The Joker #4

The Joker #4

DC Comics 2021

Written by James Tynion IV

Illustrated by Guillem March

Coloured by Arif Prianto

Lettered by Tom Napolitano

Main story: It’s murder and mayhem in the jungles of South America with pits The Joker pitted against everyone hunting him! He’s prepared for this massacre in a way that only the Clown Prince of Crime can…but what secret does he whisper to Jim Gordon as the bullets fly?! What is the TRUE mystery?!

This issue is insane, insanely bloody mindbogglingly brilliant that is. I mean we all know James is one of today’s best writers but to see this issue play out the way we do is a stroke of masterpiece theatre storytelling. Now I have no idea if Lady Bane is going to be around for a while or if this is just a throwaway character for this part of the story but I will say so far with her remaining a mystery she’s a very intriguing character. So long as we don’t go into her backstory just yet i’m happy to see where things go with her. The intensity of the story that we see and how it comes to the reader is as delicious as something so tension filled as it gets.

I’m 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 perfectly. The character development is bloody genius as we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re left in wondrous amazement at the proceedings we see.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen while new ones emerge is stunning. There are bits in this that we see that work to enhance the main arc and then there are others that just add some incredible depth and complexity to what we see. Joker’s insistence of his innocence plays into the larger picture but what we see with Barbara terrifies me beyond comprehension. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved to perfection.

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The interiors are mind blowing in how they come to life. The linework that we see is exquisitely rendered and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level of quality in the detail work is astounding. With where they are that we see backgrounds this integral to the story is phenomenal and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book leaves me gobsmacked. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. The colour work is absolutely divine. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work demonstrates a brilliant eye for how to utilise colour effectively. Plus there’s the creativity and imagination that we see which is outrageously good.

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I am blown away by the intensity, the complexity and the sheer audacity of the story we are seeing unfold. The Joker’s monologue to Gordon is some of the most absolutely brilliant bit of storytelling that I have had the pleasure to read in ages. With his conviction and that he’s able to understand the unspoken rules and knows who is behind his being framed for Arkham should be an Oscar winning performance. If DC is going to make a film this should be it. The complicated relationship the two men have and how well Joker understands Gordon gave me the shivers and goose pimples. If this isn’t THE best new book of 2021 then there’s no justice in the world.