I found this amazing pumpkin carver’s work in the web, he does amazing works of art and this time he did a wonderful CLOWN PRINCE OF CRIME. Just look at this masterpiece and a fast paced summary of the artist’s work. The master-carver is ANDY BERGHOLTZ.
I didn’t know THIS could be done with a pumpkin…..
And here is the time-elapsed video of the creation:
And another time elapsed video of the creation process…
The LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT digital comics keep surprising fans with the development of interesting and twisted plots. Though some of the art in the series has not impressed me, the writing on the other hand has been capable of keeping me hooked in the series for twenty issues (when my average is just about ten issues before I call it quits if I don’t like it). The new story arc starts with issue #19 and involves a violent reaction from Maxie Zeus inspired by a mysterious voice only he seems to see. As it appears, Maximillian has been part of a new brand of therapy that might have lead to this deadly reaction, and he’s not the only one…
LODK: ISSUE #19
Joker seems to be hearing the very same voices and you would not believe what they seem to tell him to do… I don’t know what to make of it, after all it is quite a serious and permanent turn on the character, but we will have to wait till next week to find out. I hope this does not become a trend in comics too…
SPOILERS BELOW, WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK…SPOILERS BELOW, WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK…
LODK ISSUE #20
After a short visit to the Artist’s Alley for some autographs and visual self gratification (like I bought some nice art at the alley…) and a few panels on writing for comics (Yes, I STILL want to write for comics someday…never too old for dreaming) I had my happy run through the Exhibition Floor and grabbed the newest Joker wonders to hit the market this year and the next. Can’t wait to set my hands in some of these cuties…
1. From the Toy Masters at Mattel, there is more Joker coming out next year with action figures:
ATTACK IN THE BOX JOKER
MINI MALLET SMASHER JOKER
2. Kotobukiya Craftmanship to release a series of figures based on iconic moments of the clown’s comic history:
DARK KNIGHT RETURNS ARTFX STATUE:
THE JOKER: KILLING JOKE SMILE ARTFX STATUE
HARLEY QUINN BISHOUJO STATUE
3. Kai Play Arts to release a TDK version of the Clown:
DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY PLAY ARTS THE JOKER FIGURE
4. DC DIRECT releases Joker and Harley Quinn figures
DC DIRECT JOKER BUST
DC DIRECT AMI-COMIC HARLEY QUINN VERSION 2
ARKHAM CITY HARLEY QUINN STATUE
5. HEROCLIX figures available in sets
6. HALLMARK TDK JOKER FIGURE
Literally Jokerholics.
If you want something really bad, you have to be swift, and sneaky…at the same time be VERY patient.
First it started for me early. Even though today all main attractions (and mostly I am talking about the exhibit show) started at 3 pm, I was there at 11 and the line was already building up. It was fun to talk to other fans, but it was even more fun to see what boredom and anxiety makes some fans do. Let’s just say we had a lot of fun in the waiting line. Everyvody was a real trooper, and made the wait tolerable.
THE DOORS OPENED AT 2:45 and it’s a run to the booths for the so desirable collectibles. My first stop was at the DC booth to get my copies of the NYCC Exclusive Batman 13 Die Cut cover. While I just needed a few copies, for friends and family…I saw people buying hundreds of copies, literally. For a moment I was concerned about the stock of covers, but DC was prepared for the contingency. Also got my wristband to have Scott Snyder sign my copies in the evening…
Then ran to the ZAPP booth to get my second target: A NYCC Bearbrick TDKR Joker figure. Along with him, I found a NYCC exclusive Funko Pop! Marvel Wolverine Bobble-head brown costume that was just too cute to ignore.
With some time to spare, ran through some booths that I know always have some good stuff…and had to take some home:
1. Some nice Joker and Harley Quinn magnets:
2. A super cute LEGO Super Heroes Loki keychain:
3. Two art prints of Joker and Harley (post pics tomorrow since the prints are too large to use my scancam app with it…)
4. Set of two Joseph Campbell sketcbooks signed:
It was past midnight and could not help myself. Even when I have a few copies of BATMAN #13 reserved and waiting for me at home in Fla. I had to read it so I bought a digital copy and OMG!!!
