DC's Definitive Joker origin

[Dirt Like Me]

DC's website has #12 listed as coming out the week of February 6th, with #13 two weeks later. Hopefully that date will stick.

 

[Tvar10]

this is starting to get a little ridiculious, this better be one hell of an issue or a 40 pager due to the long wait

 

[deathfromabove]

so 12 isnt even out yet? i thought i missed it.

 

[Nepenthes]

so who's read it?

a few scans here

 

[Mladen]

yay, its out!
im in australia so i have to wait til tomorrow (friday) to pick it up. woo

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

it's...meh. picked it up today...there's a part where bats has to "choose" which is interesting to play out...but other than that...pretty old hat...it's like reading the endS of killing joke and the man who laughs while on acid...(thus, the artwork) it's an okay last bit of the ark, but why the hell it took so long to finish? tis a mystery.

 

[Joker]

I think most people were probably expecting something better with the delays. I think this has actually been the weakest part of the arc, and is nowhere near as good as the last 2 issues. My guess on the delays was the writer probably just didnt know how the hell he was going to end it.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

...so how do they end it? batman beats the hell out of the joker (like he always does) joker has some pithy comment (like he always does) and ends up in arkham with batman looking over the city (like he always does)
yawn...

 

[Joker]

Exactly. He paniced, and took the easy way out. We of course knew that it had to end with either Joker in Arkham, or Joker escaping. And I do like the little addition of Joker being the very first criminal put in Arkham. It had some neat ideas, but as a whole, this issue wasnt great. It wasnt bad either though, just, mediocre. Seems like it was missing something.

Oh, and jackass Bruce at the end was good.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

yea...but even that seemed like it was ripped from somewhere...oh..i dont know...the birthday party scene in Begins?

 

[Joker]

I dont know. I think telling a girl who you were dating that just got stabbed by the Joker that not only did you not visit her, but you want to break up with her is a little bit worse than acting drunk.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

true, but the ploy itself seemed a bit...stolen

 

[Joker]

Well it's not like Begins was the first time they did something like that. Even back in the old 30's comics they would show Bruce acting like a total dick around people as an act.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

i understand that, and again, i say...old hat. brucie! get a new game!

 

[The Joker]

...so how do they end it? batman beats the hell out of the joker (like he always does) joker has some pithy comment (like he always does) and ends up in arkham with batman looking over the city (like he always does)
yawn...

Sounds very anti-climatic

I was hoping for a more exciting showdown, after all the hoopla surrounding this arc, and how it was supposed to be DC's official take on Joker's origin etc.

 

[Motown Marvel]

yeah, the last issue was indeed a bit anti-climactic and conventional. the earlier issues were definitely much stronger. the latter issues brought the whole arc down a bit, but overall it was a solid story.

 

[Dirt Like Me]

Sounds very anti-climatic

I was hoping for a more exciting showdown, after all the hoopla surrounding this arc, and how it was supposed to be DC's official take on Joker's origin etc.

The fight at the end was a little bit more exciting than what's been described. There was a cool part where the Joker jumped off the roof of a building, daring Batman to save him. Obviously Batman did, but he wrestled with the decision in his head for a page or so.

Overall I think that there was enough cool stuff in this arc that I'd recommend it to people who aren't hardcore TKJ fans. For me the highlights were the "Jack" character (a great alternative to both the sad comedian in TKJ, and the ambitious mobster from Case Study); the Joker at the circus; and, yes, the bunny on the moon (which grew on me as they repeated it the last few issues).

 

[Jangletown Man]

Its my first post! Please be gentle

I think DC missed a trick with a Joker 'Origins' story. They should have had a different origin for the Joker every week, from different writers and artists. Then you could select which one you wanted, and there could have been more variation from the 'Gangster' or 'Comedian' origins.

Personally I've always prefered the comedian from TKJ- I kind of saw him as a guy full of rage and anger and loathing for the world who kept himself hin check with his own moral code and the love he felt for his family. When those two things were taken from him, he no longer had a reason to hold back everything that had been bubbling inside him all along. In a sense he was finally free to be himself.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

Its my first post! Please be gentle

I think DC missed a trick with a Joker 'Origins' story. They should have had a different origin for the Joker every week, from different writers and artists. Then you could select which one you wanted, and there could have been more variation from the 'Gangster' or 'Comedian' origins.

Personally I've always prefered the comedian from TKJ- I kind of saw him as a guy full of rage and anger and loathing for the world who kept himself hin check with his own moral code and the love he felt for his family. When those two things were taken from him, he no longer had a reason to hold back everything that had been bubbling inside him all along. In a sense he was finally free to be himself.

ooooh i like the way you think...."Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"...welcome to the hype!

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

The fight at the end was a little bit more exciting than what's been described. There was a cool part where the Joker jumped off the roof of a building, daring Batman to save him. Obviously Batman did, but he wrestled with the decision in his head for a page or so.

Overall I think that there was enough cool stuff in this arc that I'd recommend it to people who aren't hardcore TKJ fans. For me the highlights were the "Jack" character (a great alternative to both the sad comedian in TKJ, and the ambitious mobster from Case Study); the Joker at the circus; and, yes, the bunny on the moon (which grew on me as they repeated it the last few issues).

ha ha! the joker jumping off the roof was lame. you KNEW bats was gonna save him..(like he always does) plus...the jumping off the roof bit is like your ex girlfriend calling and telling you shes gonna cut herself if you dont come over...weak and lame...

 

[Joker]

Its my first post! Please be gentle

I think DC missed a trick with a Joker 'Origins' story. They should have had a different origin for the Joker every week, from different writers and artists. Then you could select which one you wanted, and there could have been more variation from the 'Gangster' or 'Comedian' origins.

Personally I've always prefered the comedian from TKJ- I kind of saw him as a guy full of rage and anger and loathing for the world who kept himself hin check with his own moral code and the love he felt for his family. When those two things were taken from him, he no longer had a reason to hold back everything that had been bubbling inside him all along. In a sense he was finally free to be himself.

Oh dont worry, this isnt even the official orign. The official origin was in Countdown a while back, and was exactly what you described, a multiple choice thing where the only thing we know for sure is that he was the Red Hood for some reason or another and ended up taking a header into that vat of chemicals.

So Joker still has the multiple choice thing going on, this story is just one of the many you can pick from. Hell, the Countdown one even mentioned the Batman 89 origin.

 

[Mladen]

I think DC missed a trick with a Joker 'Origins' story. They should have had a different origin for the Joker every week, from different writers and artists. Then you could select which one you wanted, and there could have been more variation from the 'Gangster' or 'Comedian' origins.

thats a freaking great concept.

 

[The Guard]

On a happier note, Amazon informs me that THE MAN WHO LAUGHS will be shipping earlier than expected...as in it has already shipped.

 

[Dirt Like Me]

ha ha! the joker jumping off the roof was lame. you KNEW bats was gonna save him..(like he always does) plus...the jumping off the roof bit is like your ex girlfriend calling and telling you shes gonna cut herself if you dont come over...weak and lame...

Obviously the Joker wasn't going to die. The scene was more about Batman's thought process before making the save.

As for the ex-girlfriend cutting thing...that was funny. A little bit disturbing, and maybe too much information, but funny.

 

[Batz]

just going to raise this thread from the grave.....

ordered a "Lovers and Madmen" HC the other day and i didnt follow this when it was running so have i just bought a good GN?

flicked through a few issues, the artwork seemed rather interesting.