Joker

Joker written by Brian Azzarello, art by Lee Bermejo



I'd almost forgotten that this one-shot graphic novel was written, though I'd read about it on Batman-On-Film a few months back (the interview is interesting in that it predates the production of The Dark Knight, but Bermejo's design ideas for both the Joker and Two-Face are clearly reflected in the design of both those characters in that film). I read a few pages while waiting for class earlier this week and immediately picked it up to finish later.
Bermejo's work never fails to captivate me. Azzarello is hit-or-miss for me: I loved Lex Luthor, but thought the Superman: For Tomorrow storylines were too overtly symbolic, although Jim Lee's art in that series really complemented Azzarello's writing. that said, if Bermejo and Azzarello were to do nothing more but collaborate for the rest of their careers, I'd be quite happy with that. The art is beautiful. I'd read the previous Azzarello/Bermejo collaboration, Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel, and Bermejo's art was absolutely beautiful. He utilizes lots of sharp edges, where nothing looks fluid or organic, but looks as if it were pieced together from straight edges. At other moments, usually of emotionally moments or turning points in a story or a scene, Bermejo paints those frames, making them beautifully dynamic.
The story is told from the perspective of Jonny Frost, a low-level criminal who dreams of making it big, of being as recognized and feared and respected as The Joker. He is charged with picking up the Joker at Arkham Asylum, where he is being released (the reason is never explained, nor does it matter. His response to Croc when asked how he got released is almost exactly as Heath Ledger would have played it). While driving the Joker around, he comes to admire the Clown Prince of Crime, getting himself closer and closer to the villain, and finally realizing just how detached the Joker truly is from reality, sanity, and anything resembling humanity. By that time however, there's really no way out for him.
By telling the story from the point of view of someone closer to the Joker, but not neccessarily as twisted as some of the other rogues, we're able to really understand the Joker as a force more than as a person; Jonny is one of us, a "normal" person on the outside who slowly gets sucked in. Not once is it truly explained how he got out of the Asylum, what his intentions are, or why he kills certain people (and he certianly does kill some people in this: a bunch of slashings, numerous shootings, a broken bottle in the face, shooting a jaw off, and even flaying a henchman in a strip bar). His relationship to other rogues is explored (his interaction with Two-Face is pretty well played and works well in explaining why Two-Face never "just" kills Joker), and his ultimate relationship to Batman, which is summed up in three words and about five pages at the end, is the perfect epilogue.
The story is an exploration of the Joker's relationships: to his henchmen, to Harley Quinn (who is very much the Bonnie to his Clyde), to his fellow rogues, to Batman, and, more importantly, to Gotham City itself. The Joker and Gotham City form a bond that is stronger and more permanent than the bond between Joker and Batman. As Frost says in the last few pages, Joker is a disease, a disease that existed long before Gotham, the city infected. Joker represents not the evil inherent in man, but the insanity that dwells in the world. An urban madness made manifest in white, and red, and green, and purple.
This is a Joker more twisted, dark, and depraved than any previous incanation that I've read. Few times are his actual killings shown, merely the aftermath: but it's the aftermath that is shocking. His treatment of everyone (including Jonny, and especially Jonny's wife) show just how gone Joker is as a person. This is one of the seminal Joker stories, just as "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge", The Killing Joke, A Death In The Family, Arkham Asylum, or his first two appearances are. Hell, even "The Clown At Midnight" merely comes close to how dark the character can be when put in the hands of a capable writer.
And Azzarello is an incredibly capable writer (aside from, once again, what I feel is the clunky, overtly-symbolic Superman: For Tomorrow). There are instances of inspired subtlety in the narration: Joker's advice given to Jonny throughout; his recollection of a fellow inmate who believed he could drive around the world in a single day; his confrontation with the Batman; all of it is beautifully handled. Jonny, as a character, is given a cursory backstory: his wife has divorced him, he has a son, and he just recently got released from jail. A brief mentioning of a camping trip and a toad he had as a pet round out his backstory. The past, in this case, doesn't matter. What matters is the moment, and what the Joker does with it is the story. Azzarello manages to say much, much more in four words than I can manage to write here.
And what Azzarello does so perfectly is mold the Joker into both clown and psycho, thus completing a transition from the character's first appearance as a murderous thief, through his harmless phase as a jester during the 1950's, and leading right into the persona we now recognize: pitch-black humor, insane tendencies, and murderous rampages. Only now he appears much more real, much more potent. Much more like the evil incarnate as he is usually described.
As stated earlier, Bermejo's work and designs are beautiful and inspired. The Joker wears his Glascow smile and wrinkled, cobbled-together attire like a uniform (the only purple in his suit is his pants), and his red lips are now the result of his constantly chewing and sucking on his mouth. Other characters are presented in a more realistic light as well, especially the otherwise-fantastic-looking Killer Croc, who here looks exactly like a large man with a skin condition rather than and actual reptilian creature. The Penguin, already a realistic character, is expanded upon not on his look, but in his demeanor: much more of a power player, businesslike, and utterly afraid of the Joker. The Riddler's appearance is the most surprising: the character is visibly based on Johnny Depp, but his physical traits (which I won't describe here) were a surprise. And the less I say about Harley Quinn, the better (trust me, you won't forget her).
Bermejo's art is at once crisp and clean, and grittily real. The colors meld together in a barrage of greys, browns, and reds, and his rendering of faces is something I wish I were able to reproduce on my own. And I will tell you this, never before has an artist drawn so perfectly the point-of-view of a drunk character.
And that first image of the Joker walking out of Arkham...man I wish I could frame that.

Anyway, I suppose that's all I can mention. The book is an interesting read, but extremely dark, once again reminding me how dark a character Batman can be, how violent his universe is (seriously, who in God's Name would live in Gotham City?), and just how pefect a villain the Joker is.
You might want to wait until this gets into paperback before picking it up, though, but it is worth a purchase if you ever get around to it.
And when you do get around to it, you just might need a shower afterwards...