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The Joker #8

DC Comics

By Steven LeitmanPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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The Joker #8

DC Comic 2021

Written by James Tynion IV

Illustrated by Guillem March

Coloured by Arif Prianto

Lettered by Tom Naplitano

Jim Gordon was warned, to “head back to the light while you still can,” but his quest to apprehend The Joker is taking him deeper into darkness. Could The Joker actually be innocent of the attack on Arkham Asylum? Punchline Back-Up: It’s a jailbreak as Bluebird must escape from Blackgate before Punchline and her gang can murder her!

The opening here is beyond anything I was prepared for! Lady Bane showed up at the end of the last issue and that’s where we pick up this issue and she’s a brute pure and simple and I have to say that what James does with this is utterly amazing. Gordon is taken by surprise by the turn of events and Lady Bane she isn’t messing around and she has questions. Well, don’t we all at this point. The J & J show just seems to be barreling along full steam ahead and I still have questions about who is responsible for the events at Arkham Asylum. Once again this issue doesn’t even spotlight the Joker and I’m more than okay with that because this is just as much about Gordon as it is about him. Lady Bane made her first appearance within these pages so seeing her here makes complete sense as for what’s next well I’m not telling.

I am enamoured 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 through the narration, the dialogue, the character interactions as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. This manages to do a marvellous job in bringing us their ever evolving personalities to the forefront. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the shocking moments will leave you breathless gasping for more.

I greatly appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I like how we see the layers within the story open up new avenues to be explored and while not all will be it doesn’t matter because what all this does is add depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way that we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is immaculately achieved.

The interiors here are bloody amazing! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to bring about this level & quality in the attention to detail is mindbogglingly brilliant to see. Normally I want to see more backgrounds, it does hold true here but with how we see the composition within the panels brings us this great depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. Also because of these it also manages to enhance and expand the moments as well. The overall utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a masters eye for how colour works. We see this through light sources and the glow cast or in the skin tones and musculature.

This is one of the best reads out on stands period and it’s because nothing that happens within these pages are things you are expecting to see no matter what you may say to the contrary. This is some great messed up and complicated storytelling that keeps the reader on their toes. The writing is exceptional and the characterisation is mind blowing while these bloody brilliant interiors are bringing it all to life really elevates how we see this series.

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About the Creator

Steven Leitman

Just me talking about the comics I enjoy reading, ones that you might not know exist and spotlighting the indie creators that excite me.

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