The Joker

Brian Azzarello’s The Joker is a haunting, visceral dive into Gotham’s criminal underworld through the eyes of one of its most unpredictable inhabitants. This is not your typical comic book — it reads more like a hard-boiled noir graphic novel, complete with gritty artwork, morally gray characters, and a tone that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page. What makes this book stand out is its unique narrative perspective — told through the eyes of Jonny Frost, a low-level thug who becomes Joker’s right-hand man. This angle gives us a fresh and terrifying view of the Clown Prince of Crime, stripped of theatricality and shown as a truly dangerous, volatile force of nature. Azzarello’s writing is sharp and atmospheric, capturing the Joker’s chaotic essence without over-explaining him — a mistake many interpretations make. Lee Bermejo’s art is phenomenal. The hyper-realistic style adds to the tension and brutality of the story. Every panel is dripping with mood and menace, making Gotham feel more alive — and more broken — than ever. This hardcover edition does justice to the artwork with high-quality printing and presentation. This book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s violent, grim, and intense — but that’s exactly why it works. It dares to show the Joker not as a cartoonish villain, but as a disturbing, compelling symbol of chaos. Highly recommended for mature readers who appreciate dark storytelling and unforgettable visuals. An essential addition to any serious Batman or Joker fan’s collection.

JOKER is a chilling portrayal of everyone's favorite psychopath from the perspective of one of his henchmen. What makes this book interesting is that you get a fresh look at how the Joker operates behind the scenes. The Story The Joker is released from Arkham Asylum after he is declared sane and starts to take back Gotham City. He reunites with some of Gotham's more colorful characters and chaos ensues. This portrayal of the Joker is more realistic than some of the other books. He's a ruthless criminally insane drug addict who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The Art The art is creepy and unnerving to say the least. The characters are expressed well and have a more realistic and gritty look to them. There is some violence and disturbing gore. The Dialogue The dialogue is good and there are some good lines. As you are reading this, you really get an idea of what the Joker is like. At any point, he can flip out and kill just about anyone around him on a whim. It's really unnerving. Overall Not everyone will love this book. This is not a book about Batman trying to stop one of the Joker's Crazy Plots. It's not about Batman... it's not about Commisioner Gordon... it's not about Gotham City... it's not even really about the henchman... It's more of a behind the scenes psychological study of the Joker as he does what he does. Action fans will probably not be satisfied with the book and Batman fans will be wondering where the caped crusader was during all of this. If you want a high action Batman book, this is not for you. But if you ever wanted to see how the Joker operates and feel what it's like to be caught in the tangled web that he weaves, this is a must read. Note: If you want a great Batman vs. The Joker story, read The Killing Joke.

The re-making of the Joker into the ultimate dark villian is fairly recent and is mostly due, I think, to the grand performances of the late Heath Ledger and the upcoming one by Joaquin Phoenix. Which is very much unlike how the character was portrayed by Jack Nicholson or the very campy 1960's show. It seems that as comics become a mega-industry they grow less and less playful and much more, well dark, as in Dark Knight. The comic is unusual as it explores the relationship between the Joker and the OTHER Batman villains, building up his uniqueness as the Clown Prince of Gotham while also being 'loyal' to the truthfulness of the other characters. If you read and re-read the work you begin to notice just how smart it is in the way the art and dialog combine to direct the flow of the story. This comic is epic, the art is superb and the world it describes is 'complete' - and it'll stick with you long after you finish reading it.

