The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (2022-) Vol. 1

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (2022) (Single Issues) #1-6

by Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine Di Giandomenico (Inker), Francesco Francavilla (Inker)

The world holds its breath as the Joker strikes again! But how far is he willing to go this time? From the twisted minds of Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine Di Giandomenico comes a violent, mind-bending new series that picks up from the cataclysmic end of The Joker and follows the mayhem across the United States. With the Clown Prince of Crime setting out on his most bizarre caper yet, will Gotham’s new mysterious vigilante be able to prevent certain tragedy? Collecting The The Man Who Stopped Laughing #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Batman, Fantasy

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2023

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1 stars.

[Angel Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

A banger story that's filled with great details and an amazing action direction.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two jokers in two settings: LA & Gotham with each believing they’re the real joker. Interesting premise and Joker is quite handsome, along with the art!

This also has some really fun stories with Joker fawning over women that reject him and ending up in situations where he has offspring(like?) little jokers.

The Clown Prince is the blueprint for psychotic and pretty metrosexual men (to ME), I’m a fan.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how this new Joker series ties into the previous Joker series, but they're both (so far) surprisingly satisfying for being books about an unpredictably violent villain. The previous series was really a Jim Gordon book and this series is really a... well, it's a Joker book, but the main character might not actually be the Joker?

The gimmick is that the Joker is back, baby, but he's set up in Los Angeles since Gotham is so been there, done that. As part of leaving Gotham, he murders a bunch of crime bosses - except for one, who seems to have survived being shot in the head and looks and sounds like the Joker. We follow this Joker's escapades around Gotham as he tries to figure out what's going on (in classic zig-zag Joker style) while being tailed by a vengeful Red Hood. The volume ends oddly mid-story, with L.A.-based Joker deciding maybe it's time to deal with this imposter.

Also included in this volume are a handful of supremely goofy (and surprisingly dark) Joker shorts that would fit right in with the humor of the Harley Quinn series on Max.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not sure what to expect from this book, but the main story was a lot better than I thought it would be. The backup/"joke" stories were just that simply silly. Five of them are the Joker's superheroines crush list. It is as disturbing as it sounds.

The Joker makes a play to retake the Gotham underworld, and he is making an example of the local gangsters. Then he decides why just settle for the Gotham gangsters? However, he might have left someone alive he should not have in Gotham. Unfinished business has never been so deadlier with so much collateral damage. Also, another old vendetta is back.

A disturbingly deadly book. The Jokers insanity goes to the next level. Nobody will be safe. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Світ знову затамував подих, коли Джокер черговий раз завдає удару! Але як далеко він готовий зайти цього разу? Метью Розенберґ та Карміне Ді Джандоменіко розповідають нову історію Джокера в серії коміксів «Джокер: Людина, яка перестала сміятися», що розгортається після кінцівки лімітки «Джокер» Джеймса Тайніна IV.

Уникнувши арешту Джеймсом Ґордоном у серії коміксів Джеймса Тайніна IV, король злочинності Джокер повернувся до Ґотему й очікує, що зможе почати все з того місця, на якому зупинився. Однак Двуликий, Загадник та інші видатні постаті злочинного світу мають іншу думку й кажуть Джокеру не залишатися тут. Так починається нова ера для Джокера, коли він починає втілювати свій найбільший план. Він прагне очистити вулиці Америки від злочинності й розпочинає масштабну кампанію, під час якої його наймані вбивці знищують усі злочинні синдикати у великих містах Америки. Але, що найдивніше, де зник Бетмен? (треба читати іншу серію коміксів). І хто взагалі в змозі зупинити цей масштабний план Джокера.

Перша сюжетна арка виглядає такою, що здебільшого підготовлює нас до більших подій, які мають відбутися далі за сюжетом, та розкидує різні загадки, які будуть супроводжувати нас упродовж читання. І можу сказати, що Метью Розенберґ добре справився із зав’язкою, розвитком сюжету та продовженням історії Джеймса Тайніна. Малюнок у цьому коміксі теж гарно намальований художником Карміне Ді Джандоменіко, де вигляд персонажів є досить вигадливим і відповідає світу у якому реалізовує свої нові плани Джокер. Одним словом, гарний старт, але подивимося, як серія буде розвиватися надалі.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and drawn. Story was chaotic and violent and funny where it needed to be. The art was just absolutely stunning throughout. Even the backup stories and art were fantastic! Really looking forward to the next and last volume of this run!

