Thought I was just going to leave this as a footnote to my previous post on Greg Capullos’s warning about the Joker’ look (that you can read HERE), but it became more of an statement, so decided to make it a whole post….sorry guys. Bear with me. This are just my opinions
Ok, a few things I wanted to point out from this article:
1. “He really is going to obviously, have a new look,” Snyder said. “At the same time, we want it to echo his iconic look.”
So the change is dramatic, but not out of the charts horrific? I would really see how they could pull that one out since the Joker has literally lost his face. I understand the new look issue, this is a whole new universe and definitely after the success of Ledger’s Joker, the public is probably ready for a much more “scarred” Clown Prince of Crime. Joker can be scary and more threatening,but giving him a set of “real scars” will be much too close to Ledger’s Joker’s appearance and though many loved Ledger’s reinterpetation, I don’t thiik the fans want a Ledger copycat (Ledger J belongs to the Nolanverse). They just want a sensible, terrifying reinterpretation of an icon, while keeping what has made him the perennial nemesis of the Batman in his long lived comic run and hearing them say: “…he’s still himself at his core.” . Hope they can keep that promise.
2. But then, my expectations get stunted when I hear say “Now I can go down the road of, like, Texas Chainsaw Massacre stuff”
I REALLY TRUST YOU Mr. Capullo as much as trust Mr. Snyder plotting this new chapter in Joker’s presence in the DC Universe, but remember…you are not writing a horror flick here, and you promised keeping Joker’s core. Joker is not Leatherface, nor Freddy Krueger neither is he Jason, He is the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime. But still, I respect your artistic freedom to reinterpret Joker for the modern audience.
3. When Capullo said that in Batman #0 …“ the biggest challenge is drawing the Red Hood gang, and having to make some pill helmet look cool and look bad-ass. ”
Is the artist implying that he’s also planning on including a new origin version for the Clown Prince of Clown? Well, if this Joker is that different from the one in the Pre-52 universe, it might need his origin revamped for the new times and new audiences, but I hope that is not adding another page to the already large file on Joker origin stories out there. Some well made (Killing Joke blackflashes), others would have been better if they never existed (like Lover’s and Madmen that truly never added any dimension to the Joker or his origin). I will be looking for this Batman origin retell, and see if DC has finally decided to do more character oriented stories. If it worked for Chirs Nolan in The Dark Knight trilogy, it might work in comics book too. Again we don;t want a Nolanverse copycat, Joker fans just want well written stories, that seem to be lacking lately in the DC line-up.
4. “We’re turning the Joker up a notch, you know? If you can turn the Joker up any higher.”
I can see why Capullo is getting to, After TDK, we have learned to see Joker in a more menacing, and dangerous way. And let’s face it…he made money. He is really a force of nature that Batman needs to contend with, but at the same time the phrase makes me shudder. How much higher could you turn up the Joker’s behavior before turning him into a thristy bloody killing machine, thus losing the core of the Joker we have learned to love in comics. Remember Joker is more than just a murderer, he is (in my humble opinion) the twisted version of Batman. An evil twin brother, the chaos of the world against the order of the Knight.
5. And I was thrilled when Capullo admitted that Joker’s return will affect not just Batman, but many other Batman related comics. The Clown’s return will reverberate all over Gotham City and probably the DC’s New52 Universe: Remember to check out:
Batgirl (A no brainer, since it was the Clown Prince of Crime who crippled Barbara Gordon. Would she fight the demons from that horrific night at the same she fights this new terrifying menace?)
Batman and Robin (Still can’t forget that wonderful Joker phrase that he was just “…differently sane”)
Suicide Squad ( who would not want to know what will happen when Harley Quinn realizes that her puddin’ is back. How will this new Joker see her old henchwoman now that he is rebonr?)
Nightwing
Red Hood and the Outlaws (Again, Jason’s transformation into the Red Hood is direct result of what he went through after Joker “killed him”–assuming they keep DEATH IN THE FAMILY as cannon in this new stroyline. How would Jason react to the Clown’s return?)
Teen Titans ( this one I need to see why it woud be such an important interaction…the new robin?
Catwoman (in the past pre-52 Jokerhas had storylines with Catwoman, but how this new Clown relates to the Feline Fatale? Is tere more than meets the eye and a new secret connection that needs to be revealed ? That might be interesting to see)
I’m thinking one of a few things on J’s new look –
1. He sews the face back on, a la Leatherface. That’s pretty gross and it’s something he’d do, but it’s not really a “new” face”. In this same vein, he might create a patchwork face.
2. He starts wearing a facial mask, similar to what some of the guys in Slipknot wear. I don’t really wanna see that, because it doesn’t feel right for the Clown Prince to hide himself behind a mask.
3. He does nothing, which isn’t feasible because you can’t really live without a face, there’s a susceptibility to infection there. Yeah I know his blood’s poisonous enough that nothing can live in it, but still. I can’t imagine the Joker without his face. Having him just not have one would be bizarre beyond words.
4. He does a hybrid of these options.
5. He does something that nobody anticipates. That of course would be the best option and the most exciting, because just about everyone is anticipating the first three options in some way, but it could also go very, very wrong. It’ll remain to be seen what happens, but I hope they don’t go for the obvious choice.
Yes….so many possibilities, but like I said, Joker is not Leatherface, or Freddy Krueger….he’s the Joker and he’s terribly insane so I would like for him to be treated in an original way…in a very Joker way. His look has to be something that only Joker could think of.
I hope this new story arc is not a dissapointment. *crossing fingers, hands, arms and legs*