You have to start reading this Joker story arc. I was a little concerned with the characterization after all the radical changes they have made to Joker since his reboot, but after reading BATMAN #13 I guess I can put my fears aside because Joker seems to be in good hands with Snyder and Capullo.
This is definitely no pre-52 Joker but is not a Ledger Joker remake either (thank God for that). Like Snyder had promised, this Clown is all Joker at the core but reinvented with a nightmarish twist and so far I am pleased with wha I’ve read in this first issue.
1. It is a normal day in GCPD until a “Forget Me Not” delivery truck arrives with a very special package…
Truth be told. Joker’s wa arrival to GCPD was quite theatrical. From theirony in the name on the truck to the whole set up, it is all just a big performance for the Clown. He enters GCPD and delivers his own brand of mayhem and death leaving corpses behind and torturing Gordon along the way. This Joker is much more personal as he asks “How is Barbara?” and teases Gordon with a hide and seek game.
2. Everything returns to the begining.
And when I say the beginning, I mean the 1940’s beginning, as Joker announces he’s going to take down the mayor in a scene that reminds readers a lot of Ledger’s “Are You the Batman” video scene from TDK. The Joker has spoken, but that does not mean he has to follow the same old script he did so many years ago. This Joker is improvising, renewing his act andthis time it is not the Mayor, but the Mayor’s protective escort who get snuffed. Batman is left in the fog, as he himself realizedhis was not what he has expected. The Clown has become really unpredictable.
3. Harley as the Red Hood…just delightful.
She’s wearing the clothing, but she’s not the heart. It is the Joker’s voice all through the re-enactment at the ACE Chemical company. Joker is bringing everything back to the beginning and Harley serves as messenger that things are now very different as she stated…”this is not my Mr. J” anymore. This scene makes much more sense after reading the backstory which is Joker’s reunion with Harley…and the new chemistry that comes between them. Now if this is not Joker….where the hell is the Clown?
4. The ending… totally AWESOME!
Joker makes a visit to the Wayne Manor and finds Alfred Pennyworth an unwilling victim. Makes you wonder if Joker DOES INDEED know Batman’s identity or he’s simply selecting random victims he knows are somewhat related to the Batman…
5. The backstory…literally terrifying.
Forget the Harley-Joker chemistry of the BTAS, this is just humilliating and taunting. Joker plays with Harley in every level possible, beating on her emotionally and mentally…all this without a single punch or push. Joker reminds Harley HE MADE HER to his image, and that there was no emotion or physical attraction in the process of creation. Joker is totally detached from any emotion as he focuses on Harley as part of a plan, much like a wheel is part of a car. I am sorry for those of you who were expecting a…more romantic reunion, but I think this Joker is more attoned to his reality within the comics. I am not saying they should not be together…is just that this Joker has become much more than one can really handle, even Harley.
I personally think that Snyder and Capullo have been able to bring forth the best of all posible worlds (comicverse, Nolanverse, Arkham City, maybe even more) and mix it in a pot to reinvent a Joker that respond to his surrounding world with such a violence that I don’t know if even Batman knows what he has in his hands. And it promises to get even more personal.
It is really early to say if this story arc is going to be successful or not since many Joker stories started with so good intentions only to disappoing on the execution and conclusion, but while speaking with Mr. Snyder briefly during a signing today, he promised that there is much more to come. That Joker’s revenge has just started and that the Clown’s mind was a “strange and dark place to be”. From previous interviews and what I have just read in this issue, I think he does have a grasp of the Joker’s psyche, and this might just be one of the most interesting exploration of the most iconic villain of all times, and this might change Batman deeply as he is unable to keep Joker far, but instead…like a cobra, the clown keeps hissing and attacking at the Achilles’s tendon of his enemy.
I am willing to follow Snyder and Capullo on this journey so far.
Can’t wait to read what happens in the next chapter….oh, and don’t forget the tie-ins! Let’s see where all this takes us.
Ryan K Lindsay had the great honor of reading BATMAN #13 and shared his insight with the crew at CBR this week. His assertive comments makes my anxious self calm down a little, maybe this will not be a flop, but the beginning of a new chapter in Joker characterization and writing.
WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!! WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!
