JOKER

Written by: Brian Azzarello
Art by: Lee Bermejo
Reviewed by: Munawar Mobin

Coveted author of 100 Bullets, Brian Azzarello has always been a legend in the comic book industry. If it isn't for his gritty, gangster feel that he's so good at conjuring it's definitely for his ability to take something and write out a completely daringly new perspective that makes him one of the most sought-out authors out there.

Azzarello's story on Superman (Superman For Tomorrow) was heavily criticized and ridiculed but his steadfast, unexpected approach to the man of steel had critics dumbfounded. It was whole new perspective and thus presented those rare “hate it or love it” situations. Joker was not the case.

The story is written with the same 100 bullets, guns and broads feel, and told from the perspective of small time Batman crook, Johnny Frost. Frost is the typical scumbag from the streets of Gotham who is keen on moving up the criminal ladder and thus takes out a car to pick up Joker as he's released from Arkham Asylum. Bermejo's insanely talented hand provides quite the picture of hell that was Gotham City.

As Joker pulls up and takes care of business, punishing those who have betrayed him during or before his time in the loony bin, Frost narrates and the likes of Two Face and the Croc tremble in the presence of a man clearly out of it and enjoying it to the fullest.

In a few panels, Frost seems to be delivering narrations from a place where the only thing present is bucket loads of admiration and motivation. However, as the night continues and so does the absence of dear Batman, Frost's narrations easily become distinguishable as words enveloped with respect more and more out of fear.

The Joker was redefined quite well by Alan Moore in the Killing Joke, and although comparing anything to the Killing Joke is comic book sacrilege, Azzarello and Bermejo's Joker is a bold statement of the character we all know (and love). To finish it off, this is what Heath Ledger would've been like in a comic. Go get a copy.