The Joker’s latest atrocity is a bombing at Arkham Asylum resulting in the deaths of dozens, including Bane (we’ll see how long that sticks), before an escape to Belize. A retired but cash-strapped Jim Gordon is approached by a mysterious woman offering him a fortune to hunt down and kill the Joker. Except he’s not the only one headed to the tropics - others wanting revenge for the Arkham deaths are also after Joker. Will Jim end up killing Joker or saving him?
The storyline isn’t bad - it’s a lot better than the preceding Joker War, which was abysmal - but, as ever, James Tynion IV takes forever to get things moving and the book’s over shortly after it begins, so it’s an unsatisfying first volume.
Yes, Joker’s in the title but Jim Gordon is the main character - this is always the case though. No Joker book has him as the lead, he’s always lurking in the background, causing all the things that propel the plot forward, and that’s fine - it’s to be expected and should always be the case with this character.
But we know Gordon takes the job because there’d be no story otherwise, which is why it’s dismaying that he doesn’t land in Belize until the third issue. This book is also basically four issues long because the Matthew Rosenberg (with Tynion)/Francesco Francavilla fifth issue is a flashback and the two add-ons are previously published stories from other Batman books wherein Joker tells Bane he’s disappointed in him for how the City of Bane storyline played out, and another which is the postscript to Joker War/prelude to this spin-off, which should probably have been put at the front of the book rather than be the closer. All are pointless filler comics.
Guillem March’s art is fine throughout with the occasional standout page, like the warped Joker leering at Gordon as he stands over his son’s grave. Tynion writes Joker’s voice well and he’s hooked me - I do want to find out what happens next - it’s just a shame that he took so long to set up the actual story and that we’re given so little in this first book.
The Joker, Volume 1 is an underwhelming and weak start to a potentially decent Joker series - don’t expect much with this first book and maybe even wait until the omnibus which will probably collect the whole storyline so you’re not left hanging.
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