“Batman” #13 kicks off “Death of the Family” as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo introduce their take on the Joker. After a year’s absence from the DCU, the Clown Prince of Crime returns to bring his deadly humor to Gotham and the Bat family. Joker is the obvious choice for a Bat villain and most “Batman” creative teams take a shot at the character. With this weight behind them, Snyder and Capullo manage to craft an intensely horrifying and delightfully creative set up for an amazing Joker story.
The issue opens with a worried Jim Gordon, whose fears come to gruesome life when the Joker suddenly appears in Gotham City Police Department as the lights go out. Snyder’s densely structured action makes readers feel the palpable tension and violence of the moment. Pages run up to twelve panels to slow down each beat of the Joker’s maniacal plan within the darkness around Commissioner Gordon. Snyder emphasizes that while the Joker’s presence is one of brutal violence, the true underlying terror comes from knowing the psychological manner in which he destroys his victims. It’s a shiver-worthy moment when the Joker reveals how close he is to his marks.
Snyder offers a familiar and comfortable, yet completely new, take on the Joker and keeps the brutality on a high stakes level. The scene of the Joker on television re-enacting his first threat to Gotham is delivered in a terribly dastardly way — a testament to Snyder’s handle on the character’s voice.
Over the past year, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion have demonstrated their profiency in the world of Batman. Snyder’s story allows them to depict an even darker edge of Gotham and they bring the horror. Brilliantly, the art doesn’t try to revel in the goriness of the danger, but rather the underlying visceral horror of the mind. Capullo and Glapion give a peek at how the art team renders the standard Joker in an early panel, which makes the shocking reveal at the end all the more frightening.
The back up co-written by Snyder and James Tynion IV with Jock on art is superb. It’s difficult to compare a six-page tale to the 20-page main feature because each is structured to do something different. The bulk of this issue starts an arc and sets all the pieces in motion. The co-feature is like a deleted scene presented for more character background. It’s set between the raindrops of the main title, which means the reader knows what is going to play out, but the story is more about how it all takes place. “Tease” is about the Joker bringing Harley Quinn into his plan with a pace and razor edge tension that creates an example of a perfect back up. It adds more to the main tale while not being overtly necessary. This is a perfect vignette in every single way.
“Batman” #13 is the sort of introduction every story deserves. The Joker is dramatically presented and reintroduced across multiple scenes. Snyder and Capullo deliver some excellent sequences of terror that cut to the quick of the Joker as a real threat. Apart from a few slower pages, this issue zings along with threats and terrible moments of sheer glee at a villain being the worst. The Joker is out to kill the whole Bat family — and this issue makes it feel like he might be able to pull it off.
Man….I can’t wait to read this issue now!!
(Orignal aticle appeard in CBR HERE. Pictures courtesy of Comicvine)
Another great review from Newsarama’s own David Pepose adds to the anticipation of the release of BATMAN #13 tomorrow. Check this one out…David gives it a 10 out of 10!!! I am intrigued indeed:
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s first arc was to bring back the Bat — to show that he was the top dog, the biggest badass of the DC Universe. By the end of “Night of the Owls,” that mission was handily accomplished. And now, for their second epic on Batman, Snyder and Capullo are upping the ante even further.
You can almost hear the sick chuckle. The Joker has returned to Gotham City — and like any good showman, his entrance is pitch-perfect.
While I enjoyed Scott Snyder’s plotting and pacing during “Night of the Owls,” there was always a part of me that felt that it was Greg Capullo that really made that story, that it was a hit more because of the stellar art rather than just the writing.
Well, Scott Snyder is making me eat my words right now — his Joker is downright terrifying, a monster in the shadows that very much evokes Heath Ledger’s guttural anarchist from The Dark Knight. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before!” Snyder’s Joker is a shark, a force of nature that by his very gravity pulls in the rest of the Batman family in his wake. For better or for worse, he is a member of Bruce Wayne’s nearest and dearest — in Snyder’s hands, the Joker gives everyone else context.
And that’s just the exposition. There’s plenty of suspense and action to this book, with Snyder and Greg Capullo really knocking it out of the park. I love the strobe effect Capullo works in as the Joker begins picking off victims in a darkened room. Capullo’s edgy lines also really bring up the heightened tension as Batman shouts his frustrations — and his fears — into the darkness. There is one moment near the end where the storytelling does take a hiccup, but a second reading will only heighten the danger Batman finds himself in.