Probably thanks in no small part to "The Dark Knight" film, DC released this book that is all about the Joker. Well not quite. See its actually all about his lackey Jonny who volenteered to pick up Joker after he was granted parole. How someone can think the Joker deserves to be set free is beyond me but I guess that is the suspension of belief part of this story. Never the less this book treats the reader to a stripped down, and dirty as sewage view of the Joker and Gotham criminal communities. Jonny waxes philosophical about what its like to be a hood and to gain respect within the criminal community. This story delivers one thing very well and that is tension. Within the story, Joker may seem to care about Jonny as a good friend but as the story shows (and long time fans know) you should never give the Joker an inch cuz he'll take the whole mile. And Joker devilishly delivers on that promise. In the end, you feel you learned more than you wanted to about the Joker, yet you understand even less about his motivations which further perpetuates the enigma that he is. This is definitely not a kid's story. There is violence in spades and I'd venture to say its the most violent superhero themed related story I've ever read. But the violence serves to show the appauling nature of this character and how he should never be revered but rather feared and hated. Yet like any good Joker story, you still feel drawn to him as character just like Jonny was. Azzraleo's writing is top notch in this volume. Azzarello's dialogue is crisp and fresh and does a good job of keeping the focus on Jonny and Joker's relationship. Bermejo's noirish command of realism and stark lighting makes this book feel very dense and cinematic and adds a great deal of something that many comics lack which is a tone. Its a damn good read for long time Joker and Batman fans. Highly recommended.

It's been a while since I read a comic/graphic novel, about a year or so. I knew Lee Bermejo's work from the Batman Noel comic, but this one is before that, and here, we can see his distinctive way of drawing and showing the story through the panels. I'm always a fan of the Scott/Capullo duo, but here, the Azzarello/Bermejo collaboration left me speechless. Such a dark story, with a slow yet thrilling plot, making you anticipate what will happen next in each panel, each page. I love the way the drawings are mixed between more detailed ones and those with fewer details/shadows, but without losing their quality and form. The quality of the comic itself is superb, the hard cover, the printing, the visual aspect, the drawing, everything is excellent. For Batman fans and even more so for Joker fans, this is a must-have.

Dark Gritty joker Story 5/5 great addition to any DC Comics collectors or if you just want a good visual story

This is one of my favorite Joker graphic novels. To be honest, what drew me in was the artwork that looked almost exactly like the Heath Ledger Joker. I'm not sure if it inspired the Joker of TDK, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. The story is somewhat like applying the "The Dark Knight Returns" treatment to the Joker. Yes I know the Joker was in that story, but that's not what I mean. The whole idea behind this is a Joker that has been imprisoned for a long time and finally gets out of Arkham. Yet even as an older version, he's still the same character: ruthless, cold and wicked to the core. The cast of characters also includes the Penguin, Killer Croc and other familiar Batman foes. The artwork is just terrific. The story is quite good, but a bit short. If you like Batman and the Joker, this graphic novel needs to be in your collection.

Great

Great story. Dark, brooding, and insane. Great addition to the collection. Definitely recommend.

I wasn't prepared for it. The art is quite impressive, and the story was fine.

La combinación Azarello y Bermejo es siempre de lo mejor que vas a encontrar, en particular esta edición pasta dura es del 2019 y aun mantiene el logo de "DC Comics" en vez del "DC Black Label", pero la calidad es buena, un cómic imperdible, para audiencia adulta, con un fondo profundo y oscuro lleno de adrenalina, además, este cómic es la precuela de batman damned.

Tolles Comic Buch und für Neueinsteiger des Batman/DC Universums geeignet. Die Zeichnungen sind wirklich gut gemacht,aber vorallem ist die Story wirklich Mitreißend. Wer hierbei den Joker als Figur nicht verehren möchte,hat Probleme. Zudem gefällt mir,dass 2-Face und der Pinguin auch noch ihre Auftritte bekommen. Das ist ein neuerer Comicband,in dem der Joker an die Heath Ledger Film Version angelehnt ist. Batman hat eigentlich kaum eine Bedeutung darin,taucht nur kurz auf,also bekommen wir Joker pur. Oder doch etwas anders: Die Geschichte ist aus Sicht des Kleinkriminellen Jonny Frost geschrieben.Der meldet sich für den Job,den gefährlichen Joker aus der Irrenanstalt "Arkham Asylum" abzuholen und sich somit endlich mal als ein Jemand zu fühlen. Dabei bekommt der Leser den Joker wie im Film zu sehen,also absolut durchgeknallt,aber gleichzeitig auch als extrem Intelligent und vorallem als brutal. Der Comic ist jedem zu emfehlen,der wie ich sich nur mal ins DC Universum verirren wollte. Du kennst nur die Dark Knight Filme und möchtest dich mal in die Comic Welt einlesen? Das nimm diesen Comic!

Good