JOKER: LAST LAUGH #2
"Part One: Siege Mentality"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics
Writers: Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty
Pencils: Marcos Martin
Inks: Mark Farmer & Alvaro Lopez
Colors: Tom McCraw & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Willie Schubert
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN |
Dixon and Beatty's Joker-themed crossover continues, and it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it's still quite confusing as well. It seems we missed out on a few key scenes between last week's debut issue and the events depicted here. Perhaps they unfolded in tie-in issues, but the end result is that I feel out of the loop. Meanwhile, Martin's art is appropriately dark, but hard to follow at times.
Barbara Gordon, AKA Oracle, is horrified to learn that her partner, Black Canary, has been brutally beaten by the rioting metahuman inmates of the Slab. Meanwhile, Nightwing and the Batman infiltrate the prison separately, while security chief Shilo Norman and U.S. Marshal Dina Bell try to make their way off the island. Amid the madness of the riot, the Joker sets into motion a destructive plan, manipulating the Joker-ized villains to achieve his ends.
Martin tells a rather chaotic story fairly well, but given the jumpy nature of the script (we're following a variety of characters in different spots in the prison), there's not as strong a sense of panel-to-panel flow as there could be. Still, the book looks pretty good, and the inkers drench many scenes in appropriate darkness. McCraw's colors impress as well. He usually takes a brighter approach to the colors, but most of his work here is in keeping with the grave tone of the plot.
Mind you, McDaniel's cover doesn't quite achieve the same strength. It's far too bright, and it's rather hard to distinguish all of the characters. That's too bad, given it's the only place we actually see them in costume.
One gets a sense that the writers are galloping through this story, that they have too little space to get everything done. It makes for some minor inconsistencies in the plot and dialogue, and for some confusing moments. They also don't have enough time to introduce all of the characters. Many of the Joker-ized villains play key roles, but we rarely get to know much about them at all. There are a number of characters that are new to me, and I've been reading comics for a long time. I can't imagine the confusion newer readers might face.
The greatest strength of Joker: Last Laugh is how it balances the fun and color of a wide cast of heroes and villains with the darkness and foreboding that comes with the serial killer that serves as the story's catalyst. There's a sense of wonder and a sense of danger to the premise that, well, brings a smile to my face.
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