Since the New 52, Batman has been blessed with an indomitable winning streak, thanks to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. But it’s even more exciting that this issue is their best one yet. The Clown Prince of Crime might be at his most murderous, but make no mistake — he’s going to put a smile on your face.
(Review originally appeared HERE)
OK Jokerholics,
Are you all ready for the Clown Prince of Crime’s return? If you are, then get your release dates clear as DC has revealed the whole “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” checklist. No excuse for missing an issue now, right?
(Checklist courtesy of DC Blog)
Our friends from NEWSARAMA have made a nice rummary of the facts we have about Joker’s return, and bring forth some of the worries some of us have regarding the Clown’s return. Here is a transcript, make your own conclusions:
Now that all the Batman family books have revealed their #0 issues, the stage is set for October’s start of “Death of the Family,” which brings Joker to the Bat-books in a big way.
The event, which will have tie-ins in several DC comics, spins out of a story starting in Batman #13 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. After the success of their “Court of Owls” storyline and the subsequent tie-in event “Night of the Owls,” DC is hoping this event will be even bigger.
Snyder is getting to utilize his favorite Batman rogue for his follow-up to “Court of Owls,” calling this the biggest, most impactful Joker story in years.
“This is really my big exploration and love letter to the Joker,” Snyder told Newsarama.
So what clues have we been given about the New 52 version of The Joker? How will his return impact the Bat-family characters, now that their histories have changed? And what have the Bat-writers been hinting about their tie-ins to “Death of the Family?”
Secret Identity
At the heart of the “Death of the Family” storyline appears to be the question of whether or not The Joker knows the identities of the Bat-family and, in turn, Batman himself.
The solicitations for the “Death of the Family” issues of Batman includes this question: “What must Batman do to protect his secret identity and that of those who fight alongside him?”
Scott Lobdell also revealed a similar description to Newsarama in our recent interview:
“Joker may or may not know your identity, and that is maybe the most horrifying part,” Lobdell said. “Imagine, as crazy as the Joker is, you can at least go to bed secure in the knowledge that once you take off the mask you are a little safer. But if he knows who you are….aiyeee!”
Changed Joker?
Although there have been several changes to DCnU characters thanks to last year’s reboot, Snyder indicated in an interview with Newsaramathat this isn’t a different version of the Joker.
“You will see the iconic face and the grin, and he might look a little bit different and scarier,” Snyder said. “But you’ll find that he’s still himself at his core. And he’s really here in his blood-stained clothes going to work.”
The history of the relationship between The Joker and Batman — like The Joker being his greatest enemy and the terrible things he’s done to Jason and the other members of the Bat-family — are still a part of the DCU history. And according to Snyder, they fuel this storyline.
And although The Joker has been gone from the pages of the DCnU for the last year, according to Snyder, he’s been spending that time planning and planting traps. “A year ago, Joker decided, I’m going to walk away from Gotham, I’m going to plan my revenge, and I’m going to come back in a year and bring it all back,” the writer said. “So this is what he’s been planning to do for a long time. And all of those things are set in motion.”
“Of The Family?”
While Snyder has promised that the story in Batman will be “100 percent self-contained,” the story crosses over into several other titles.
From the latest solicitations, we’ve learned that Joker’s revenge is not just aimed at the good guys. Harley Quinn apparently wasn’t involved in the planning by “Mista J,” because DC is touting their “reunion” in Suicide Squad #14 and #15. The Joker will also target a few of Gotham’s criminals in Catwoman #13 and #14, Detective Comics #15 (The Penguin), and the back-ups of the Batmantitle.
As James Tynion IV told Newsarama earlier this week, “There’s always something electric when two iconic villains are on a page with one another, and when one of those characters is The Joker, that electricity is quite a bit more deadly.”
Former Robin Dick Grayson will be confronted by The Joker in Nightwing #15 and #16. Series writer Kyle Higgins told Newsarama that Barbara Gordon/Batgirl shows up within the Nightwingstory.
“The Joker story is really a huge turning point and changes a lot of things” for Nightwing”, Higgins said. “There will be seismic shifts coming out of the Joker story.”
The Joker also gets to battle the current Red Robin, Tim Drake, in Teen Titans #15 and #16, and the current Robin, Damian Wayne, in Batman and Robin #14 & 15.
