When I read this, I didn’t know what to make of it. So those pics out there (and that you can see in one of my previous posts) not the final product? Of course no…they are probably a marketing gimmick to keep the fans speculating in the hopes that it will increase the sales. Who knows, but DC? ME…I will wait for the final product and then emit the final verdict (after all I was not too fond of the face peeling at the beggining, until I imagined the possibilities). I just want to bring you the point of view from everybody involved with the Joker reboot.
Now the turn goes to Greg Capullo himself who was upset with the leakage of (supposed) images from BATMAN #14 and BATGIRL #14. Listen to him…
Apparently, though, fan-favorite Batman artist Greg Capullo wasn’t particularly happy with even that much leaking, and took to his Twitter page to vent his frustration and to promise fans a more memorable, terrifying vision of The Joker when his interpretation of the character, appearing in the Scott Snyder-written Batman book, appears in the context of the story.
Says Capullo:
“As careful as I’ve been to save revealing our new Joker, the powers that be have let it out ahead if our book. Stay tuned fir MY pics.
“In my younger days, I’d have punched several holes in the walls of my office by now. Rest assured, I will give you terror when I draw him.
“When I draw it, THAT will be it.
“Try not to look at it. Wait for ours if you can.
“The more I’ve thought about the Joker leak, the more I began thinking that it may have been for the best. The fact is, the way Scott and I.. will give you the Joker may have been too much for some with out this diluted sample hitting the web. DC, rightly so, had concerns about- Our images and story. Perhaps they leaked this intentionally to test the waters or to acclimate your minds to what is coming from us.
“Team Batman knows how to do one thing. Destroy. So, even if you do see the leak, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Trust me.
“I’m still not going to reveal my sketches. I won’t let this incident blow the whole works. Be patient. Terror is heading your way.”
(Original Source: Report by Russ Burlingame for ComicBook.com)
Even if those are the final images, they look great! It’s still creepy, and still gets the message across. I’m satisfied with the design as a Joker fan, although it is quite distracting because I’m still trying to figure out just what in the Hell is holding that skin on, if it’ll reattach surgically, etc. It’s “WTF”, but it’s unfortunately “WTF” in ways that are a bit anatomically confusing. I can’t imagine what J is even gonna do if they decide to let the skin fall off; lord knows it probably won’t heal and reattach unless they kept his face packed in ice for the year or so he was gone. Maybe they can reconstruct with fake skin when the real face falls off, I dunno. I still like the idea of explaining away possible infection by saying “His blood’s liquid poison and his flesh itself is toxic; germs can’t grow in it”… oh you know what? Come to think of it, his face MIGHT reattach because the chemicals in it could cause it to stay preserved and retard bacterial growth, couldn’t they? LaughingFishie is a genius.
But I digress. Looks cool anyway, I won’t complain. 🙂 It conveys what the artist wants – and yes, it’s terrifying and gross. Can you imagine that face *talking to you*? Just… ew. Ew ew ew. And knowing J, there will be a scene where he takes the skin off, and reveals all the underlying muscle… *shudders* Ick. Now let’s just hope the writing will be as good as Mr. Capullo’s art is.
Mmm, but why the heck did he cut his face off if he is going to be “wearing” it anyway? when i saw batgirl’s cover #14, i wasn’t too pleased…i like capullo’s cover for batman more, but still, it didn’t convince me the joker walking around with some straps on his head, too leatherface for me. I agree with the comment of LaughingFish about the “preservation” of the skin, maybe they have plans to make the dollmaker to re-implant it and this thing of the face will be just temporary (other wise, why has mister J still keeping the skin that had been cuted?)
I am impacient to get the issue!!! and get anwers for my questions…especially why the joker been so vain as he is had take his face off.
Well, i love my puddin’ anyway XD, but as i said before, hope this thing of the face be temporary.
pd: sorry for my english, i’m from santiago de Chile. Love your page so much! Regards from Chile!
Hola Antonia,
Bienvenida a la guarida del Joker! Como ves, yo tambien soy latina, y te agradezco el amable comentario. Gracias!
Now to business…this whole faceless Joker has me a little nervous. I trust that they are know what they are doing over at DC, but I am so fixed in the idea that this is just going to be another big disappointment.
I mean, the writers/artists are promissing to make this Joker memorable and REALLY SCARY. Well, just want to remind them, that Joker is not Freddy Krueger or Leatherface…is Joker. We all know that the Clown has more than one screw loose in that crazy head of his, but they are taking this characters through paths that I don’t know were written for him.
I agree with Laughing Fish on the sense that, Joker needs a revamp, but you can do so many things wrong with this approach that I wonder if it’s worth the effort. Most people aggreed in a poll I made a few months, that they liked the pre-52 Joker more than his new self, so why not go for the things fans like.
Maybe they want to give him a more Heath Ledger look (which should not be brought into consideration since Heath Joker belongs to the Nolanverse), or maybe they want to play with the whole idea of “MASKS” which has always being a problem for Joker as a character. While his foe can take his mask off and be someone else entirely, Joker has a mask he can’t take off…until now. Maybe that is what they are going to play around with? Who knows? Just want them to do things right and do the character a favor as of characterization. If not, this will be another failure, as has been most of the New52 reboot.
I can only pray… they don’t F*** this one up…
Ohh también eres latina, que bien! =)
Well, about your comment, i totally agree…when i read the interview with Scott Snyder, i was a little terrified XD i mean, the guy has talent, i like his writing, but i’m not very sure if he understands entirely the psychology of the character. When he said that his Joker was going to be really scary, and his looks was gonna make us sh*** on our pants, i thought that may be this wasn’t going to work out well, cuz to me, yes, the Joker IS scary, but is not specially for the way he looks, or some super power(like most of the villains) , it’s mainly due to his personality; and that’s whats makes him so unique and awesome; he’s capable to terrify the most powerful heroes and villains, and just with his twisted mind and evil grin. Make him a leatherface type will just screw up the character…and really i hope that they won’t come up with the idea of give him a ledger’s look, that would make me so angry! to be honest, i like Heath performance, but for me , he wasn’t entirely the Joker. I love faaar more the comic book joker style.
*Sighs* at the end, there are few artist that have catch the essence of the Joker…Dixon, Moore, Dini, and few other have understand the character perfectly; and for the pencilers, Graham Nolan, Deodato, Timm, Ross, Buckingham…and my personal favorite: Bolland; his vision and understanding of the character is precise, and he embody it in a flawless way. That guy simply was born to draw the Joker. One of my dreams is that he takes on the joker again…well, dreaming is for free XD
Seems that the only thing we can do now is wait, may be things doesn’t turn out so bad after all.
Saludos!!