Customer Reviews

Joker: The Devil's Advocate (Batman)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For people who are fan of the character Joker this is a very good book. It's one of the best books in defining the personality and characterization of the Joker even, both through art as through the story. In a way it's off course a Batman-book but the title rightfully states "Joker: ..." instead of Batman. The story and by far the biggest attention-span focuses on the Joker. Batman is mostly used as a supportive character. Nothing more, nothing less. So from an objective point of view this is not a Batman-book, but a Joker-book, and a good one at it.

Storywise:
The Joker is put on trial, being accused of masterminding the recent spree of "Stamp-Deaths", a period in which several people are found dead carrying the trademark "Joker-smile" after licking stamps of the "Great Comedians Series".
Where the Joker always claimed insanity in previous occassions in court, having him come off with milder punishments, this time he furiously claims to be innocent of these crimes. By this taking the risk of getting the maximum penalty, the death-sentence. He refuses to carry the punishment for crimes he hasn't committed and were executed so amateurish, or so he claims. Obviously the jury finds him guilty and he IS sentenced to death. Once in death-row the Joker is enraged at first, but once he notices the attention he is getting from the outside world he starts to love it ..... more and more.
In the meanwhile Batman has his doubts wether the Joker is guilty or not and starts his own investigation.

Together with "The Killing Joke" this is the book that defines the Joker better than any other Batman (or Batman-related) title and for fans of the character this is a must-have. And I don't say that a lot of times ! (which can be seen proven in my other reviews). Especially look for he scenes which are set in the court-room where they have the Joker communicate brilliantly with his facial expressions instead of words. A big plus for the art there. Also nice is that this book works as a self-contained story so people who are less familiair with the Batman-mythos can enjoy this just as much.

This is easily one of the best takes on the "Batman" mythos I have ever seen. The artwork is crisp and cleanly done, and the storyline is well-handled. It begins with people dying from the Joker's trademark smiley-poison after licking commemorative "Great Comedians" stamps, and the Joker terrorizing postal workers and demanding to know where _his_ stamp is. Upon the Joker's capture, the D.A. decides to go for the death penalty, while the Joker stays his usual unpredictable self; however, he repeatedly denies poisoning the stamps, sneering: "You're looking at the Einstein of crime, lady! Putting poison on some stamps? *snort* _Amateur night in Dixie!" After his conviction, the Joker continues to revel in the attention he's getting, while Batman begins to find disturbing clues that point to the Joker's actual innocence

Really, these two should just get it over with and get married...
SPOILER ALERT -- nothing huge though since the whole story is less about "Is the Joker really going to bite the dust?" (ch-yeah, right) than the overall hamster wheel that is the Batman/Joker relationship.

In "Killing Joke" Batman says to Joker "I've been thinking about you, me. We're going to kill each other aren't we?"

In "Death in The Family" Bruce Wayne thinks to himself, "we've been linked together so long, neither of us truly understanding the bond"

And now comes another chapter, with a twist. After all he's done--crippled Batgirl, killed Jason Todd (one of them, anyway) -- Batman finds himself in the position of having to actually save the monsters' life. He's accused of distributing poison stamps, which translates into premeditated murder, and you can't plead insanity on that (let's remember of course that this is the DC universe law book here, and that the Joker's done dozens of things that could just as easily be construed that way. But then, he'd have been fried in the chair years ago, and what fun would a world without Joker be?)
Against everyone else's wishes -- Gordon, Alfred, the cops, -- Batman solves the murder and gets Jokey off. Reason would dictate that he just wait until the Joker's executed and THEN find the real killer, but as he says to Gordon "It doesn't work that way." Once again, Batman is the iconoclast, going his own way. This only rates three stars because there's not much that has a lasting impact on the reader, unlike KILLING JOKE and DEATH/FAMILY.

There is one poignant sequence featuring Oracle (nee Batgirl) when Batman actually has the gall to ask her to help him in his case. This draws on the suggestion that Joker and Bats really are intertwined in some twisted binary string. Joker is madness and chaos. Batman is rational and intellectual. Yet, Batman uses his rational thinking to preserve the existence of the Joker's madness. To some, Batman's madness may be worse, since it comes cloaked in friendly attire. (Well, you know what I mean...)

