Joker: Last Laugh #2

TITLE: Joker: Last Laugh #2

PUBLISHER: DC

COVER DATE: December 2001

COVER PRICE: $2.95

30 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

As I said yesterday, this mini-series is a virtual blank slate to me, even though I bought the first issue when it came out. I never bought the rest of the series, so I'm not even sure if I ever read the one that I did buy.

In the interest of giving you something to read before we get into the blow-by-blow of the issue, I looked this series up on comicbookdb.com and found a decent sized list of creators involved that now has me slightly intrigued.

The first issue of this series was pencilled by Pete Woods. Here's a guy who didn't really knock my socks off when he was pencilling the Up, Up and Away storyline in the Superman books for the One Year Later stunt. It wasn't until the end of the eight part storyline did I appreciate his style, and now I find myself looking forward to him sticking around the Superman stable of books for as long as he wants to.

Rick Burchett pencilled the last issue of this series. In contrast to Pete Woods, Rick is a creator I've been following since his work on the Impact line of books from the 90's. He's got a great clean and simple line style that made him a perfect fit for the Batman Adventures books, but I'll take his regular DCU work whenever I can get it.

And then of course, there's Marcos Martin, who pencils this issue. I'm seriously tempted to seek out the rest of this series, so let's find out if it's any good.

Joker: Last Laugh Part Two: Siege Mentality

• Writers: Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty
• Pencils: Marcos Martin
• Inks: Mark Farmer & Alvaro Lopez
• Colors: Tom McCraw
• Separations: Digital Chameleon
• Letters: Willie Schubert
• Assistant Editor: Nachie Castro
• Editor: Matt Idelson

Oracle sits in her computer bunker, going over footage of the Joker leading a riot at The Slab. She's on the line with Nightwing as they review the last few moments of security camera footage she had before Joker cut the feed. It shows Black Canary getting pummeled by a variety of Joker-ized villains. Oracle beats herself up over the fact that she took her eye off of the Joker, but Nightwing assures her that it's not her fault as he heads to the Slab to try to stop him.

The Joker meanwhile, is stirring the pot, so to speak, as he casts a trio of fellow supervillains into the body of Chemo. It's not entirely clear what he's up to yet, but I imagine we'll find out soon enough.

We cut to the head of security for the Slab, Norman Shilo (a.k.a. Mister Miracle III), who is trapped in the lower bowels of the prison with a S.T.A.R. Marshall that we've actually encountered previously here at the Random Longbox. They're on their way to block off an undersea tunnel to prevent any villains escaping when they get ambushed by a group of water-themed villains.

On a different level of the prison, Nightwing finally makes his way inside and it's not too long before he comes across the bodies of the Justice League, defeated and strewn across the floor. A semi-conscious Wonder Woman warns Nightwing to be careful, but it's too late as Bat-Mite (yes, Bat-Mite!) emerges from the shadows and begins to fight with him.

Luckily for Nightwing, Batman is soon on the scene and he recognizes the situation for what it was. Lady Mastermind was messing with Nightwing's head and creating the illusion of the Justice League and Bat-Mite. One quick sucker-punch later and she's out for the count.

Together, they find the near comatose body of Black Canary as they come to the realization that the Joker has already escaped and this has all been one big distraction. For what, they don't know yet.

As the Joker exits the undersea tunnel that Shilo attempted to seal off earlier, he gives the signal to a couple of super-villains still left behind to start the destruction of the prison. Neutron and Black Mass both detonate, which causes a localized black hole that begins to suck the prison in on itself from the inside.

Batman and Nightwing make it to the roof of the prison just in time to use their grappling hooks to snare Blue Beetle's floating bug ship and pull themselves to safety.

It's just a moment's respite, however, as they still have the ever widening gravity well of the black hole to consider. It's not too long before the entire prison is sucked in, leaving a gaping, sucking hole in the ocean.

Black Canary begins to regain consciousness, and clues Batman into the fact that the Joker is more dangerous than ever before. He's dying of an inoperable tumor, so all bet's are off.

The unpredictable just got more unpredictable.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN

I think we learned that I obviously didn't give this series a fair shake back in 2001, as I really enjoyed this issue. It's not high art, nor does it attempt to reinvent the comic book format. What it does do, however, it does really well...and that's tell an entertaining super-hero yarn. At the end of the day, you can usually rely on Chuck Dixon for that much, especially when he's playing in the Batman books.