But perhaps the most anticipated reunion will be those between The Joker and the two more immediate members of Batman’s heroic family who have been traumatized by him in the past.
As readers found out in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, Jason Todd is more closely connected to The Joker than her realizes. Joker claims that he orchestrated most of the major events in Jason’s life, from his father going to jail to his mother’s OD on a drug laced with a chemical that simulates death. It appears that The Joker built Jason up, just so he could tear him down.
This adds more gravity to their meeting — something Lobdell hinted about in his interview with us. “Joker feels a lot closer to Jason than people have realized. Giving birth to someone is a very intimate experience, but so too is taking their life. In that way, Joker feels a sort of proprietary relationship with Jason that he doesn’t with any of the other Bat-family.”
In Batgirl, readers will also finally see the resolution of Barbara Gordon’s conflict with The Joker, although series writer Gail Simone is reluctant to say it “resolves” the emotional trauma she’s been portraying within Barbara for the last year.
“‘Resolved’ is kind of a tough word, here,” Simone told Newsarama in July. “There’s definitely a feeling out there regarding this stuff that someone is fixed or not fixed, like an on/off switch. It’s not that binary, but she is facing this stuff head on. And I am pretty sure a Joker/Batgirl story is inevitable, but I can’t say more than that. Think of two trains on the same track facing towards each other…there’s nowhere for either of them to go but towards collision.
“It is the once-and-for-all confrontation between the Batgirl and the man who shot and paralyzed her. It does not go as he expected,” she said.
“This story starts in issue #14, and I have to say, it’s pretty shocking. That’s all I’ll say right now, however.”
The Mask of Joker
One of the most obvious changes to the Joker we’ll see in “Death of the Family” is that he’s wearing the loose skin of his face as a mask.
“He really is going to, obviously, have a new look. At the same time, we want it to echo his iconic look,” Snyder told Newsarama. “So it’s Joker in a much more horror movie fashion.”
In Detective Comics #1, released in September 2011, a villain called Dollmaker literally surgically removedthe skin of The Joker’s face at the end of the issue. The police ended up with the “face” and put it on ice, but The Joker himself had gotten away…. and has apparently been walking around the DCU without a face ever since.
Or perhaps he has been wearing a different face? Maybe even the face of someone close to the Batman family?
It’s doubtful, since Snyder didn’t build this story from the Detective ending. He told Newsarama his “Death of the Family” story was formulated before Detective writer Tony Daniel chose how to end his first issue last year.
Thanks to that ending, The Joker has not been seen again in the New 52 universe until just last month in Detective Comics #12, when only his eyes were shown and he said, “Time to put on a happy face.”
So what will Joker look like when he returns?
On the cover of Batgirl #15, DC revealed the basics of how the Joker will now “wear” his familiar smiling face. He has constructed a mask out of the skin of his face, using hooks and a belt wrapped around the back of his head.
But artist Greg Capullo intends to make that look even creepier than we’ve seen on that cover. “I’ve established the main look with the belt in the back and the hooks in the mouth, kind of holding everything in place, but think about that,” he told CBR. “You move in different ways, and that skin can shift on you. Maybe a hook busts loose, and part of your face is flapping free.
“I’ve even talked about the fact, with Scott, that being that the face isn’t on ice in Gotham P.D. evidence anymore, it’d start to decay, right?” he said. “And things that decay stinks a bit and attracts flies, and it might be cool for little touches with flies swimming around his head here or there. It can change is what I’m trying to say. It’ll probably look different through the story than the prototype face you’ve seen so far.”
But perhaps the most telling comment Capullo has made about the way Joker will look was in his Newsarama interview a couple months ago, when he said, simply, “it’s going to be over-the-top, over-the-edge Joker stuff.”
(Copied from original article by Vaneta Rogers for NEWSARAMA HERE)
In a recent interview with NEWSARAMA contributor Veta Rogers, Nightwing’s writer Kyle Higgins reveals that the confrontation of the Clown Prince of Crime and the former Boy Wonder will “be a monumental yet emotional showdown between Dick Grayson and Joker.”
After a short hiatus from the series, Higgings and artist Eddy Barrow’s join the tittle once more just in time to join the DEATH OF THE FAMILY story arc and it seems that Joker will be rocking the young hero’s world out of balance. Here are the the DEATH OF THE FAMILY highlights from the interview. You can read the whole interview HERE
(…)
Nrama: As you mentioned, there’s a two-issue story arc by Tom DeFalco. Why is he filling in for a couple issues?
