Tag The Joker

Batman: The Adventures Continue – Season Three #3 Micro-Review – A Debate Club Meeting?

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman the Adventures Continue Season Three 3, cover, March 2023, Baldemar RivasTITLE: Batman: The Adventures Continue – Season Three #3
AUTHORS: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini
ARTISTS:  Ty Templeton, Monica Kubina (Colorist), Josh Reed (Letterer). Cover by Baldemar Rivas.
RELEASED: March 14, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s a scene in this book where Batman is getting beat up by Joker’s  henchman Straightman, and he laments that Robin is away at a debate club meeting. Mind you, the scene presumably takes place late at night. Strange time for a school club meeting, huh? Unless he’s away on some kind of club-related trip. But that’s not what the book says…

Task Force X, a.k.a. the Suicide Squad, is in this issue. I get confused about the timeline of this book. Is it supposed to be before or after the events of Justice League Unlimited?

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Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #5 Micro-Review – Stupid Batgirl

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman and the Joker the Deadly Duo 5, cover, March 2023, Marc SilvestriTITLE: Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #5
AUTHOR:  Marc Silvestri
ARTISTS: Silvestri, Arif Prianto (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer)
RELEASED: March 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s a scene in this issue where Batgirl fights and interrogates an imprisoned Joker, and he chastises her for not having shackles on like he does. So what does she do? She puts shackles on. In the ensuing fight, Joker actually gets the upper hand for a time.

There’s a difference between writing heroes as honorable, moralistic, and principled, and writing heroes as stupid. This fell hard into the stupid column.

There’s a panel during said fight where Batgirl throws a kick at Joker’s face that, from a kinesiology standpoint, just doesn’t work. You’ll know it when you see it.

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A Nemesis: Reloaded #2 Micro-Review – Dead Cops and Feces

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nemesis Reloaded 2, cover, February 2023, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Nemesis: Reloaded #2
AUTHOR: Mark Millar
ARTISTS:  Jorge Jimenez, Giovanna Niro (Colorist), Clem Robins (Letterer)
RELEASED: February 15, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue contains dead cops, and a ring of human feces where an expensive necklace should be. So, yeah. There’s that…

An ad for the original Nemesis story famously asked: “What if Batman was the Joker?” It’s interesting to me how apt that little elevator pitch is. Because, like, the Joker, the things Nemesis does are horrible, and in some cases downright disgusting. But there’s also a dimension to him that’s morbidly humorous. A small part of us that we don’t want to acknowledge is laughing with him.

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The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #5 Micro-Review – Those Around the Clown

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

The Joker the Man Who Stopped Laughing 5, cover, February 2023, Carmine Di GiandomenicoTITLE: The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #5
AUTHOR: Matthew Rosenberg
ARTISTS: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Francesco Francavilla, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Tom Napolitano (Letterer)
RELEASED: February 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

As was the case with James Tynion IV’s Joker series, with The Man Who Stopped Laughing I find myself more interested in the characters around the Joker than the clown himself. Most specifically, the Red Hood’s quest to finally end the Joker once and for all. To me, that’s much more interesting than this faux Joker story we’re in the middle of.

These Rosenberg/Francavilla backups continue to be bizarre and surreal. In this issue, the Demon Etrigan almost calls Joker the C-word, which I’ll admit is kind of hilarious…

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #4 Micro-Review – Just Use Robin!

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman and the Joker the Deadly Duo 4, cover, February 2023, Marc SilvestriTITLE: Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #4
AUTHOR: Marc Silvestri
ARTISTS: Silvestri, Arif Prianto (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer)
RELEASED: February 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I’m still grumpy about the fact that Nightwing is in this book as, essentially, Batman’s sidekick. There’s even a joke or two about it in this issue. I get that Nightwing is cool, but just use Robin!

