Review by Frank Plowright
It had only been five years since DC celebrated 75 years of the Joker, so it’s disappointing to see seven inclusions getting another airing here, although had his first appearance been omitted complaints would be justified. A case could also be made for Neal Adams’ Joker, the two-part Joker fish story from Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, and Paul Dini and J.H. Williams having the Joker kidnap Robin being all-time classics, and therefore necessary to any definitive Joker compilation. However, that’s unlikely to pacify fans who assumed A Celebration of 75 Years was going to be definitive. Additionally, this time there’s the final chapter of Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo’s story of the Joker murdering Robin, rather than the first. Two aspects, though, even out the repetition and make this a finer collection.
Firstly, after that 1940 origin, there’s no lingering in the kitsch of the distant past. Five stories later we’ve reached the 1980s, the chronological halfway point. The second improvement is the welcome inclusion of The Killing Joke and Mad Love, two perennial bestsellers in their own right and proven quality. It’s a neat solution to the recurring problem facing Joker compilations because he’s no longer a throwaway villain, but Batman’s arch-foe, so single issue appearances are all-but extinct as his manifestations require weight, and that always means multiple chapters. Those, of course, are the curse of the compilation compiler. If DC intend to pump out compilations more frequently, perhaps they could plan in advance by commissioning the occasional non-continuity issue for inclusion. Mind you, it’s strange that the Joker’s appearances in Batman: Black and White are always overlooked.
That leaves four other stories, none of them published since the 75 Years collection, but three from the 21st century. The exception is ‘Images’ from 1993, in which Dennis O’Neil and Bret Blevins look back on Batman first meeting the Joker, as per the sample art. They supply a refreshingly new veneer to some old tricks, although Bruce Wayne in a white suit and hat at the end is a more bizarre sight than the Joker.
Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Gotham Central remains a quality police procedural series, and from it comes the unsettling story of the Joker surrendering to the police and his subsequent interrogation. It’s chilling. So is Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s standalone chapter from Hush (sample art right), but for different reasons as Batman is set on killing the Joker. The variety of styles Lee employs is admirable.
The most recent inclusion is 2013’s conclusion to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Death of the Family crossover. It’s gratuitously gruesome, a level of horror way above the remaining content, and ultimately unconvincing.
Fifteen cover illustrations spanning the years close what as a sampling of the Joker is better than the 75 Years collection. People who bought that might not be pleased to hear it, given that all this content could have been included then.