The story is pretty basic, as it's just a supervillain starting a riot and escaping form prison who ends up playing a cat and mouse game with Batman and friends. What makes this book entertaining is the little twist that Dixon and Beatty give to the Joker. His impending death gives an extra edge of unpredictability to his insanity that is going to be fun to see Batman deal with.

The real highlight of this book is the fantastic artwork of Marcos Martin. He's not inking himself here, and there are actually two different inkers on this issue, so the issue does look a little overworked in spots. It's missing the airy and simplicity of his later work that I'm used to, but don't get me wrong, this is still a beautiful issue.

One of the inkers is Mark Farmer, who meshes really well with Martin's pencils. He definitely softens up the linework a little, and there was actually a couple of times I thought I was looking at Alan Davis' work.

The fact that this issue is thirty pages means that we have a lot of good stuff to look at. More good stuff than I was able to work into the recap, as a matter of fact. Seeing as how Martin was the star of this issue, let's take another look at some cool panels that I couldn't work into my review earlier.

See? There was just too much good stuff there to let it go to waste.

It's issues like this that make doing this blog so much fun. I can pretty much tell you that I probably never would've gotten around to reading this issue if it wasn't randomly picked for me. If I can come across an unexpected surprise like this one every now and again, I'll be a happy blogger.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Hopefully something will be here one of these days
• The Dixonverse
• Awesome interview with Marcos Martin from The Beat

Action Comics Weekly #642

Sorry for the lax posting of late, but helping the wife sell her art at Oddmall over the weekend took precedence. Then couple that with a 24 hour flu virus that came and went like the Juggernaut, and that had me paying more attention to the porcelain bowl than to the posting of what I'm sure would have been some nonsense blog ramblings.

What I really need is a nice little inspirational story about Green Lantern finding the willpower to get back up and fight the good fight, so without further ado...


TITLE: Action Comics Weekly #642

PUBLISHER: DC

COVER DATE: March 1989

COVER PRICE: $1.50

38 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

When this title went weekly, I was knee deep in my Marvel zombie phase and it would still be a couple of years before I started reading Superman on a regular basis. That means that I don't recall much about this title originally. Even after I completed my collection, most of these stories remain unread. I went through and read the entirety of the two-page Superman strips, but I can't recall if I read this one or not. I guess we'll find out.

One of the things I did find interesting in doing a little research was that Neil Gaiman was originally solicited to write this issue, but was unwilling to change some key story points that didn't match up to the current status quo. It would appear his story had Superman and Green Lantern knowing each other's secret identities, but this didn't quite line up with the Byrne relaunch and it would later go on to be released out of continuity. This would have been right around the time that Sandman was starting up, and hindsight being twenty/twenty I'm so glad he took the path he did. Whether or not the problem with this issue had anything to do with it, I couldn't say.

We may have lost out on a nice little Neil Gaiman story, but we do have an excellent consolation prize with the artists that are featured in this story. I think it's time to dig in and give our eyes a treat.

"Where There Is A Will...!"

• Writer: Elliot S. Maggin
• Art: Gil Kane, Steve Ditko and Art Thibert, Jim Aparo and John Nyberg, Curt Swan and Ty Templeton, Jim Mooney and Akin and Garvey, Carmine Infantino and Kevin Nowlan
• Colors: Glenn Whitmore
• Letters: John E. Workman, Jr.
• Editor: Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn

The first page in and I'm getting a big sense of deja vu. Isn't this the same opening that was used on the last issue of Action Comics Weekly that we reviewed here? So we're back to the death of Abin Sur and the selection of the next Green Lantern of sector 2814 about to begin.

This particular version has Abin Sur's ring bringing Clark Kent to the crashed ship. There, Abin Sur asks Clark to look at several candidates to help him decide who should bear the ring next. This seems like a ham-handed attempt to tie Clark Kent and Hal Jordan together from the very beginning. This also flies in the face of the origin story that was told in this title not one year ago.

Come to think of it, how this re-imagining of Clark and Hal's relationship was more palatable than Clark and Hal knowing each other's secret identity seems strange to me. But it's early in the story, so let's see where things go next.