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Não sei o que é pior: este quadrinho ser muito ruim ou ter sido precedido por uma série de três volumes que foram muito bem escritas por James Tynion IV. Outra diferença é que enquanto na outra série tínhamos outra proposta que era apresentar a caça do Comissário Gordon ao Coringa até a morte. Esta série mostra um disputa entre dois Coringas: um deles novo na cidade de Los Angeles aplicando um golpe nacional e outro, o sobrevivente da saraivada de balas disparadas pelo Comissário Gordon no fim da série anterior. Os desenhos de Carmine di Giandomenico me irritam e as cores que foram usadas nessa arte me causam uma sensação feérica com muitos flares e brancos com muita dessaturação neon. (Sim, isso é possível). A revista original do Coringa trazia ainda umas histórias back-ups totalmente nonsense que, como diz a palavra não ajudam nem atrapalham só causam um WTF! na nossa cabeça. A ruindade dessa edição só comprova que sendo Batman e, pior, sendo Coringa a galera compra de olhos fechados. Como dizia nossa amiga Avril, é complicado.

[Marissa☆❀⋆.ೃ࿔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

putting up with over 100 pages of the character i hate MOST, literally ever, just to get a tiny bit of content on my favourite character ever🫩

my pookies Steph and Jay are so precious to me🤲😭

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! This is so good it makes me want to go through most of the comics I've reviewed before so I can lower their ratings.

The basic premise is that there are two Jokers, both of them believing that the other is an impostor and that they're the real one. Both of them are charming and full of personality. Don't get me wrong, I love sewer rat Joker, but this book features a much more charismatic characterization of him. One of the Jokers is more melanchonic, although strangely he's the one who is constantly cracking jokes for the benefit of the reader, while the other is full of energy and busy orchestrating chaos.
The book is genuinely so funny as it contains the perfect blend of hilarious and disturbing elements. In the background, the mystery of the Joker impostor propels the narrative forward and keeps the reader engaged.

The book ends with a series of short comedic stories wherein Joker tries to seduce a variety of women with poor results. This part is also hilarious, although I feel like the number of stories featured was excessive.

[William Bainbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.6/5
So good I read all 6 issues on one night. Brilliant, cannot wait to read the next 4 that remain in this series. The jeopardy and the ambiguity surrounding the identity of the Real joker really has me in a mess, I was certain after 4 issues that it was the one in gotham but now I'm not entirely sure. I still think the one In gotham is still the real joker however I'm not as certain as I once was anymore. Red hood cameo was awesome and really love the way he looks in the artstyle. This comic alone has really made me like the joker a lot more, he can be genuinely hilarious and just so fun to read.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the art - this story is wack. There’s multiple jokers (again) and they’re running schemes. This just doesn’t hit at all- it’s so convoluted and feels like adding more story elements weigh it down opposed to making it more interesting.

[Chalupa Batman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, up to the last 50 pages or so. Have no idea what the hell that was all about.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was wild

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing Vol. 1 collects issues 1-6 of the DC Comics series written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico, Francesco Francavilla, and Will Robinson.

While the Joker shown up Los Angeles and has promised to turn over a new leaf and clean up cities to be safe again, another Joker who has been shot in the head has appeared in Gotham City. Red Hood is on the case and has decided that he will end the Joker’s reign once and for all. The book also contains back-up stories that are reminiscent of Silver Age stories where the Joker gets into ridiculous shenanigans.

I found this first volume to be extremely interesting and captivating. But it is walking a fine line in storytelling that could easily blow up with an eye rollingly bad ending. We will have to see how that plays out in the second volume. The back-up stories are both incredibly stupid as well as charming. The art is strong throughout and it was a welcome treat to see Francesco Francavilla, one of my all time favorite artists, drawing and coloring most of the back-up stories.

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insane weird main story with really funny backstories!