There’s a cool sequence in this book in which the Joker tries to do something heroic using his own murderous methods. Batman then has to come to grips with the fact that it, in its own way, worked. That’s a great Batman/Joker moment, and the best part of this story thus far. Good writing by Silvestri.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Epic Covers: Blood Stained Teeth #8 by Andrea Sorrentino

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Few creators do spooky quite like Andrea Sorrentino. The vampire grin he shows us on the cover of this week’s Blood Stained Teeth #8 is downright chilling. And when juxtaposed with the money it’s foreboding, yet it also invites intrigue.

Oddly enough the purple and green, along with the grin, are typically trademarks of the Joker. In another life, this concept might have made for a good Joker cover.

Blood Stained Teeth 8, variant cover, January 2023, Andrea Sorrentino

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Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #3 Micro-Review – S&M Joker?!?

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman and the Joker the Deadly Duo 3, cover, January 2023, Marc SilvestriTITLE: Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #3
AUTHOR: Marc Silvestri
ARTISTS: Silvestri, Arif Prianto (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer)
RELEASED: January 10, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I dig that cover, but…is that an S&M mask the Joker is wearing? What the hell? First S&M Riddler in The Batman and now this? If they give one to the Penguin I’m gettin’ the hell outta here…

Silvestri hits his stride with this issue, particularly in terms of his writing. His art was pretty much always on point.

The one downside to the writing: Nightwing is in this story, essentially in a sidekick role. Which is odd, because last I checked Batman had a sidekick. You might have heard of him. His name is Robin.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4 Micro-Review – Sick Kid Jokes

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

The Joker the Man Who Stopped Laughing 4, variant cover, January 2023, Lee BermejoTITLE: The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #4
AUTHOR: Matthew Rosenberg
ARTISTS: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Francesco Francavilla, Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colorist), Nick Filardi (Colorist), Tom Napolitano (Letterer). Variant cover by Lee Bermejo.
RELEASED: January 3, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue turned me off early on. The main story takes place in a hospital, and we see a group of kids in what is presumably a cancer ward. So, as this is a Joker comic, we get a lot of sick kid jokes. That’s not really my cup of tea.

These Rosenberg/Francavilla back-ups continue to be weird as hell. But they’re also genuinely amusing and funny. Case in point, this one sees Joker swallow a bunch of mud, then vomit up a mud creature that he and his henchmen have to chase around.

See what I mean? Weird.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Astonishing Art: Batman as the Joker by Marc Rienzo

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s a lot of great Joker art out there. I’ve featured some of it in this space. But these seven portraits by Marc Rienzo are some of the best I’ve ever seen, both in terms of concept and execution.

What we have here are depictions of actors who’ve played Batman on the big screen (or in Adam West’s case the big and small screens) made up like the Clown Prince of Crime. The effect is downright chilling, as Rienzo modifies the depiction for each portrait to suit the actor. The ones for George Clooney and Robert Pattinson are my personal favorites.

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In the comments section on one of the images, someone suggested Rienzo flip the concept and paint the various Joker actors as Batman. I’m game for that. Jack Nicholson as Batman? I’ll admit, I’m curious…

Incidentally, Rienzo has a pretty decorated film resume, having worked as a visual effects supervisor and/or digital artist on movies like The Force Awakens, Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and many others. His work is definitely worth a look.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #10 Micro-Review – Dropping the Bombshell

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

batmansuperman_worlds_finest_10_cover_december_2022_dan_moraTITLE: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #10
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain (Colorist) Steve Wands (Letterer)

RELEASED: December 20, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s a big bombshell dropped at the end of this issue. I won’t spoil it, but it raises more than one intriguing question…

Waid is playing some of the same notes in this story that he did back in Irredeemable. It’s clear that, like the Plutonian, David/Boy Thunder is not emotionally equipped to be a superhero.

I didn’t expect the classic Teen Titans to be a regular fixture in this story. But I ain’t complainin’. It’s consistently a treat to see Mora draw them.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.