I have to admit, when I first saw that we were getting a Joker comic series I wasn't very excited by it. Whilst I like the Joker as a villain I think that he's a character best used sparingly, and one who I don't want to know much about. I don't want to see how he puts his plans together, what he does when he's not tormenting Gotham, and I certainly don't want a concrete origin for the character. As such, I was worried about what the Joker series was going to be. I didn't need to be worried, however, as whilst the book has the name Joker, it's really Jim Gordon's story.
Whilst the Jokers presence is felt throughout, as a spectre that's haunting Gordon, he's only in one single page of the book. Instead we follow the former Police Commissioner as he navigates his retirement in Gotham City in the wake of the latest attack on Arkham Asylum, as seen in Infinite Frontier #0, an attack that has left hundreds dead and is being called A-Day.
With the attack having involved massive amounts of modified Joker Toxin, it's assumed that the clown is behind the event; yet there has been no sign of him since. Neither the authorities, or Batman, have been able to find any sign of him. When Gordon is approached by a mysterious young woman she claims to know the Joker's whereabouts, and offers Gordon $25 million to find him, and kill him.
Thus the book presents both the audience and Gordon with it's big moral question, would it be the right thing to kill the Joker? We've all seen him being taken down by Batman time and again, locked away in Arkham multiple times; yet he always comes back, and people always die. This isn't the first time that this kind of question has been raised, that it might be safer for everyone if certain villains were simply killed, but it's a line that heroes vow never to cross. Yet Gordon isn't a hero, he's just a man; and a man who has suffered at the hands of the Joker.
We see throughout the issue that Gordon is a man who has been deeply affected by the things that have taken place in his past, that every night he dreams of the Joker, that he hears the laughter whenever he closes his eyes, that his relationship with his daughter has been forever changed by what the Joker did to her, and how he will always be mourning the son the Joker used and killed. He's a decent man who has had to suffer through more than anyone should, who has suffered, and watched his family suffer, yet has never given in and crossed the line. But will he keep to his morals, or will he finally admit to himself that the Joker is simply too dangerous to live?
There's no indication in this first issue as to whether Gordon will try to capture the Joker, or if he's going to set out to kill him, and that question is hugely interesting. It's clear that Gordon is going after the villain one way or another, there wouldn't really be a comic otherwise, but I honestly don't know what to expect his goal to be; and I'm not sure I'd blame him if he actually did try to kill the Joker.
With so many of the books set in Gotham being centred around brightly costumed heroes and villains, with action taking place on rooftops high above the city, or in advanced secret bases, it's nice to see a much more grounded tale, one that follows the regular people of the city. Joker #1 feels like a very human story.
The book also features a back-up story that focuses on the trial of Punchline, following the prosecution team as they try to gather evidence against her as public support grows, as well as getting to see Punchline throwing her weight around whist behind bars. Much like the main story, it centres on the regular people involved, keeping the action on the streets, and seeing how the events are affecting regular people in Gotham.
Joker #1 was one of the more enjoyable surprises of Infinite Frontier, a book that I was expecting to not enjoy, but ended up absolutely loving. If the story continues to keep its focus on Gordon, if it continues to explore the trauma that he has endured at the hands of the Joker, I think that this is going to be one of the more exciting and engaging stories to involve the clown prince of crime.
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