Cosmo Digital

The Good: Interesting take on The Joker's mind; great use of Harley Quinn; ties in well with Arkham Asylum and The Killing Joke; some clever moments.

The Bad: Too many metaphors; unconventional computer-based artwork;


The Joker is generally my favorite comic villain, and I make the point to purchase any new comic with him in it. My anticipation for this issue of Batman had reached something akin to a fever pitch, as it promised the apocalyptic return of the Joker. This excitement was slightly tinged with fear, for I had previously read Batman #655, where author Grant Morrison had the Joker going the full-fledged psycho route before being shot in the head and thrown into a dumpster by Batman. I therefore had high hopes as I bought this issue, but some reservations as well.

The immediate feature of this comic is its unconventional format; both in text and artwork. The majority of each page is covered in lengthy exposition, in a similar format to the classic Batman story "Death Strikes At Midnight and Three" written by Denny O'Neil in 1978. Also similar to that story is the significance of midnight, which is featured in the title: "The Clown at Midnight", as well as serving as a recurring symbol throughout the tale. This text, although lengthy, provides an excellent break from the traditional comic book panels. The only downfall with this, however, is Morrison's elaborate, overwrought prose that is full of various metaphors. There are so many of these that they actually impair reading comprehension, and I found myself having to read some sentences two or three times to understand what was really happening. In some places this text becomes so bombastic that it reads like H.P. Lovecraft on a bad day.

Some minor issues with the text aside, my largest gripe with this issue is the artwork. Instead of having conventional pencil drawings, this issue experiments with computer generated graphics sparsely placed throughout the text. Some of these graphics are very good; I have included a few of my choice favorites within this article. However, for every excellent, atmospheric or artistic image, there are several that look as if they were ripped out of a screenshot for a bad Batman video game. This becomes most apparent during character close ups, especially with the dwarfs Solomon and Sheba, who look like slightly deformed alien babies. However, all the characters look like their bodies are posed and unnatural, and ultimately detract from the storyline.

The story itself has many good moments. I particularly liked the clever way in which Joker freed himself by spitting poison in the face of a guard. Escape methods such as this are far better than the old "secret escape tunnel" utilized in so many other issues. While this story was mainly about the Joker's psyche, characters such as Harley Quinn got a chance to shine as well. In my review of Detective Comics #826 (which also featured The Joker) I lamented the absence of Harley. She is a major character in this story, and still is blind with love for The Joker. Notably, the latter few pages of this issue deal with her constant love for The Joker, a fitting theme as this issue was released on Valentine's Day.

Regardless of my problems with the artwork, the story is pretty good. It provides an interesting take on the Joker's mind, with him on the verge of reinventing himself with a new persona. In some ways this plot harkens back to the story "Case Study" written by Paul Dini and published in Batman: Black and White volume 2, where Harley Quinn has a theory that the Joker simply assumes a new persona in order to get away with crimes. While there are many differences ("Case Study" presented The Joker as sane, while this issue clearly does not), the recurrence of this idea is interesting to note, both here and with Morrison's other Joker tale, Arkham Asylum.

No review of this issue could be complete without at least mentioning how this ties in with two other major Joker issues: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth written by Morrison in 1989, and The Killing Joke written by Alan Moore in 1988. There are a vast amount of similarities to Arkham Asylum, including even the unconventional artwork and a crossdressing Joker. (Morrison's original plans for Arkham Asylum had The Joker dressing in fishnet stockings and stilettos) In both tales, the Joker has no personal identity, and can take on any persona that fits him. Both tales are full of symbolism and metaphors, and both deal with the interactions between Batman, The Joker, and Arkham Asylum. I would almost regard these two tales as each side of a pair: the first story exploring Batman's mind, and the second story exploring The Joker's.

This issue also ties in very well with The Killing Joke. I noticed how this story begins and ends with a description of the rain; the same occurs in Killing Joke. A couple pages are also devoted to discussing the relationship between Batman and The Joker, which Killing Joke was all about. I did enjoy the fact that this relationship reflects my own views I described within my article on the Joker. These references helps this issue to tie in very well with these landmark issues, and subsequently increases its importance within the comic canon. Did this issue meet any of my four criteria on how to make The Joker's character great? To put it short, no. But this issue generally succeeds regardless of that, since it is an examination of The Joker's mental state rather than have him running around randomly killing people.

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