The Joker
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4.7 • 11 Ratings
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
You will be blown away.'-AIN'T IT COOL NEWS Brian Azzarello brings to THE JOKER all the visceral intensity and criminal insight that has made his Vertigo graphic novel series 100 BULLETS one of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning seriesof all time. This original graphic novel tells the story of one very dark night in Gotham City. The Joker has been mysteriously released from Arkham Asylum, and he's none too happy about what's happened to his Gotham City rackets while he's been'away.' What follows is a harrowing night of revenge, murder and manic crime as only The Joker can deliver it, as he brutally takes back his stolen assets from The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face, Killer Croc and, of course, The Batman, and heavenhelp them all. Told through the eyes of his loyal (but naive) henchman Jonny Frost, JOKER is a true noir crime novel: a harrowing journey into a city of rain-soaked streets, dirty sheets and nothing but bad choices.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Building on Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight (although long before the movie's debut), Azzarello creates a memorably cringe-worthy story. Rather than a natty Clown Prince of Crime, this Joker looks like a glam rocker gone to toxic seed. Newly released from Arkham Asylum, he begins disorganizing the criminal establishment of Gotham City. Although he claims to want power and money when he confronts Two Face and his peers, he really seems just to enjoy playing with people shooting them, setting them on fire or skinning them alive. Accompanying him is Jonny Frost, a young thug who takes a long time to recognize the drawbacks of seeing a vicious sociopath as a role model. Like Jonny, however, readers may find that, horrifying as the Joker is, they can't take their eyes off him. Even Batman, when he inevitably enters the action, functions largely as the Joker's partner in a dance of death. Azzarello has learned how to create a menacing, morally ambivalent atmosphere in his years of scripting 100 Bullets, and Bermejo's jagged, shadow-saturated art sustains the mood. The result is fascinating but extremely dark.
