As an armature DC fan, i've been trying out some of the older stuff since i don't really enjoy the current on-goings, aside from a couple of titles. The Joker was recommended to Me and it does seem like an interesting story, i'll admit that i don't enjoy SICK books in general but there have been Exceptions( The Goon, Love that series), so i purchased the trade and gave it a try. I was NOT disappointed.

The first Thing i noticed right away is the cover, which is exactly how i knew that this was a Serious story, it's frighting, Disgusting, and Gory, which suits the actual story well. the art is Absolutely Glorious. I cannot compliment it more , i love it, because it's Exactly Suited for the story. it's Gory, i mean seriously gory, there are some scenes that made me put the comic down for some times, because it was just to disturbing. Is that a Bad Thing? HELL NO, in fact, if it was any different, it wouldn't have been the same, it take away that dark elements of the book. Speaking of which, in honestly felt that Gotham was a character on it's own, the Darkness of the People who appear here, even the Side characters reflected everything Gothams underworld represented/

The story was pretty Straight forward , Joker is trying to take back whats his. This is not Bad mind you, in fact comic books don't really need complicated plots to seem interesting. But the real Stand out here are the characters themselves, they were what made the story so interesting, and i loved every single one of them, even the narrator, johnny Before getting into the characters and what impact they had on my it's important to note that this is a Stand alone story in a different Universe:

• The Joker- as Surprising as it may seem, the Joker was much more realistic here, and more demented if you ask me. The core of the character was kept however, i didn't deviate from the source material, but we get a look at a more Sick version. The Original joker was much More Fun personality wise, he is always sick but there is a different vibe to this specific version. For one thing he can show normal Human emotions, it's as if all of his emotions are translated to laughter, BUT UNLIKE the normal joker, he probably doesn't find everything funny, the joker we know laughs at everything because he sees everything as a joke, but this one laughs sometimes as a cover. He's More human if you ask me, or at least close to realism. But As i Mentioned before, Everything bad about Gotham City, The Infection, it's all Joker, all of it. And even with the few page appearance, The Dynamic between batman And Joker is not lost.
• Johnny- Honestly when i started reading i was a bit Peeved that we needed a Narrator for this story, but i really liked him. it kinda showed how Jokers influence can affect anyone, even the sane people. Johnny wasn't exactly a bad guy, but as the story Unravels he does more and more questionable things, until at the end he sees things from the jokers perspective.
• Killer Croc- YES!!! even as a background character croc was awesome here. He was a gangster from head to toe, he knew his place, and he could crack bones when the situation demanded it. This is exactly how i want croc to be Portrayed. Sure he doesn't Have to be a gangster, but he doesn't have to be a Joke either, he was shown respect by the writer and the Characters around him. Awesome.

These are the three main guys i wanted to mention as they were the ones i enjoyed the heck out of. This was a great read. If i Have to nitpick i'd say that the only thing i didn't understand was why would anyone believe That The joker was sane? Let ALONE let him out of Arkham , i'm sure it's implied that Joker either drove the doctors crazy or did something to ensure his escape but it's never really answered.

This was a terrific read, though it might not be for everyone, it's gory and dark, and if your a fan of lighter stories there is a huge chance that you will not like this

Recommendation: Yes! but as i Said, it's really Sick and Dark.