The Joker #3

The Joker #3

DC Comics 2021

Written by James Tynion IV

Illustrated by Guillem March

Coloured by Arif Prianto

Lettered by Tom Napolitano

The hunt for The Joker is under way, as Jim Gordon heads to a remote part of South America to run down a lead...and comes face-to-face with the Clown Prince of Crime himself! The mystery around A-Day deepens, but not before an attack by the blood-thirsty Sampson family!

And in the Punchline backup story, Punchline has to face off against the Queen of Spades’ new muscle...Orca! At the same time, Bluebird’s investigation at Punchline’s alma mater takes a dark and horrifying turn!

Well now it would appear that this issue is a game changer in this little ongoing saga. As much as I hate to say it I think I actually believe what’s being said. Vague enough for ya? You have to read the book to understand what I am saying and it’s more than worth your time to pick this up and give a twirl or try it on for size. That this is just as much as James Gordon as it is about the Joker and their twisted history with one another thrown in for good measure is just that proverbial icing on the cake.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see is amazing! The dialogue and how we see the character interactions as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter really help us get to know more and more about these people, the Joker included. The pacing is sensational and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story, the twists & turns galore and members of the Bat-Family we see continues to draw us in further and further.

I admire how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, strengthen and evolve as well as newly emerge. They carry us along and open avenues for exploration as well as engage the readers mind brilliantly. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as move the story forward is achieved so incredibly well.

The interiors here absolutely stunning! I am utterly impressed with the imagery here and how we see different versions of the Joker brought to life in the visage of past artists by Guillem. His talent amazes me like there’s no tomorrow. The linework is utterly brilliant and how the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see is absolutely mindbogglingly blood gorgeous! This is so expressive and breathes so much life into these characters and ever single one of Gordon’s wrinkles tells a story. The composition within the panels and it works with the backgrounds brings us this great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation fo the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is utterly phenomenal. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases and extraordinary eye for colour and how to best utilise it and its effects.

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I was a fan of the first Joker series but for vastly different reasons, even now I have a hard time finding the complete run. This dual story that parallels Gordon and the Joker who are intertwined by their work and fate is one of the best things in comics and it goes back decades with the Jim being the only non-costumed being to ever play such a role in the Joker’s ife and reigns of terror. Their dynamic is unique in all of comics and this is how we see that take hold and thrill everyone.