A Must Read Joker Story
The Joker's origins are reinvented in a new way as he begins to terrorize Gotham city sparking the attention of Batman who the Joker finds ridiculous. As he transforms into the Joker persona, he stabs Lorna Shore, the woman who Bruce Wayne recently began seeing. Batman begins to lose himself as he can't come up with any logical reason why the Joker is doing this which eventually leads to a final showdown between the two.
My Thoughts:
This is the second volume of the Batman Confidential series that explores the early days of Batman's career. The creative teams rotate each arc and this time we have Michael Green writing and Denys Cowan drawing the art.
First and foremost I have to say Michael Green delivered a masterpiece of a story. This series does however contradict Batman: The Killing Joke. What I liked about the story so much was the well scripted dialogue of Batman and the Joker. The conversation between Batman and Johnathan Crane was also invigorating. Green meshes a combination of elements such as crime, evil and insanity that touches your very soul. You can feel every emotion written and drawn on these pages. The way Green made the Joker drive Batman crazy was surreal.
I loved Green's writing style and the way he added alliteration to the Joker's dialogue once he transformed completely. I also liked how Green added Johnathan Crane (Scarecrow) and Harley Quinn in scenes that show them before they become the villains they will one day be.
Denys Cowan's art truly compliments Green's writing. The art style is very similar to that of Whilce Portacio's in the first six issues of this series. Cowan's style is very edgy that when combined with the coloring gives off that gritty feel of Gotham City.
I would recommend this to all Batman fans. This should definitely be in your collection. In my opinion it's better than The Killing Joke in terms of the Joker's origin and the way he transformed into that persona. This book also has an introduction by the talented Brad Meltzer.
Rating: 5/5
