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Foxy-Knight [2019-01-09 13:43:13 +0000 UTC]

Okay since the critique option is not present I am going to go into a very long winded comment and if this show up on facebook then I am gonna be very touched.

Okay so let's start with the obvious, the artist either intentionally or unintentionally mirrored the art for the Killing Joke as done by Brian Bolland and that is in no way a bad thing because that style gives the Joker much more personality and emotional range (although we do see touches of Tim Sale in his elongated grin most notably in the finale page). Now this may seem a bold statement to make but this story seems to perfectly sum up the Joker and Batman's relationship for the entirety of their comic run. See the Joker in his mind has to be Batman's number one nemesis, that position cannot be challenged or approached. Sure you can fight batman, but you gotta understand you can never have what he and the Joker has. 

And when you understand that, in a weird way you understand the Joker and the many transitions he's gone through over the years. To silly clown, prankster to full blown psychopathic killer. The Joker is a narcissist, he has to be Batman's number one enemy so as the times move on and the villains get worse...so does the Joker. He has a position to maintain, and competition to kill. I've said it before, the Joker is not just insane. He's evil, Michael Green I believe said it best in my favourite Joker origin story lovers and madmen: the Joker is evil gone insane. He's a narcissistic, nihilistic, evil, mass-murdering, psychopathic bastard. And if you somehow managed to cure him, he'd then be a narcissistic, nihilistic, evil, mass-murdering bastard which is a point Brain Azzarello almost made perfectly clear in his Joker story titled simply Joker (I recommend it, it's a fantastic read).

And I believe Dan you got that Joker down pat here, he all but spells it out for us. He couldn't care less about the fact that this self entitled, self proclaimed nice guy murdered and raped but the moment he even suspected he was challenging his position as the Joker that's when he takes action. Because that's all the Joker has, his relationship with Batman as he sees it is the only thing that gives his evil and mad life meaning, and despite being a nihilist he is first and foremost a narcissist. That's why Arkham Knight could deliver the ending to the Joker they did, and that's why this Joker is so spot on. 

Congratulations Dan, you've shown us all not only can you write a great batman story but you can write the Joker frightening well. Maybe someday I'll be reading a Joker story with your name as the writer and I'll probably be smiling to myself amidst the horror and madness and think to myself 'I knew he had it in him, he's just as crazy as me'.

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LadySionis [2019-01-06 23:35:20 +0000 UTC]

This is one of the greatest Batman comics I've ever read!

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