Higgins: Because the Joker issues are so important and so big, the decision was made to give me a chance to get ahead on them and jump forward and set some things up, as well as develop pretty in depth what’s coming after the Joker story.The Joker story is really a huge turning point and changes a lot of things. When you see what happens during “Death of the Family,” it will be much clearer why there was a need and a desire for me to jump forward and spend a lot of time developing everything coming out of that.
Nrama: In the New 52, what is the mindset of this Dick Grayson toward Joker. And who is Dick Grayson or Nightwing to the Joker?
Higgins: Who Nightwing is to Joker is an interesting question. And that really taps into what Scott is doing in Batman, and what all of us are doing in our books. The Joker has a very specific opinion on the Bat-family. As that relates to every individual member of the family, there are slight twists on it. I know I’m being quite cryptic. But I’ll just say that the Joker has a very particular opinion of Nightwing, but I don’t want to get into what it is, because it would give a lot away. But Nightwing’s opinion of Joker is pretty much what you would expect and what’s been seen before. He recognizes that this is probably the most deadly and threatening villain in Batman’s rogues’ gallery. So he’s not taking the Joker lightly.And the second that Nightwing hears that the Joker is back, it puts him into a Defcon-5 mode to expect the unexpected. Like I said, he’s not taking it lightly.
Nrama: Are you working pretty closely with Scott Snyder on “Death of the Family?”
Higgins: Yeah. I flew out to New York back in May, and we had a little powwow in the DC offices between myself and Scott and Pete Tomasi and James Tynion IV, who’s doing all the back-ups in Batman as well as launching Talon. And then Gail [Simone] and Scott Lobdell were conference called in. And we all worked pretty closely developing this story and what the particular pieces were going to be. Even coming out of that, I’ve been working pretty closely with Scott, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a lot of fun. That said, Scott’s given me a ton of freedom — as he’s given all of us really — to make this a story unique to Nightwing. His only mandate was: Make it the scariest, most impactful Joker story that you’ve ever seen for your character. What’s so exciting for me is, aside from a couple instances, I can’t think of a really big Nightwing/Joker story. The moment that comes to mind would be during, what Last Laugh by Chuck Dixon. It was a big crossover where Nightwing killed the Joker.
Nrama: Yeah, yeah, and Batman brings him back.
Higgins: Yeah, so that’s only big one in recent memory that I could point to.
Nrama: Are you having fun writing the Joker as you delve into your “Death of the Family” issues?
Higgins: Yeah, and I have a very specific version of the Joker that I like, and so it was fun to start working on that. And I plan to tell a huge story that will be lasting. I know it has big ramifications. But I hope that, when people think of Nightwing versus the Joker, this is the one that they’ll think about.
Nrama: How many issues is your tie-in to “Death of the Family?”
Higgins: It’s two issues: #15 and #16. And issues #13 and #14 have some set-up and development for my Joker story. I coordinated with Tom a little, giving him a heads up about some of the plot points I needed set up for the Joker story. And then there will be some fall-out for several issues afterward.
Nrama: That sounds dire.
Higgins: That is certainly one word you could use to describe it.
(….)
Higgins: There will be seismic shifts coming out of the Joker story. Big things are coming for Nightwing [in 2013], and there will be big changes ahead for Dick Grayson.
See, when you start to hear things like Joker’s return will be influencing all this titles (Catwoman, Batgirl, Nightwing, Batman and Robin, Suicide Squad) makes the little girl in me squeal with joy. Are they really going to show that Joker is indeed a “FORCE OF NATURE” and is able to turn the schemes of heroes and villains alike upside down and become a true “AGENT OF CHAOS”?
Yes, I know I’m quoting DARK KNIGHT Joker here, but though I have to admit I loved late Ledger’s portrayal of my favorite villain, what I like most is what Nolan did with the character. He brought the villain from the flat pages of a comic book to the dimensions of a world that closely resemble ours, making Joker into a more realistic menace than we have been used to. And that just terrified us.
For too long, Joker has just annoyed the hell out of Batman, then back to the asylum he has gone, only to repeat this vicious cycle over and over again through the ages with no real trascendence in HIS REAL WORLD. Just count how many Jokercentric stories DC has made in the last 20-30 years.
