Writer: Brian AzzarelloArtist: Lee Bermejo
Publisher: DC Comics
Collects: Original graphic novelA couple of years back, Azzarello and Bermejo brought us the Lex Luthor: Man of Steel mini-series, telling the infamous villain's side of the story and turning him into a deep and relatable character. In 2008, the year of The Dark Knight, they tried something similar with this OGN, simply titled Joker, safely set in its own little continuity bubble.
It is difficult to judge a story that focuses on the character of the Joker. In another OGN, Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison wrote future Batman writers something of a "get out of jail free" card when it comes to the Clown Prince of Crime. According to Morrison, the Joker was constantly reinventing himself -- goofy trickster one minute, nihilistic murderer the next, and so on -- which sort of leaves room for multiple interpretations of him.
Perhaps to evade some of the responsibility of writing such a sociopath, Azzarello chose to tell the story from the point of view of an original character. Jonny Frost appears at first to be the usual ever-loyal henchman, eager to attach himself to the Joker for personal gain, but underneath he is in fact the usual philosopher-criminal who thinks he's got it all worked out. As with anyone who spends enough time with the Joker, he soon finds out how wrong he is.
