Cameos from Penguin, the Riddler and Harley Quinn, and extended roles for Killer Croc and Harvey Dent broaden the scope of the crisis, as Joker manipulates his way through the city, showing Gotham’s dirty underbelly who’s boss with flamboyance, black, black comedy and some sickening violence. And while he wreaks havoc, Frost narrates and Two-Face trembles, the nagging absence of Batman himself hangs over us, for this is the Joker’s journey, and Bruce Wayne has apparently taken a holiday.Īzzarello, however, makes fine use of other assorted misfits. Much of the narration, like the action itself, is far from clear-cut and open to interpretation.Įnacting revenge on those who have wronged him during his incarceration and catching up on the evisceration he has been craving while behind bars, though he claims he is a changed man, Joker shows little sign of remorse. He acts as the reader’s eyes and ears, asking questions while we contemplate the answers. Hoping initially for a role as one of the Joker’s henchmen, he winds up, predictably, in way over his head and looking for a way out. Frost tells his tale with a sense of growing fear and irony. Tasked with collecting the Joker upon release, he is quickly invited to the villain’s after-party, and it is through his naive eyes that we observe Joker’s subsequent rampage through Gotham. Frost is a typical Gotham scumbag, a thug fighting his wife over divorce papers, trying to make ends meet. Told through the eyes of his loyal (but naive) henchman Jonny Frost, JOKER is a true noir crime novel-a harrowing journey into a city of rainsoaked streets, dirty sheets and nothing but bad choices.Ingeniously narrated by muscle for hire Johnny Frost, Joker begins with the clown prince of crime’s unexplained release from Arkham Asylum. This original graphic novel tells the story of one very dark night in Gotham City-the Joker has been mysteriously released from Arkham Asylum, and he's none too happy about what's happened to his Gotham City rackets while he's been 'away.' What follows is a harrowing night of revenge, murder and manic crime as only The Joker can deliver it, as he brutally takes back his stolen assets from The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face, Killer Croc and, of course, The Batman-and heaven help them all.

'Disturbing, violent, odly psychological and insanely wonderful.'īrian Azzarello brings to THE JOKER all the visceral intensity and criminal insight that has made his Vertigo graphic novel series 100 BULLETS one of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning series in all of comics. 'A literary achievement that takes its place right alongside Alan Moore's The Killing Joke.'

'If you liked The Dark Knight, Joker is a must-have for your bookshelf.'

Joker comic azzarello