The Venice Film Festival, the box office and soon the Oscars? Joker , Todd Philipps' event film retracing the origins of Batman's most famous enemy, has won over critics and the public since its release. Proof, if it was necessary, that this character appeared for the first time in 1940 continues to fascinate. As crazy as it is terrifying, the Joker has inspired many writers and designers over the years. So, to extend the film, Europe 1 has selected the best comics featuring the Clown Prince of Crime *.
Everything, you'll know everything about the Joker
The stories of the Joker are scattered among those, many, of Batman. Not easy to navigate. So the ideal, to get started, is Joker - Anthology , published by Urban Comics. As the name suggests, it is a compilation of 17 short stories of the Prince of Crime Clown. From its first appearance in 1940 to revisited versions of recent years, through the censorship period of the 50s and 60s, you will know everything about the Joker. Embellished with introductory texts that put each story in context, this very complete anthology (more than 350 pages) pecks with pleasure.
The man who Laughs
A good story to start if you are not familiar with comics and / or the Joker. In 2005, Ed Brubaker and Doug Manhke rewrite the first Joker adventure. The title, The Man Who Laughs , pays tribute to the eponymous novel by Victor Hugo, whose adaptation to film inspired in 1940 the creators of Batman the character of the Joker. There is a beginner Batman, who is just starting to work with the police, including Captain Jim Gordon.
The story is an intertwining of monologues of the policeman and the vigilante, on the trail of a mysterious criminal disguised as a clown. The Joker sows terror in Gotham by attacking the rich and powerful. In his wake, he leaves corpses with their faces frozen in a final grin. The laughing man is an effective comic-book that places the stakes of the relationship between Batman and his eternal enemy. The edition of Urban Comics also has a second exciting story that leaves Batman aside to follow a group of policemen facing a Joker more diabolical than ever.
Killing Joke
If Killing Joke is a comic Batman stamped, in reality it is first of all a very big story of the Joker. The best in fact, in the opinion of all specialists. In only 46 pages, Alan Moore and Brian Bolland have achieved a tour de force: to tell a story original and striking, while returning, thanks to clever flashbacks, on the origins of the Joker as comic missed. This double narrative features a Joker who will work to demonstrate that it only takes a bad day to become as crazy as him. Thus, he will attack the most honest man, Commissioner Gordon, to try to crack him.
Released in 1986, in full reinvention of Batman, Killing Joke forever changed the design of the Joker. Despite its small number of pages, this is the comic book that best describes their toxic relationship. With a fine writing and beautiful drawings, the authors transcribe like nobody the tango macabre that the Black Knight and his nemesis indulge. So fascinating that we have only one desire: to re-read again and again this masterpiece. In short, whether we like comics or not, we must read Killing Joke .
Mourning the family
Once you have apprehended the universe of Batman and the Joker, strewn with enemies and secondary allies but also arches scripted and modified over time, you will be ripe to attack the mourning of the family . Far, far from the funny clown, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, authors of many Batman stories, depict the Joker in his most terrifying, literal sense: the Prince of Crime wears his face, cut from a previous story, like a mask.
The Joker has never been so crazy as in this very dark, published story. Determined to take revenge on Batman, Gotham's number one enemy will trap all his allies and prepare a grisly surprise for the Black Knight. Mourning the family (not to be confused with Mourning in the family , another great Joker story that you can add to your list) is the opportunity to meet many allies (Robin, Bat-Girl, Nightwing) and enemies (Double-Face, the Penguin ...) Batman, until an unforgettable end.
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White Knight
And if the Joker was the good guy and Batman the bad guy? This is the original postulate of this reinterpretation of the myth signed Sean Murphy. Cured of his madness by a mysterious drug, the Joker becomes Jack Napier again, and manages to be absolved of his crimes. What destabilize Batman, who does not believe in the theory of redemption. Without landmarks, the Black Knight sinks into a spiral of violence while the Joker, become the White Knight of Gotham, campaigns to get elected and discredits the bat man.
Released only in 2018, White Knight is proof that the Joker is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for screenwriters. In eight chapters, Sean Murphy offers an innovative and compelling story, served by drawings of great finesse. He uses Batman's bestiary wonderfully to endanger the hero and especially offers the Joker a dual role. The worst thing is that we would almost take up the cause for Jack Napier!
The choice of François Hercouët, editorial director of Urban Comics
As a connoisseur of Batman and the Joker, as he publishes their adventures in France, François Hercouët recommends him to read Mad Love , a comic taken from the animated Batman series of 1992, written by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm: "C is a story told from the point of view of Harley Quinn, the Joker's girlfriend.Through her look, we observe the toxic relationship between Batman and the Joker, a relationship she experiences because she is in love with the Joker but her 'Monsieur J' only has eyes for the Black Knight, a love triangle that is both funny and tragic, drawing is cartoon and a good gateway to the Joker universe. "
* All comic books are available from Urban Comics