The Joker

[1989]. Cover price £1.75.
68 pages. Colour & B&W.
London Editions Magazines.

Batman Monthly Presents

Cover p: Kerry Gammill, i: Joe Rubinstein.
r: cover from Justice League Annual (DC Comics) #02 (1988).

ISBN-10: 0-7235-5580-X.

Contents:

 2 Joking Apart! text feature by Brian M. Clarke (?, uncredited).

 3 The Joker is Wild! w: Doug Moench; p: Don Newton, i: Alfredo Alcala, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Adrienne Roy.

r: Batman (DC Comics) #366 (Dec 1983).

17 At Last... A Computer With Plenty of ZAP! advertisement for Sinclair ZX Action Pack.

27 Fact File The Joker text by UNKNOWN (uncredited); illustration p: Kevin Maguire, i: Karl Kesel.

r: Detective Comics Annual (DC Comics) #02 (1989).

28 Mini Movies in the Palm of Your Hand (half page) advertisement for Tiny Hands' toy. / Want to See More of Justice League???? (half page) in-house advertisement for Superman.

29 Hit or Miss! w: J.M. DeMatteis, from a plot by Keith Giffen; p: Bill Willingham, i: Joe Rubenstein, lettering by John Costanza, colouring by Gene D'Angelo.

r: Justice League Annual (DC Comics) #02 (1988).

68 Spooky Wooky - One of the Fiendish Feet advertisement for St. Ivel dessert.

A cardstock cover makes this a remarkably attractive package, though one must wonder at the wisdom of the release of yet another Batman title during a year in which his exposure must have strained even the most committed of collectors' budget. Taking cues from the monthly Batman title, there's a stylish design to the inside cover's text feature (thanks to Ed Hyde), although the article itself is uncredited. The shattered visage of the clown prince of crime, and numerous tumbling playing cards, perfectly captures the insanity of the character in a way that a simple illustration couldn't possibly hope to match.

Jason Todd wanders around Wayne Manor after being left on his own. Despite Bruce having left for Central America, and with Alfred disappearing mysteriously, Jason seems quite happy to use this opportunity to snoop around, finding himself in Dick Grayson's old room. Having nothing better to do, he looks in Dick's wardrobe, where he makes a surprising discovery. Alfred is absent, by the by, due to his daughter, Julia Remarque, having tracked him down.

The same night, in a cave under an ancient Mayan pyramid in Guatemala, the Joker is furious with Batman, not only for rescuing Vicki Vale, but for making him shatter his scale-model of Joker-Land. He declares that his plan will proceed regardless - namely the assassination of General Diaz in the town of Mixtaya.

Batman, meanwhile, has hitched a lift on a truck (Vicki Vale in tow) in order to get out of the jungle. And yes, he does look rather silly when taken so far out of his usual environs.

There's a lot of set-up in the opening pages of The Joker is Wild!, only a small portion of which deals directly with the titular character. There was a nine-issue series focusing on the Joker back in the mid-seventies, making this story's inclusion ever more strange. Especially as so much of the narrative is of matters entirely unconcerned with the Joker.

Gotham Hospital: Police Commissioner James Gordon has been in the deep sleep of coma for three days and nights.

His daughter Barbara has been awake for the same length of time...

The vignettes continue on like this, displaying slivers of lives which have been intertwined with that of Batman, and slipping farther from the subject of the Joker. Bullock is at the Mayor's office, where he is asked to take Gordon's place. This isn't, you might surmise from the above, my favourite story, and it certainly isn't a Joker story. If anything, this is Jason's story, as it is his intervention which sets pieces in play for the resolution of the scheme to kill Diaz, apprehending the Joker.

The Joker is Wild! likely reads better in the context of prior issues, feeling like random and disconnected scenes thrown together in service of a grander plot, impenetrable without a key to events assisting comprehension.

Following the comic's lead, rather than the cinematic origin, the Joker's identity remains unknown in the fact file. In fact, the number of blanks is remarkably high for an informative feature, stating that he has no known relatives or group affiliations. Reduced to reciting the well-known (and oft-reprinted) adventures instead of delving into who he is, the feature is rather less interesting than it might initially seem. Maguire and Kesel provide a wonderful image to accompany the feature, redeeming it somewhat.

Hit or Miss! begins much more promisingly, with the Joker discovering Colonel Harjarvti ransacking Maxwell Lord's room in search of a rolodex containing the Justice League's personal 'phone numbers. Coming to an understanding with the Bialyan, the Joker agrees to kill the JLI, and in return Col Harjarvti will task his resources to uncovering the identity of Batman for the Joker.

You would be forgiven for thinking - given how many late-eighties Joker appearances were of a darker nature - that this would be a dark, psychologically-complex thriller. It isn't. It is a wonderful, glorious, madcap farce, with some of the best Joker characterization in a long time. There is even a Batman cameo, leading to a properly laugh-out-loud scene which is worth the cover price alone. I can't praise this story high enough, and I'm not going to spoil it for those who want to see how Batman should be written.

While the contents vary in quality and usefulness, the packaging is impressive.