Toxic Kryptonite
Just look at that cover. Ain't it a b'yoot? Now that's a cover. Not like the one for the previous issue. The Batman Adventures #2 sure could've used a better cover. This says it all. The Batman is The Joker's prisoner, and the clown prince has got him on display. Or, maybe that's just a knowing inference on my part.
The Joker made his debut on Batman: The Animated Series with Christmas With The Joker, originally broadcast on September 13, 1992. This issue feels alot like that episode, and a little like The Killing Joke and the classic Happy Birthday, Joker story. I'm not sure what issue of Batman or Detective that was in or if that's even the title, but you probably remember the story. The Joker kidnaps just about everybody in the Batman Family. Gordon, Batgirl, Robin, Alfred - Alfred? Even Alfred? How'd he do that? - ties them all to candles on his birthday cake and is set to launch them - - until Batman shows up and cleans his clock. I'm not sure how it ends, but if it is a Joker story, somehow he finds his way to a boat, and he and Batman fight on the boat until it hits the rocks. Batman jumps at the last second, before the boat with Joker hits the rocks and blows up in a fantastic explosion. The Dark Knight and the reader is left wondering about his fate until his next appearance. The Killing Joke is just about Alan Moore using the Joker to end Barbara Gordon's career as Batgirl, which eventually allows DC to use her as a positive role model for the handicapped as she becomes Oracle. (Okay, that might be slightly sarcastic and snarky.) Then, he kidnaps Gordon and tortures him until Batman shows up to kick some...butt. In Christmas with The Joker, he kidnaps Gordon, Bullock and Summer Gleeson, and threatens to blow up Gotham, until Batman and Robin discover the location of his secret broadcast studio and clean house!
I'm surprised that Gordon doesn't have a SWAT team of bodyguards and live in a fortress. No wonder the Joker keeps kidnapping him first, he's such an easy mark!
The Joker is probably one of the most over-exposed villains. The Joker and Luthor. The Joker is who's arch-enemy...? And, The Batman's most famous arch-enemy is...? A little Joker goes a long way. But He seems to be a well that never runs dry, because there have been so many Joker stories - and a number of them are very similar. Maybe that's why The Laughing Fish and The Joker's Favor are such fresh stories.
The Good -
The Cover. Ty Templeton scores with a very shiney cover.
While the story is just okay - I bet, given an opportunity, you or I could come up with a Joker story - even by MadLib! - I like the ending. This story has a really strong third act, something the first two films really could have used...
Mark Hammill is probably the greatest animated Joker ever. He's my favorite Joker. I hear his voice, just as I hear Kevin Conroy as Batman and that guy from McHale's Navy as Gordon.
This is set before the two-part Two-Face episode, so we get to see crusading Gotham DA Harvey Dent. I guess that's okay.
The Bad -
The Joker. My guess is he's here because he was in the first Batman movie. The Penguin and Catwoman were in Batman Returns, so that probably explains the first two issues. Harvey Dent and Two-Face hadn't really caught on as yet. This issue feels like a rerun or a rehash of every Joker story ever told. The Killing Joke is such a milestone of a story, and Christmas With The Joker was so recent to this issue... I do wish the first Batman movie had ended more like this instead of the way it had. It was a terrible ending and a bad precendent to start for the genre. The Joker is a force of nature, like a tornado or a hurricane. He blows through, wreaks havoc, and is gone like the wind. He's is basic, primal. That's probably why a Joker story can be boiled down to a simple formula. Being easy, that's probably why there are so many Joker stories. Just keep goin' to that well. The Riddler, on the other hand is a little more complicated. The same is true of a lot of Batman's rogues, like Ra's Al Ghul.
It's kinda disappointing that what The Penguin and Catwoman stole for The Joker made it possible for him to do on a larger scale what he had been already doing in the first two issues. Like, why would you need parts from London? This arc never really reveals what he needed and what was stolen and why they were unique to where they were found. And that wasn't even his main plan! His main plan was something else entirely. I'll get over it, but it is kind of a letdown.
The Ugly -
The Joker whacking Gordon with a baseball bat. Even though it was very cinematic - like it was lifted from the show - you see the bat, you see the wind-up, but you hear the hit, I could feel Gordon's pain. Wincingly effective!
Conclusion -
Now that we've seen the big three heavy-hitters - sorry for the pun - I'm wondering where this series is going to go next? I like the way The Joker, The Penguin and Catwoman have been re-imagined in the Timm-Diniverse. Even though this isn't one of my favorite issues, I still re-read it from time to time...I give it a solid 3 out of 5 Batarangs.
