little over the top as, to me, the Joker isn't necessarily about cold blooded murder. I can justify a few of his actions that are Joker-like, but Frost seems to justify more of what he witnesses first hand than a reader might want to acknowledge.
I feel the pedestal the Joker is placed in the eyes of our main character is a bit much and gets a little grating at times as he does not seem to understand the Joker, let alone truly relate to him. There are times I felt that the Joker wasn't really the main focus of the story, but placed there because there is no other criminal as feared in the Batman series. It's obvious why Frost is telling the story as what goes on in the Joker's head undoubtedly frightens God himself. The writing in a first person Joker graphic novel would be twisted, bleak, difficult to write, and very mature.
I mean mature as in that the ideas and beliefs that the Joker has about life, religion, God, innocent lives, death, and what truly lies in the heart of a human being are all mutated and insane thoughts. To attempt to map the brain of a serial killing psychopath with a calling card like the Joker would be an incredible feat. Ultimately, the story would fail regardless because that is the Joker's nature; the mystery should always remain behind those terrifying eyes. I do applaud Azzarello for passing the view to a nobody that wants to be a somebody, but the story feels overdone and uninteresting.
Looking back, I feel that anyone could have been given the Joker's position and the story would have been the same. A lot goes unexplained and the ending doesn't end with a punchline quite like other Joker one-shots, ie., The Killing Joke. After flipping the last page, I heard a dull thud resembling a rubber mallet. While the illustrations were beautiful and extremely well done, I felt that the story was a recycled mob short with special guests Batman and the Joker. Although, I feel that it is unfair of me to compare this to other Batman related one-shot stories. I admit it is interesting to see another side of Joker that we normally do not receive, which is the hardened criminal side with an extremely dangerous anti-social spin, there is no over elaborate scheme and very few lasting images.
I might have set my target too high for this to hit the mark given the recent success of The Dark Knight, but I would like to believe if it wasn't for the movie, I would have felt the same regardless. The Joker is a difficult character to manage and to try to show a side of Joker that isn't all about Batman and his over the top crimes was a ballsy move. I respect the ideas and artwork, but felt unsatisfied with this gory Joker vehicle.