The opening scene is drawn by Gil Kane, but it's relatively short and he never does get much of a chance to show off his storytelling skills. Steve Ditko gets the next chapter, which has a bit more action as we catch up with Hal Jordan in present day returning to the salt flats of Utah to track down nuclear smugglers.

Hal tracks down where the fissionable nuclear material is being smuggled from and attempts to shut it down. It turns out that it's in the middle of a federal base. The nerve of these smugglers, stealing our good nuclear stuff right under our very noses.

Luckily for Hal, Major Easterly is soon on the scene.

Unluckily for Hal, he is placed under arrest for violations of security clearances too many to mention. In a very un-Hal Jordan-like move, he decides to play along for now and let himself be taken into custody.

While being escorted off base, he notices the very same soldiers that have detained him are the same ones loading the smuggled nuclear material onto the helicopter.

I think someone's seen Casablanca one too many times, not including me!

Hal has finally seen too much and takes it upon himself to end this charade. While attempting to stop the helicopter from taking off with the nuclear material, he gets shot point blank in the chest. Falling to the same desert sands where Abin Sur died, the ring begins the process of find a new successor.

Over the next eight pages we are shown the ring in the process of finding men without fear to take over the for the gravely injured Hal Jordan.

Among the collection of everyday heroes are Clark Kent, Guy Gardner, Nightwing, and Deadman in the body of a mugger. While Jordan lies unconscious, straggling the line between life and death, he weighs his different options. He can refuse a successor and finish his fight, or he can let go and just be done with it all.

Deadman takes the roll of devil, while Clark takes on the roll of angel. Both try their best to convince Hal on the most honorable path to take, but it's only after a third entity appears that Jordan finds the will to do what is right.

And who was that third entity?

It was none other than the ghost of Abin Sur made manifest by his ring. He goes on to tell Hal that his self-doubt is a gift and should be embraced as it makes him all the more powerful. I'm assuming that the core of Green Lantern's storyarc in this title has been one of self doubt, as we haven't really seen that displayed in this issue but everyone seems to be making a big deal of it now.

Realizing that Abin Sur was right, Hal fires up the battery and recites the oath that powers the Green Lanterns. The Green Lantern is back!

With his new found willpower back in action, he dismisses all of the candidates for his replacement that the ring had summoned and starts to track down the officer who was trafficking in smuggled nuclear material.

Hal Jordan is not the only one who has benefited from his realization, as each of the people once considered for his replacement are imbued with a small amount of the green light. When they are returned to the moment from when they were taken, they each use the green light in their own fashion to help the downtrodden and fight the good fight.

It doesn't take Green Lantern long to catch up to the major, and it takes him even less time to bring the helicopter down and stop the smuggling ring. Determined to play this one by the books, Jordan's next stop is to the Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court. There he lays his belief in the law on the line. With Jordan's backing, the judge decides that he might just be able to put this crooked officer away for good.

Finally, we get an epilogue of sorts with Clark Kent and Deadman. It seems that Deadman is unhappy that he was not able to convince Clark on the benefits of the afterlife. He's still got some convincing to do however, as Clark blows him off. Deadman finally gives up, and leaves "Action" to Superman. Wink, wink!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

For some reason, I've always kind of associated Green Lantern and Iron Man together. I'm not really sure why, but it could have something to do with this. Or maybe it was the fact that they both went bad about the same time.

So what does my analogy have to do with the issue we just reviewed?

It turns out that I have another reason to believe they were separated at birth...the always changing origin story. Every 5 or 10 years or so, we seem to get another updated Iron Man origin, taking him from Viet Nam to whatever military conflict that happened in the recent past.

With Green Lantern, it now seems that the how and why of Abin's death and Hal Jordan birth as Green Lantern seems to change almost as much. Different characters and motivations seem to be weaved through the story to suit whatever angle a particular writer wished to explore. Although with the depth of work that Geoff Johns has recently done on that part of the Green Lantern mythos, I'd be surprised if it changed again anytime soon.

