Oscar
04-16-2009, 04:18 PM
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Title: Joker
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo
Publisher: DC Comics
A quick glace at the art style of this book might give you the impression that it’s a spin-off (or rip-off) of Heath Ledger’s performance in “The Dark Knight”, but both Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo have stated that they had no prior knowledge of Ledger’s Joker while working on the book. Bermejo has also stated, “I was about 40 pages into drawing this graphic novel when they released the first image of Ledger”.
So how did Bermejo come up with the concept for his version of the Joker? “I tried to figure out what would make the Joker frightening to me if he really existed,” Bermejo says. “One of the points of the story is that the guy’s ugly outside and in, so I just scarred him up. After I established the smile I wanted to reinforce the fact that the guy was probably not attractive even before the Chelsea grin so I gave him bad skin and of course the big, beak nose. The hair, posture and attitude is just a twisted, drugged-out version of Christopher Walken.”
That being said, with the exception of an appearance by Two-Face, this book could very easily continue the current movie storyline. It starts off on the day Joker is released from Arkham Asylum (that’s right released not escaped) and chronicles his attempt to regain the power he lost while he was locked away. The interesting thing about this story is that it’s told from the perspective of Johnny Frost, a small time criminal who quickly becomes the Joker’s right hand man.
I think my favorite thing about this book is the believability of all the villains who make an appearance, especially the interpretation of my favorite one of all, Harley Quinn. The story is a lot like what I imagine hanging out with the Joker for a day would be like, dark, twisted, and leaves you feeling dirty for admitting you had a blast. As for the art style, several of the people I let flip through it found a couple of images they wouldn’t mind having tattooed. At about $20 (under $15 if you shop around the internet) for the 128 page hard cover is a pretty good deal for this book.
Title: Joker
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo
Publisher: DC Comics
A quick glace at the art style of this book might give you the impression that it’s a spin-off (or rip-off) of Heath Ledger’s performance in “The Dark Knight”, but both Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo have stated that they had no prior knowledge of Ledger’s Joker while working on the book. Bermejo has also stated, “I was about 40 pages into drawing this graphic novel when they released the first image of Ledger”.
So how did Bermejo come up with the concept for his version of the Joker? “I tried to figure out what would make the Joker frightening to me if he really existed,” Bermejo says. “One of the points of the story is that the guy’s ugly outside and in, so I just scarred him up. After I established the smile I wanted to reinforce the fact that the guy was probably not attractive even before the Chelsea grin so I gave him bad skin and of course the big, beak nose. The hair, posture and attitude is just a twisted, drugged-out version of Christopher Walken.”
That being said, with the exception of an appearance by Two-Face, this book could very easily continue the current movie storyline. It starts off on the day Joker is released from Arkham Asylum (that’s right released not escaped) and chronicles his attempt to regain the power he lost while he was locked away. The interesting thing about this story is that it’s told from the perspective of Johnny Frost, a small time criminal who quickly becomes the Joker’s right hand man.
I think my favorite thing about this book is the believability of all the villains who make an appearance, especially the interpretation of my favorite one of all, Harley Quinn. The story is a lot like what I imagine hanging out with the Joker for a day would be like, dark, twisted, and leaves you feeling dirty for admitting you had a blast. As for the art style, several of the people I let flip through it found a couple of images they wouldn’t mind having tattooed. At about $20 (under $15 if you shop around the internet) for the 128 page hard cover is a pretty good deal for this book.