JOKER: LAST LAUGH #1
"Part One: Stir Crazy"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics
Writers: Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty
Pencils: Pete Woods
Inks: Andrew Pepoy
Colors: Tom McCraw & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Willie Schubert
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Longtime fans of comics set in the DC Universe will no doubt find some entertainment in this pages, given the wide array of characters that turn up. There are some fun sequences and ideas, and some strong moments of characterization. There's also some confusion as well. It's as though Dixon and Beatty didn't have nearly enough space in this book to set up the action, exposition and all the players in their crossover drama.
The Joker's been shipped off to the Slab, the federal prison used to incarnerate metahuman criminals. Officials underestimate the Clown Prince of Crime's brilliance, though, and he manages to organize a riot and breakout plan by availing himself of the powers of the gathered super-villains. Only the Blue Beetle and the Black Canary are available to deal with the crisis, though, along with the Slab's security chief, Shilo Norman, once known as the second Mr. Miracle.
Woods performs admirably in the face of a challenge. There are a lot of characters running around this book -- most of the villains -- and they're out of their usually colorful clothing. Still, it's pretty easy to keep all of the players straight. The cartoony tone of his work also suits the crossover. Sure, it features a smiling serial killer, but let's be honest... this is super-hero fluff. Woods's art suits it.
Dixon and Beatty are obviously fans of not only Batman's corner of the DC Universe, but the colorful super-hero setting as a whole. Some pretty obscure characters turn up here, and there will be plenty more where they came from over the course of the next five weeks. The greatest strength in this book is the writers' use of Shilo Norman. I know little about the character, but I found I liked him here right away.
My favorite scene in the book was the Joker's repeated murder of Multi-Man, trying to get the reanimating villain to develop a useful super-power. It was morbidly funny, but I had the sense I'd seen something similar before. Then it came to me. The same thing happened between two heroes: Tommy ("Hitman") Monaghan and the title character in Resurrection Man. Still, the Joker/Multi-Man stuff made me smile.
The writers also have a lot of information to convey to the reader, and they don't really succeed in that aspect of their task. New readers will be at a loss -- Oracle's obsession with the Joker isn't explained, and neither is Shilo's past, who all the villains are or when the Joker found out he's dying. It's not the easiest of reads for those of us intimately familiar with the characters and setting either. Still, in the end, it's a fun diversion, but little else.
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