With that being said, I can see what Maggin was trying to do here, but it never quite came together in one cohesive package. For one thing, it was just way too long. I was merciful and recapped about 20 pages of story in just a couple of lines. If you're a glutton for punishment, you can read the whole issue and get exposed to at least a couple of pages of each character that the ring chose as a successor both before and after they were brought to the salt flats. For everyone else, Superman and Deadman make the case for Green Lanterns crisis of conscience more succinctly and entertaining than seeing the same thing happen eight times in a row.

The different vignettes did allow for some interesting artistic style to interplay with each other, which ended up being the high point of this issue. My personal favorite being the Steve Ditko/Art Thibert pairing. I was also looking forward to the Carmine Infantino/Kevin Nowlan pairing, but it ended up being a combination that sounded better than it ended up looking.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Nightwing and Speedy...starring in Action Comics Weekly #614

Cruising right along, here's part three of our look at Action Comics Weekly #614.

If you missed either of the first two parts, click along for Green Lantern or The Phantom Stranger. So now that every one's caught up, let's get moving...

First Blood

• Writer: Marv Wolfman
• Penciller: Chuck Patton
• Inker: Tom Poston
Letterer: Albert DeGuzman
• Colorist: Adrienne Roy
• Editor: Barbara Kesel

Look kids!

Big Ben! Parliament!

That's right everybody, we're in England and it seems that Nightwing and Speedy are playing bodyguard to the ambassador who has received several death threats. He's none to happy about the capes following him, but Nightwing is nothing if not a professional and he will do his job.

And being the professional that he is, he notices a glint coming from the top of Big Ben and instantly recognizes it as a sniper attack. He shoves the ambassador out of the way and hollers out to Speedy, who is already taking aim.

I confess that this is probably the first ever story that I've read with Speedy when he was Speedy (as opposed to Red Arrow or Arsenal), but I had no idea he was that good. I know there is this thing called suspension of disbelief, but we're supposed to believe that the he lands a perfect bullseye into the barrel of the snipers rifle from the ground? That's some serious skill.

The sniper turns out to be Speedy's ex-lover and mother of his child, an assassin by the name of Chesire. That explains the perfect shot, as he was aiming for his his ex! Rushing headlong to capture her, Speedy gets his butt handed to him, only to have Nightwing rush to his defense.

Nightwing proves he's got the skills to take her down, but Cheshire plays dirty and tosses a grenade into a crown of onlookers. Nightwing goes for the safe play and saves the citizens, knowing full well that Cheshire is now gone.

Roy and Dick lick their wounds back at their hotel, as Roy reminisces about how he and Cheshire hooked up. After he kicked his heroin habit, Roy decides the best thing for him to do is work undercover in the C.B.I.'s drug trafficking division. Makes sense to me, eh?

Anyway, it's while on a sting working undercover (as the bassist for Dokken, apparently) that he meets Cheshire, the go-between for a big cocaine score. They have a wild night together where he gets the information he needs and she gets pregnant.

That Roy Harper, would it kill you to hold back every now and again?

Back to present day, and the ambassador is still bristling at the thought of having bodyguards, even after the recent assassination attempt. He retreats to the bathroom to have a shower, where he figures he can finally be alone.

I thought there was an unwritten law that said full page shower scenes had to be sexier than this.

Persistent as ever, Chesire uses the shower head to pump poison gas into the shower, killing the ambassador.

Nightwing is soon on the scene, only to be left with the feeling that his partner is not telling him something with regards to Cheshire. He vows to get to the bottom of things as we turn our attention to Speedy, who is waiting for Cheshire in an alley.

The simmering sexual tension rears it's ugly head once more, as Speedy recognizes that one of them will eventually have to kill the other. Cheshire doesn't miss a beat in claiming that she will kill Speedy, even though he was the only man she ever loved.

That must have been one hell of a night...Speedy is really that good! And he's apparently pretty good with a bow, too.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Speedy's a bit of a player. Nightwing's a bit of a fuddy-duddy. It's the odd couple of superheroes!

This wasn't a bad little story, if not a tad dated and simple. I can see what Marv Wolfman was going for with the tension in the story, but it never came through in the pages. The story seems a little obvious and the artwork a little too bright.

Still, I've read worse 8-page stories, even if I probably won't be raiding the longbox to read the rest of tale. You win some...you lose some...

Up next...Superman!

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) DC Comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Marv Wolfman's official website

Up next is the Superman strip drawn by Curt Swan! Life is good. See ya soon.