But the Clown refuses to stay in the bleachers and watch, he is not the type that likes routines. Joker says: No more Mr. Nice Psycho Clown, Gotham…This is the new me and Joker is ready for his closeup now and he’s doing it by causing a megaquake within the Batman (and some of DC’s) universe.
This rebirth has been promised as the worst nightmare for the Batman family and Gotham, and though promises are just promises until we see the facts, the real issue here is that Joker is going to demonstrate his real prowess, what he does best. Turn world’s order upside down and twist good and evil together in one tight knot.
The question that rises is…would DC fulfill his promise and bring us a Joker that is worthy of the name?
In the past we have seen many editorial decisions been taken on the view of how profitable it is or not, and if it is…how can it be make it even more profitable forgtting about the content of the story. Don’t take me wrong. I don’t mind DC making profit on his creations..after all it is the base of a healthy economy, but changing characters’ core in a way that they become almost irrecognizable from the ones we have loved for decades, well…that is just unforgivable and unfortunately, that is what I am seeing hapenning to villains and markedly, to Joker himself.
We are promised a Joker that will rock our world, but look at the advertising of the event all around and what do we see? We do not want to see Freddy Krueger, nor another Leatherface, even less a mindless murderer who just adds victims to his body count for a space in the Guinness books of records. (We have enough of those in the comic books, like Victor Zsazs–well pointed out by a friend in this very forum). We don’t need a murderer for the sake of murder or gore, we want a new and improved Joker worthy of the new 52 generation.
My friends Laughing Fish and Antonia have expressed their worries too as to where DC is taking the Joker reboot, and I share those worries too, but why worry now and not just wait till the story is done? Well, because by then it might be to late to mend errors. After all this is the Joker we will have to deal with for the next 100 years and we’re scared of what is going to be like….
My passion for villains comes not from the fact that I like to do evil (PLEASE! nothing could not be farther from the truth), and that is not what this site is for either. This site stands to honor the very embodiment of what heroes and common folks need to defeat. Fear, anger, rage, hate, chaos…and before you all go around and call the guys with the white coats and straitjackets to pick me up let me explain why.
You cannot enjoy the ability to see if you don’t know what it feels like to be blind. You cannot praise light, if you didn’t have darkness to compare it to. How could you tell if something is sweet if you did not know what sour taste in your mouth? You cannot appreciate goodness and kindness if you do not know evil and selfishness. We cannot understand Batman’s triumphs and perils without a Joker to compare him to. But Joker is much more than just the Dark Knight’s antithesis… right?
Joker (like most successful villains) is the very embodiment of our own faults, mishaps, defects and our darkest selves and desires. Joker is the cake that you know looks scrumptious but you know will give you a heart attack.
That is why his character has endured the trials of time for close to a century now.
And yes, I am saying there are “Jokers” living inside us and I mean…all of us. We fight with those little Jokers every day, hoping to win and be better people than we were the day before. That is why characters like Joker, Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Severus Snape or Loki endure so much on the literature and arealso enjoyed in the big screen. They are us…up there, clashing with with the other part of us….(the hero) for a common goal, make a change, and if they can be defeated, so can our inner “jokers”. Life might look simpler without the evils of the world, but let’s face it…life would be EXTREMELY boring if we did not have a challenge or two to confront. As contradictory as it sounds…it is the villain who brings the best in the hero At least that’s how I see it. Fighting the bad (both inside and outside) should make us better, give meaning to our lives and makes us value what we believe, have and do. We need villains as much as we need heroes to defeat them and the closer these villains resemble us, the more terrifying they are.
That said, in a kind of tangent discourse, just means that in entertainment (comics, movies, books) we enjoy villains that are a lot like us. We are not midless cattle pasturing in a grassy plain. The same way we are capable of good deeds, we also manipulate, we lie, we confuse, we take adventage of others, we break the norm, we jump over the obstacles to get to our goals, we want to see those we blame for our circumstances to pay accordingly. That is why we can empathasize with a villain that in some many ways like us. Take away those similarities, turn him into an automaton with a machine gun and endless rounds of ammo and he becomes flatten, insipid, distant and unfortunately untrascendent in his media. (continues next page)
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