Of course, this does go back to the point of KILLING JOKE. Batman will not--cannot--sacrifice his ideals on the altar of the Joker's madness, no matter what. (Ok, so he left him to die in Death in The Family, but he went a little insane after Robin's death. He would later save Joker's life AGAIN in both Hitman #3 and the Legends of the Dark Knight arc "The Demon Laughs")

A good book, get it for [$$] or under if you can.

So withThe Dark Knight coming up so soon and having already achieved classic status, I thought I'd do a tribute to my very favorite comic book villain. The Joker is simultaneously among the most likable and utterly despicable characters ever to grace a work of fiction. While he regularly commits the most grotesque and demonic atrocities on a simple whim, his carefree attitude and capacity for black humor make him a joy to read. He was even more fun when Mark Hammil voiced him for many years beginning with the legendary Batman Animated Series of the 90's following Jack Nicholson's utterly brilliant portrayal of the character in Tim Burton's iconic film Batman. While you can have a true love for this character having never even picked up a comic book in your life, to get to the heart of The Clown Prince of Crime one must go get proverbial ink on their fingers. "The Devil's Advocate" is one of my favorite incarnations of the character and is as revealing as any Joker tale one is likely to read aside from the quintessential volume The Killing Joke (which I may or may not be doing a video review for soon, depending on if I can find the time to shoot it). This story explores the relationship between Batman and Arkham's most deranged resident in a brand new light; with the Caped Crusader attempting to prove his murderous arch-enemy's innocence in time to save his life.

The story begins simply enough; the post office issues a series of commemorative stamps for the greats of comedy. The Joker, offended that he was not included among them, arrives and shoots up the place before being reminded that one must first be dead before being commemorated. Batman and Robin show up, the villain is foiled, case closed. Okay, maybe not. That particular run of stamps comes with an odd little quirk: whoever licks them dies laughing with a disturbingly large permanent fixed grin. Gee, I wonder who could be behind such a thing? The Joker, confident of his ability to pull of an insanity defense (who could argue?) laughs it up all through his court case even as talk of the death penalty swirls. Meanwhile, a couple with a supply of the tainted stamps hatches a plot to extort a large sum from Gotham City. When The Joker is found guilty, he goes berserk shrieking his innocence even after spending the proceedings leering at jurors and having his goons show up at their homes for intimidation. Justice is served, Mr. J gets his first real taste of the big house (he's always been sent to the asylum previously), and everybody is happy, straight arrow Commissioner Gordon included. But one man is not satisfied. The man with the most reason to want Joker gone: The Dark Knight. Convinced that they have the wrong man, Batman ignores an angry Jim Gordon, an apathetic Robin, a wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon (see the aforementioned "Killing Joke"), and even an uncooperative Joker and continues investigating knowing full well that his success would mean unleashing Gotham's most evil villain.

What I like about the best modern Batman stories are the shades of grey where it is hard to determine right from wrong. If anybody in the DC Universe deserves to die, surely it is The Joker, but if leaving the real culprit out on the streets is the alternative, could a true hero just look the other way? The Joker himself is at his psychotic best here, going so far as to bring a "wrongful life" lawsuit against the city for not executing him immediately after the trial. His way of staying in the limelight and going down as a legend rather than rotting away forgotten in prison. He also requests a final confessional with a priest which produces one of the finest laugh-out-loud moments I can recall in a comic book. Batman may have the heavy choices on his hands and his investigation and other subplots really flesh the story out, but make no mistake: this is all about The Joker, and the man proves again and again that he is the most psychologically unbalanced creation of fiction out there, shifting moods like a mountain biker shifts gears. One minute, he's lightheartedly cracking corny jokes, the next he's slamming his head into a desk until his face is covered in blood or sticking a fellow inmate's harmonica in an uncomfortable spot. Nobody ever said the guy was predictable.

As far as Batman/Joker stories are concerned "The Devil's Advocate" is as good as they come. Why this hasn't earned a hardcover re-release like "The Killing Joke" and the brilliantly twisted The Man Who Laughs -which was most likely the primary inspiration for the Joker's latest film incarnation- is beyond me. If you can get access to this comic, I highly recommend it to Batman and Joker fans and anybody who would like to see what the characters are all about. Batman's unflinching integrity and respect for life and Joker's complete disregard for it (even his own) is on full display in this epically personal narrative featuring the two deadly enemies. And the ending? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!