[Akirakitamura82 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story:
Der Joker ist zurück in Gotham City und das Erste, was er tut, ist, mit seiner Gang ein Treffen von Mafia-Bossen zu überfallen und ein Massaker anzurichten! Denn in seiner Abwesenheit, so meint er, wäre das Verbrechen in Gotham langweilig geworden, und jetzt will er die Dinge ändern. Mehr noch, er kündigt an, seine kriminellen Aktivitäten weit über Gotham auszuweiten, und er ist bereit, dafür nicht nur die Grenzen der Stadt zu überschreiten! Zugleich aber kommt auf den Straßen von Gotham ein Mann mit einer Kugel im Kopf zu sich. Und wie sich herausstellt, ist dies der echte Joker! Und dem vergeht das Lachen, als er erfährt, dass ein Betrüger seinen Namen und seine Rolle übernommen hat!

Meinung:
Zuerst einmal das Cover, dies zeigt ein wunderschönes Motiv von Lee Bermejo, das zwar nicht zum Comic passt, aber dennoch verdammt gut aussieht.

Matthew Rosenberg, zeigt uns, wie schlau und rücksichtslos der Joker sein kann, ich bin überwältigt wie sich der Joker bei dieser großartigen Geschichte entwickelt. Eine sehr gute Szene dafür, wie der Joker hier ist, zeigt eine Interaktion, bei der ein Arzt ihn im Krankenhaus zusammenflickt. Es ist ein Moment, der gleichzeitig extrem und entzückend ist. Eine perfekte Mischung aus Horror und Humor, Fans werden es lieben. Das Ganze ist fantastisch in Szene gesetzt, durch die Zeichnungen von Giandomenico und Prianto. Es gibt viele Bilder, in denen nur das Gesicht des Jokers zu sehen ist, und ich war beeindruckt von all den Details in jedem einzelnen Bild.

Ich habe diesen Comic mit großer Begeisterung gelesen und war sowohl fasziniert als auch voller Ehrfurcht vor dem, was ich lesen durfte. Zwischen der Geschichte und dem Kunstwerk haben wir einen kontrollierten Fall von Bosheit und Spielereien erlebt. Joker - Der Mann der nicht mehr Lacht, macht keine Kompromisse und geht in jeder Kategorie aufs Ganze. Ich kann diesen Comic nur weiterempfehlen und gebe die volle Punktzahl ☆☆☆☆☆.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I mentioned in my reviews for the previous Joker series that a Joker series in general is a hard sell, because he's a weird character to write as the 'protagonist' of anything. The last series approached this by focusing on Jim Gordon, but this series goes the opposite way, and gives us not one but two Jokers to follow as they try to determine who's the real one. It's an intriguing premise, and it allows us to almost root for the Joker without actually wanting him to succeed.

Also a neat inclusion is Jason Todd, whose own history with the Joker comes into play neatly, and gives the Joker someone to run from other than himself. It's a shame that Jason is reduced to his Joker trauma so often, but it certainly gives him a unique perspective to bring into the story.

On art is Carmine Di Giandomenico, who somehow managed to draw this series and Batman: The Knight at the same time, because he's a machine. His artwork is always frantic and kinetic, but it never loses its style, and it really helps sell how chaotic and unhinged the Joker truly is.

Also included are the back-up stories, told in the manner of old Silver Age comics in which the Joker tries some different schemes, all of which end up going hilariously (and often gruesomely) wrong. These are drawn by Francesco Francavilla, which is a double treat.

Another new Joker series, another new perspective, and another dash of fun along with it. I never expect these Joker books to work and DC keep surprising me.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: I did not read the backup stories.

This might be one of the craziest Joker stories written.
Brief Summary:
Having been absent from Gotham for a while, Joker shows up and starts recruiting, quickly taking it to a level where he thinks he can run things again. He gets beat up and when we see him next, he is in Los Angeles and launches an offensive on a never before seen. Crime bosses all around the country are attacked and killed at the same time, and Joker takes credit for it, proclaiming that he wants to make peace.
However, Joker is still in Gotham. So it appears as if there are two Jokers (book keeps alluding that one of them might be Clayface): one trying to take over the country and the other, severely beat up and gathering allies is in Gotham. Eventually LA Joker comes back to Gotham, but we never find out which is the real one.

