Why? Because everyone loves the Joker. Oh, you don't? By all means, think about why not and be ready to discuss it when I re-read The Killing Joke and dive into all the other great volumes I haven't read yet (feel free to make suggestions in the comments, but show your math & tell me why - don't just post a list). Final Crisis and Evan Dorkin's World's Funniest are next on my list. I've never read either and have heard mixed reviews about the former, but whither Virgil leads, Dante will follow, having not been led astray yet.
I just finished reading Batman R.I.P. and though the Joker isn't the central villain, he makes a big enough appearance to enhance my experience of the book. It wasn't on my list, but my LCS had a copy on clearance, and I picked it up while I was there on other business. Remember that I'm born-again to comics, and I haven't read even close to all that's on my list. This was not my favorite Batman story, and like I said, it isn't really a Joker story, but I did like this book. I'm getting used to Morrison's style the more I read, and I'm finding it a good balance to Geoff Johns's relatively straightforward method in the Green Lantern books I've read recently.
For some reason, more folks than usual have been interested in talking about this particular book. Since Twitter is limited to 140 characters at a time, I invite you to join the discussion I've been having about it on Goodreads:
Batman: R.I.P. Deluxe by Grant MorrisonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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2 comments:
"Batmen: Arkham Asylum" is freaking aces. "Killing Joke" is a slightly better story, but Dave McKean's artwork is simply disturbing in AA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Asylum:_A_Serious_House_on_Serious_Earth
Okay, I don't often comment about stuff I read on the intarweb, but you struck a nerve, so I feel it's my duty to share my point of view for discussion.
I dislike the joker, and mostly because of the killing joke. Even Alan Moore said that he is a little ashamed of it because he didn't feel the story had a point. He started off trying to prove that tragedy didn't always turn people into the Batman, but he lost that thread and just kind of wrote what came to him. It disturbs me to no end that what came to him was the joker molesting a crippled batgirl and then (see, I got the right "then/than") showing the pictures of his acts to her father. Did that extra bit of Alan Moore wierdness enrich the Batman world? Did it entertain anyone? Because of that arc, and really only because of that arc, I truly relish the alternate universe stories where someone just flips and kills the joker. I think there was even one where Superman kills him, but I can't remember if I read it or saw it or dreamt it.
Mark Hamil was cool as hell as the joker, and I was glad to see him get to do something besides Luke. I love the image of him practicing his laugh while driving around LA. Heath was good too, and Jack Nicolson. The best joker story, in my humble opinion, is The Return of the Joker in the Batman Beyond carton (which I will gladly lend to you if you haven't seen it).
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