Chuck often gets dismissed as an action writer...if you can "dismiss" someone for putting a lot of action into a *comic book*; another way to say it is that he's one of the masters of the action-packed book. Chuck even states in his "10 Commandments of Comic Book Writing" lecture that his methods won't result in the kind of comic books that will get you Alan Moore-like kudos. Despite all that, with "Devil's Advocate" Chuck produces one of the best analyses of Batman's relationship to the Joker, to justice, and to vigilantism. This is one of the rare comics that could lead to a book club discussion afterward.

Joker's insanity has saved him from the justice system's death penalty, and Batman will not kill him because it is against his morals and his respect for the law. Unfortunately, the end result of such high principles on the part of The State and Batman are that Joker is left alive to murder again and again. He is a mass-murderer and an international menace. With his newest crime, poisoned stamps, he has engaged in a premeditated federal crime and is finally looking at a visit to The Chair.

Except for one small problem: Batman doesn't believe the Joker did it. Is it right or wrong for Joker to finally face long-overdue justice (and be removed from the pool of future Arkham escapees who will commit more murder in the future) if he is innocent of this particular crime?

As a longtime Batman reader, I recently tracked down a copy of this book as an addition to my "library".

The basic idea is compelling enough--Joker is put on death row after being found guilty of a crime he might not have actually committed. All is right with the world, no? Apparently not, in Batman's mind. While he is indeed alone in this train of thinking, Batman believes that the Joker REALLY might not have committed this particular crime...and rather than let him get what's been coming to him for YEARS, Bats goes to work solving the crime himself.

While the angle of "the real killer is still out there and needs to be brought to justice" definitely works, it seems to take the backseat to Batman's desire to prevent the Joker's execution. A strong moral study of the character could indeed be painted out here, with Bruce's deep-rooted opinions on death (leading back to his parents) put on the table; giving a compelling look at the undeserved sympathy the Batman harbors deep down inside for the criminals he brings in.

Unfortunately, Mr. Dixon misses the mark on that one, instead giving us a stubborn Batman whose colleagues (Robin, Alfred, Gordon) simply shrug and follow along at his insistence, despite their own feelings on the matter.

The one angle that works best in this story is Joker's plotline. While the crime he is put away for is silly, especially since "The Dark Knight" recently raised the bar for the character considerably, the real meat here is when the media is hounding the Joker after his sentence is announced, and Mr. J realizes he is now a bona-fide celebrity. This makes for a few entertaining "classic Joker" moments, as he considers more than ever, that every moves he makes is to an audience. This guy could actually not be happier that he is on death row.

Which brings some satisfaction to the story, since Batman's motivations for wanting to save the Joker don't sit quite right. Saving the Joker from execution by proving his "innocence" is exactly the opposite of what the Joker actually WANTS--therefore, the reader is finally able to root for ol' Batsy.

Ultimately, I see no reason why this story merits its own 90 page standalone book (in a hardcover 1st edition, no less!). The creative team here is exactly the same team that was running Detective Comics at the time (Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, circa 1996), and reading through "Devil's Advocate" gave me nothing that couldn't have been divided up into a 3-part arc in Detective. The story and art are simply a snapshot of the standard mid-1990's Batman and co.

The premise of the book is that the Joker has finally crossed the line and can be traced to a crime for which he cannot plead insanity. He is convicted, and given the death penalty. However, the World's Greatest Detective cannot shake the suspiction that this crime is not the work of the Joker.

In an epic crisis of conscience, Batman follows the evidence objectively to find that Joker did not commit the crime. He does so in spite of the fact that the world without the Joker would be a much better place; the Joker is an inhumanly cruel monster. There is one scene in the book in which a priest and Joker are left alone before his execution. Soon, the priest begins screaming in horror. Scared, the guards rush to the cell. The priest is exuding a cold, horrified sweat. The guards asked, what is he doing? The priest answered, "he is confessing!"

What I especially like, however, is the closing dialogue between Joker and Batman. At the end of "Batman: A Death in the Family" Batman watches as Joker falls from a helicopter into the water, presumed dead. He comments: "It looks like things between he and I will end as they usually do- unresolved."

However, in "Devil's Advocate",the plot ends with a dialogue in which,for the first time, Batman appears to have an upper hand in his war against the Joker. One of the disturbing characteristics about the Joker is that he seems unscathed by anything; yet Batman finally did something that seemed to reach even to whatever is left of Joker's soul. I find a closure with this plot that is rare and refreshing. A good, self-contained storyline.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but the art work looks good. The Joker looks much more terrifying with a shaved head with green stubble. Buy it hardcover or softcover either way the story looks good and so does the art.