by Randy Lander

JOKER: LAST LAUGH #3 "Lunatic Fringe" Neutral (3/10) DC Comics Writers: Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty Artist: Walt McDaniel Colors: Tom McCraw & Digital Chameleon Letters: Willie Schubert Editor: Matt Idelson Price: $2.95 US/$4.95 CAN It can't be a good sign when, halfway through a big crossover, it already feels like it's hitting the point of diminishing returns. While I enjoyed the first two issues of Joker: Last Laugh for the most part, this issue mostly seems like reminding the readers of things we already know. The Joker is dying and has gone even crazier, we get it. The Joker unleashed on the world is bad, we get it. The Joker is causing mass destruction, we get it. I find myself wishing that the story would get moving for most of this issue, especially the overlong interlude with Harley Quinn, which raises questions of its own. Throw in some substandard artwork from McDaniel and I'm just very disappointed in this issue. Time will tell whether it's a bump in the road or the start of a downhill slide for the story. With the Joker's escape from the Slab complete, this issue spends most of its time seeing reactions: From the JLA, from Batman's team, from the President, from Harley Quinn. The problem is that all of these reactions are rather predictable, and not much different from the general horror and shock that most expressed when the Joker was simply loose within the Slab. It doesn't feel like the stakes have changed all that much, particularly in the wake of "Our Worlds at War" where we were once again reminded that in the DC universe, major disasters don't tend to have any sort of long-range effects. One of the problems is that McDaniel's artwork doesn't do a great job of conveying what is going on. The shot of the Earth from the Watchtower, with the Joker's burning smile, doesn't make much sense and doesn't jibe with what the characters are saying. The Joker looks less frightening and more like a drunken clown who couldn't get his makeup on straight. The destruction the characters are causing is vague, and all of the villains look so much alike that they might as well be clones of the Joker. Perhaps that's the point, but if it is, it's a mistake. Part of what makes the Joker dangerous and frightening is that he is unique, and that he doesn't need powers to terrify. What really surprised me about the issue, though, was that I found some of the characterization to be a bit off. Given that these characters are Dixon's "babies" it seems strange that Spoiler or Oracle didn't come off well. Spoiler, more interesting as a novice heroine, has become a wise-cracking and obnoxious character, and it doesn't make much sense. And it boggles the mind that Harley Quinn would find a way to call Oracle, all the while not knowing who (or what) she is. But then, the Harley sequence seems overlong anyway, and I've never much liked the character in mainstream continuity. There are some interesting ideas broached here, don't get me wrong. The Joker's desire to pass on a legacy is an interesting wrinkle, and his conclusion reached at the end of the issue has me wondering what's coming next. However, the most interesting aspect of the book for me so far, the effect all of this is having on Barbara Gordon, doesn't really go anywhere new in this issue, and for that matter neither does most of the story about the Joker's rampage. Having read a few of the crossover issues as well this week, it seems that Joker: Last Laugh is heading into the familiar crossover territory of padding out a good story idea with too many repetitive tie-ins told over a longer period of time than necessary. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.