“The Joker” #1

Steadily since the late 1980s, the Joker has become the most prominent villain in Batman’s rogues gallery. While always one of the major foes for the Caped Crusader, the character has transcended the status of not just any Bat-villain, but perhaps any antagonist in comics, period. This has also led to a situation where each subsequent generation of creators has attempted to make him darker and more complex than the last, leading to a character that not only feels diametrically opposed to its earlier versions, but also one that is so focused on being ‘twisted’ that the characterization limits the types of stories that can be told with him.

All of that is preamble to say that James Tynion IV and Guillem March reject much of that and, to a real degree, even reject the idea of the Joker being the lead of this title. Despite the name on the trade dress, this is a Jim Gordon comic, and it’s a damn good one at that.

Be warned, some minor spoilers follow.

Cover by Guillem March

Written by James Tynion IV and Sam Johns
Illustrated by Guillem March and Mirka Andolfo
Colored by Arif Prianto and Romulo Fajardo Jr
Lettered by Tom Napolitano and Ariana Maher

Following the events of Infinite Frontier #1, The Joker is the most wanted man in the world! But the Clown Prince of Crime is several steps ahead of law enforcement-and he’s on the run overseas. James Gordon, facing retirement, realizes this is the manhunt of his life and the last piece of a storied career…but what mysterious and deadly forces are also in pursuit of The Joker?

And in the backup story, following the events of the smash hit Punchline #1, DC’s most controversial new villain navigates the infrastructure of Blackgate Penitentiary-while on the outside, Harper Row takes up the mantle of Bluebird to stop her brother from falling under Punchline’s influence.

It’s sort of amazing that there’s never been an ongoing series set around Jim Gordon. Introduced in the same issue as Batman himself, the character has been a constant in Gotham for 80 years, and characters of similar stature – Jimmy Olsen, say – have had multiple books bearing their name. The simplest explanation for this is that Gordon has always been a foil to Batman, not just as a supporting character, but as a funhouse mirror to what Batman may have been, or could be, if things were different. Batman works outside the law; Gordon is the law.

And so, to give Gordon his own series, there needs to be a separation from the mission of Batman in a fundamental way that allows the reader to not simply be asking, ‘why isn’t Batman here?’ the entire time. Framing this series around the Joker seemingly shoots itself in the foot in that regard, as you can’t help but think of Batman along with the Joker. But that is where the genius of this title really presents itself.

Guillem March illustrates the book through the lens of it being a book about the Joker, even if he barely appears in the book outside the cover. March follows in the tradition of Bat-artists like Kelley Jones who emphasize the horror elements in the book. Even pages when Gordon is having a drink with a coworker or looking in the mirror have elements of surrealism and psychedelia, but not in a playful way. Gordon sees the Joker in unexpected places, and he’s always disfigured or stretched to bizarre proportions, appearing as a hovering specter or, when visiting his son’s grave, an almost deflated Macy’s Parade balloon. Whenever you see the Joker through Gordon’s eyes, he’s become something more than a man.

March’s Gordon attempts to keep himself together, but whether sleeping in the fetal position or showing the shadows across his face, there is a fragility, darkness, and edge to March’s Gordon that we’ve never really seen before. Sure, the character has always walked around with a certain sadness, but March’s iteration takes the interior life of Gordon and puts it, sometimes quite literally, on his face.

It is that visual setting that Tynion is then able to build upon with his script, which sets Gordon on a path to hunt the Joker in a way that is both outside the law and somehow perfectly in line with Gordon’s character. The premise, simply told, doesn’t seem like something that makes a ton of sense for Gordon, but Tynion’s understanding of not just the characters, but of the world in which they inhabit, sells it extraordinarily well.

One of the more interesting elements of this “The Joker” #1 is that it tries to draw an identity for Gordon outside of being a police officer. It uses his time on the force as an important piece of him, but it attempts to give him motivation outside of his career. If we don’t know Gordon as a cop, we know him as a father, and this issue uses his fatherhood as his primary motivation, not his career. It makes his decisions seem, if not logical, than certainly understandable. Throw in a healthy dose of skepticism at the institution of the police and, specifically, how we take care of those who serve in the police force after their days on duty.

In the backup, Tynion, co-writer Sam Johns, and artist Mirka Andolfo pull off a similar trick in that, while titled “Punchline,” the story is actually a Harper Row/Bluebird story. Row, though not created by Tynion, has been manly written by Tynion in the “Batman Eternal” and “Batman and Robin Eternal” series, and is one of a bevy of fun female characters in Gotham that has been dusted off after some inactivity. By acting as Leslie Thompkins’s protege, she is able to be present for the trial of Punchline, but also investigate Punchline’s pre-fame activities as Bluebird.

Andolfo’s artwork is so incredibly different than March’s, and fits Row as a character nicely. Andolfo’s art is full of optimism and hope, which echoes Row, and gives Gotham a very different tone. Just as the Gordon pages reflect a man haunted by his past, the Row pages show someone who wants to make a difference and improve her city.

The backup is a bit slight, but does the work of reminding the readers of all of the important pieces of the characters. It looks like Punchline, Thompkins, Harper, and her brother Cullen will be the focus of the backup, and this brief introduction gives us an update on all four them.

For a book that is, ostensibly, about villainy, “The Joker’ #1 reinforces the spectrum of heroism that exists in Gotham. We see avenues legal, police, and vigilante all taken in hopes of making average people’s lives better. While the most effective one may be the least appealing, Tynion, March, and co have taken an unexpected, and successful, path through a Joker comic.

Final Verdict: 8.5 – In ways that it never could if it was 20 pages of the Joker being evil, “The Joker” #1 gives context to Gotham’s most deadly and, yes, twisted criminal.