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.

Zones #2

1990. Cover price £1.75.
68 pages. Colour & B&W.
London Editions Magazines / Egmont

Cover (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Definitely Collectable - Superman Monthly • Batman Monthly • DC Action! • Zones in-house advertisement.

 3 Zones! Introductory text (uncredited). / Contents

 4 The Shadow text introduction (uncredited). a: Howard Chaykin.

r: interior page from The Shadow (DC Comics) #02 (Jun 1986).

 5 The Shadow Blood & Judgment, part two, w:/a: Howard Chaykin. lettering by Ken Bruzenak, colouring by Alex Wald.

r: The Shadow (DC Comics) #02 (Jun 1986).

33 Close to the Edge text feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

34 Dinosaurs Attack! text feature by Brian M. Clarke.

some information taken from the fall issue of Midnight Graffitti (Midnight Graffiti Publishing) article Dinosaurs Attack! by James Van Hise in #04 (Fall 1989).

36 Swamp Thing text introduction (uncredited); a: Bernie Wrightson.

r: interior panel from Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

37 Swamp Thing Dark Genesis!, cont., w: Len Wein; a: Berni Wrightson, colouring by Tatjana Wood.

r: Swamp Thing (DC Comics) vol.1 #01 (Oct 1972-Nov 1972).

46 Sky the Colour of Static! text feature by Jay Taylor.

r: covers from Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson, Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling, Count Zero by William Gibson, Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling, mirrorshades ed. by Bruce Sterling, and Neuromancer by William Gibson.

48 Wasteland text introduction (uncredited); a: William Messner-Loebs.

r: interior panel from Wasteland (DC Comics) #08 (Jul 1988).

49 The Dead Detective w: John Ostrander; a: William Messner-Loebs, colouring by Lovern Kindzierski.

r: Wasteland (DC Comics) #08 (Jul 1988).

58 The St. Louis Electric Giraffe Caper! w: Del Close & John Ostrander; a: Donald Simpson, colouring by Lovern Kindzierski.

r: Wasteland (DC Comics) #07 (Jun 1988).

67 The Bizarre Detective Chimp text feature by Brian M. Clarke.

Close to the Edge attempts to reshape the traditional letters page, with mixed results. It is interesting to see Viz, Gas, and Brain Damage singled out (among many superficially similar titles) as being immature by one reader (Simon Alison), while praising a title which is in the midst o slowly reprinting the adventures of a walking, talking cabbage. Or is Swampy more like a lettuce? I've never been certain. Answers on a McGill postcard, and all that...

A double-page feature on Dinosaurs Attack! makes mention of both Mars Attacks and Dinosaurs Attack being option for cinematic outings, and (should the continued popularity of dinosaurs proves to be sustainable) a film which might yet appear. The second double-page article is, inexplicably, about the rise of cyberpunk. In an issue which features The Shadow and The Dead Detective it would have made more sense to cover Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, or Raymond Chandler, but that isn't the most obvious problem.

Once again I find myself faced with a title almost impossible to read thanks to poor colour combinations. It isn't difficult to come up with something stylish which doesn't make your readers go blind attempting to read what is written, and (although a minor niggle in the large scheme of things) it is a distracting and unnecessary problem to introduce.

With such a limited display of covers, one might assume that the feature is a slight and frivolous overview. Which this, thankfully, isn't. It would have been nice to see a greater range of covers reproduced, but at least there is a list of important titles, however brief:

RECOMMENDED READING

Iain Bans:            The Wasp Factory
                      Espedair Street
Bruce Sterling:       The Artificial Kid
                      Islands in the Net
                      Involution Ocean
                      Schismatrix
William Gibson:       Neuromancer
                      Count Zero
                      Mona Lisa Overdrive
Greg Bear:            Blood Music
                      Eon
Pat Cadigan:          The Pathosfinder
Bruce Sterling (Ed.): Mirrorshades
                      (The Cyberpunk Anthology)

As mentioned, The Dead Detective, which features a character as-described, isn't as odd or as offbeat as it was presumably hoped to be. It is difficult to determine the purpose of the strip, but the art is fine. The St. Louis Electric Giraffe Caper!, a title dripping with 1970s underground sensibilities, is a very funny strip which, finally, validates the inclusion of material from Wasteland.

Edwin and Angelina Haldern, an elderly couple living in St. Louis, have a giraffe in their garden. Edwin received it after the Parker Brothers Circus went bust, and his wife is thoroughly fed up of the chaos it brings. Despite being promised that the creature will only remain with them a couple of weeks, until Bill Parker can raise capital down South, Angelina decides to visit her sister in Boca Raton until it is gone.

A telegram arrives, stating that Parker has died (and presumably gone to Windy Van Hooten's), leaving Edwin in charge of the giraffe for the foreseeable future. Edwin covers the giraffe in cloths as the weather grows colder, but when it begins to snow he is forced to up his game - improvising with an electric blanket and extension cords, he accidentally electrocutes the animal.

Deciding to cut up the corpse with a chainsaw, and wearing the head of a rabbit costume, Edwin sets to his task - just as his wife returns home...

Brian M. Clarke's look at Detective Chimp doesn't cover much ground, nor compare and contrast the character with similar simians in law-enforcement. While looking at old strips which have an air of being purposefully strange, there really isn't enough development of how the character fits into a long and (even stranger) tradition of creature detectives.

An improvement, though drip-feeding Swamp Thing's story across so many issues means that it is difficult to care about events.

#01

Zone

#03