The Joke's On Them!
The Joker series continues and now we know that while the Joker is the title character of this book, this is mostly a Jim Gordon joint and our main plot is about the former Commissioner hunting down the Clown Prince of Crime for some mysterious benefactor. Let's jump into this issue and see if the intrigue continues as we learn more about what Jim Gordon will do with this proposition and if he will in fact kill the Joker when he finds him. Let's check it out.
For this issue, we see the nitty-gritty of Jim Gordon's decisions in hunting down the Joker and his thought process in whether or not he'd actually be able to end the Clown Prince of Crime's life. This issue takes us down the road of how Jim will achieve his goals and what bridges he might have to burn if he goes through with it because beyond getting all the money he needs for the job and a private jet to get him there from his mysterious benefactor, Cressida, Jim knows that he's going to need Batman's help with not only with information that Batman's kept on the Joker but in case things go completely sideways in the field and old Jimmy Boy needs some backup. On top of really fleshing out Jim's plan's or what he thinks are his plans, there are bold revelations in this issue that will make you step back for a moment and wonder if it makes sense but as soon as you do this the book continues to set your worries at ease and I appreciate the hell out of that aspect.
On top of the main Joker story doing a lot of its heavy lifting for this issue that gets the story and the stakes going, not to mention setting up a whole mess of obstacles in Jim Gordon's way, we also have a Punchline back up and while I wish we could actually do more with the story each time that it shows up, I do like the way it's going, but it's splitting its time between Punchline in prison, tangling with the Royal Flush Gang and Blue Bird trying to get into who Punchline was when she was simply Alexis Kaye and while I like both of these aspects, you get so little of both since this is only a backup story. It's good though and I want more I just wish it had its own mini or maxi-series to do it.
All in all, I'm really digging the direction of this book and everything its doing because on top of expanding the Joker War story and what we're doing currently in Gotham with A-Day, we're expanding on Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon, and a whole mess of baddies that just want to see the Joker dead and ultimately, it's pretty fun to watch it unfold and imagine what hell the Joker is going to rain down on these people and vice versa. The art is great throughout both the main story and the backup and my biggest concern coming out of this book is that I'm hoping that we're not jam-packing this series with too much too soon because I like the pace so far and I hope that it remains.
Bits and Pieces:
The Joker series, where Jim Gordon is the main character continues to be a special kind of book that defies all expectations about what you thought it would be or where you thought it would go. The story is entertaining, deep and ultimately, the weakest part of this book is the Joker himself and even though his name is on the cover, he has very little to do here. I'm really enjoying this book and the backup and the art is great throughout.
Great review. I'm really surprised at how good this book is. I'm really invested in this journey Gordon is on.
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