The art is fantastic here and vital to help keep track of which Joker we are seeing. I look forward to Volume 2 to see how the rest of this plays out and who the second Joker really is.
Recommend. This is a very good Joker story.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy hell, what the heck is going on?

Joker's back. He makes a play on Gotham and is soundly kicked out by Riddler, Black Mask, and Two Face. Joker shoots his last hostage and bounces off to regroup and strategize. The last hostage is special, however...

Turns out that hostage was/is ANOTHER Joker (surprisingly surviving a hole in his head)
...the rest of these issues are just trying to keep up with the chaos of both 'Clown Princes of Crime'. This series seems to make no sense and is pure chaos. Can't really tell if it's on purpose, though. The Joker IS known for being a chaos lord. Heck, it's also been established that there's three Jokers out there in the DCU.

One more volume to see where this goes...
----------
Bonus: These backup stories are weird. Nonsensical and an homage to Golden Age comics...
Bonus Bonus: How many Jokers are IN this story? Go try and keep count...

[Ian Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a minute since I picked up a stand-alone Joker graphic novel of any kind. The Man Who Stopped Laughing is the best Joker read for me since Brian Azzarello's (2008). I am not deeming this "classic status" by any means, but I will say it is a "must read" for comic book stans.

The identity of the "other Joker" and all the other variables layer in to an unpredictable storyline seamlessly. The four stars, and not five, are because I could do without the little mini-stories in the back. I'd rather have the whole story in one trade edition or omnibus.

[Daniel Freer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked the main story.. and the short stories were just amazing.

Loved the different art styles. The variant covers ARE amazing. The main story was very good but the smaller ones were very very funny and well written. The art is just amazing, the colors were done very well. Just s solid all around comic. Not anything other then what you'd think. It's good and worth reading but also it's not something that's gonna change the game or have that OMG feeling. Still very solid and if you like The Joker and again don't expect the world you'll enjoy.

[Jeremiah Bartsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the main story (6 books). True to the Joker's mystique, around each turn is the unexpected. I won't give details so as not to spoil the story but, I am looking forward to Vol. 2.

After the main story, there are several short, unrelated short stories. Although Joker-esque, after finishing the actual story, these shorts left me unsatisfied and left wanting more of the main story. I suspect that these stories were added as fillers and I could have done without them, hence the 4 star rating. We'll see if Vol. 2 somehow ties them in.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty terrible. It's about a guy who gets shot in the head and thinks he's the Joker while the real Joker is running around the West Coast. Fauxker apparently keeps coming back to life too for some reason. It all made very little sense. The backup stories were even worse. They felt like Silver Age stories where weird shit would happen involving the Joker and then it's all reset before the next issue.

[Alek Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing where "The Joker" and "Task Force Z" left off, this book follows Joker and Red Hood. Now its main focus isn't on them, but rather a mysterios Joker doppleganger whom Joker had shot in the head. And honestly up until the last 2 issues I was sure head wound Joker was the fake but now I'm not so sure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of this book. With Joker trying to get his reputation back and Red Hood reverting back to his more violent self.

[PixieART · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jokers gone all out to get rid of the competition and take over all the crime as the Clown Prince of crime, who's going to stop him? Maybe, himself? While Jokers taking over L.A., another Joker is also killing in Gotham. How can that be? Who is the real Joker. I guess the joke is on us.
Fast paced and violent. Sexual jokes and Jokes about dead children. I recommend for 16 and up.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Rosenberg is at his strongest when he's doing humor or crime comics, so the Joker is a natural fit for him. This Joker is plenty dark but funnier than he's been in years, and the Francavilla backup stories made me chuckle more than once!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing art. Meandering mess of a story. Some fun spots.
Overall the dupe Joker aspect was interesting.
The weird add on stories at the end were drawn in a cool old style but they felt distracting a little.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this, it was a fun read, especially with the variety of stories and art styles. It had a little something for everyone, regardless on your favorite take of the Joker. Excited to read the rest. Will try to buy this.

[Flora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish the cover was by the comic's artist, I would have picked it up on a whim a lot sooner

Overall really fun, but it doesnt quite hit its stride until the last 1/3rd or so. regardless I enjoyed the art and banter a lot throughout.