Batman: Joker's Asylum

Joker's Asylum (Collected Editions) #1

by Jason Aaron, Joe Harris, David Hine

Take a twisted journey with Batman's deranged enemy, the Joker, to explore the psychosis of several of the Dark Knight's famous foes.

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2008

About the author

Jason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.

Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.

In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.

Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.

In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.

In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.

After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The villains of Batman compared to the villains of Superman Are like Gods compared to mere humans.
I am in love with each and everyone of them and i want to read more more and more.
I will be starting to read Batman from the very beginning as soon as i can
I promise you that the stories that might come out of this are not to be missed.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joker is your narrator and he focuses on psychosis of four well known villains in the Batman world: Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. Joker gets his own story, too, so there are five tales overall. I was impressed with how the particular disorder of each villain was woven into a believable and well plotted tale. Penguin had the cruelest tale interwoven into finding the soulmate of his life; Joker holds people hostage on a TV show to impress upon everyone who is the real “sicko”; Two-Face holds a couple hostage (the husband has the same wound as him) and tells the husband to kill Batman or he will spray the wife's face with acid; Scarecrow helps an unpopular girl get revenge on the cool kids; and Poison Ivy reflects on her origins as she seeks revenge against several people for a long forgotten crime.

Some may find the artwork confusing but I felt it drove the story along and revealed more about the overall theme. This is best read by those who already understand the Batman world and desire a different spin. Newbies should avoid this one until they have more experience.

STORY/PLOTTING: B plus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B; ARTWORK: B; WHEN READ: mid May 2012; OVERALL GRADE: B.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good selection of shorts that are narrated by The Joker and focus on different Arkham inmates. Featured in this collection: Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Joker, Penguin and Two-Face. Each story has it's own moral centred around a different protagonist, and is able to stay true to who they are thanks to the concise and character driven narratives. They also bear their own flavours due to the inclusion of several different writers and artists. Despite not having one continous plot, it flows wonderfully as a complete piece.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really a Batman comic it's more of a Rogue's Gallery comic and I'm okay with that. Sure Batman makes an appearance or two but he isn't the star. The structure for this comic was fresh and fun, the Joker broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the reader, the subsequent stories were narrated by the Joker in a sort of homage to TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Each story featured a different villain (The Joker, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, the Scarecrow, and Two Face)and the Joker closed each story with a moral.

Each tale was written and illustrated by a different author giving this themed anthology a lot of diversity. I think the strongest stories were the first and the last, "The Joker's Wild" and "Two Face Two", both of these stories were incredibly suspenseful and the outcomes were unexpected.

While origins are some what rehashed in a few like "Deflowered" and slightly in "He who Laughs Last" these are for the most part just one off stories not meant to add or detract anything from the canon of Gotham City.

This book was dark, violent, interactive, suspenseful, thrilling, chilling, and eerie.

The art was a mixed bag none of it really being spectacular.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad! So Batman Jokers Asylum is a collection of one shots, all from a villains perspective: we have Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Two Face, and Joker is basically narrating the stories! I'm not sure if Aaron wrote all of them, I think he did, the artist changed each issue though! Disappointly though, the Joker one was probably the weakest one though, with some butt ugly ass artwork; it did have a really cool ending though! If I had to rank them from worst to best it would be: 5. Joker, 4. Scarecrow, 3. Penguin, 2. Poison Ivy and 1. Two Face! The Two Face and Ivy ones were defintly the best in terms of artwork and story! Overall an okay read!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joker plays a psychotic Rod Serling a la 'Night Gallery' and presents multiple unrelated suspense / horror stories which shed some light on the major villains. (Batman, however, pretty much only contributes cameo appearances.) Still, this was something different and, for the most part, it works.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good series of one shots starring Batman's Rogue Gallery, which I think is the best in all of comics. (Spider Man is close, though.)

Ironically the Joker story is probably the lightest in tone of this collection as some of these stories are really dark. The art is top notch and the stories are good as well.

It was cool to see the villains take center stage. Great collection for any Batman fan.

[Brandon Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Joker plays the Cryptkeeper, teller of stories though why he is doing this only seems to be because he is the Joker. No real reason it couldn't be anyone.

There are tales featuring Joker, Riddles, Karlo's Clayface, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and more. Each with a moral and some with endings that fit the gimmick of the villain.

Overall not bad but the stories are hit and miss.

[Slayermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of five stories told by the joker about his fellow villains in the batman series.
The first story is about the Joker himself and how he took over a TV station and caused mayhem as usual.
The second story is about the Penguin and how he became so disturbed. His trouble with women going back to his childhood.
The third story is about Poison Ivy, and a vendetta she has been looking to settle for a while.
The fourth story is about Scarecrow and a girl named Lindsey he had been counselling, about being bullied by a group of popular girls.
The final story is about two face and a burn victim who came to the prison to try and be a mentor to Harvey. Needles to say the mentor is in over his head.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrated by the one and only Joker, this "Masterpiece Theatre" of Batman's rogues presents a unique tale based around Joker, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Two-Face. Joker crashes a TV game show, giving the readers a look at the genius behind the insanity. Penguin's dark story see him look for love, only to have his true feathers create dissent. Poison Ivy tackles a group of former eco-terrorists in a beatifully-drawn but weakly-told tale. The Scarecrow crashes a high school slumber party at the behest of his newest patient. Two-Face meets a fellow disfigured man - leaving the ending a 50/50 shot. Overall, a nice collection of one-shots that peer into the minds of madness.

[(Mellifluous Grant) · Rating 4 out of 5]

love love love.. 5 completely different, completely insane stories - highly recommend!

[JM S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman: Joker's Asylum Vol. 1 Review:

Joker's Asylum is a collection of stories from Batman's rogues gallery and it is told to us by the Joker. I wasn't really expecting anything here, but I was suprised of how much I enjoyed this volume. Now this is volume 1 as the there is a volume 2 out there with a different set of stories from other villains. I'll also be doing this review by each story from each villain.

1. The Joker - 8/10

- First one is a story for the Joker, the story is basically that Joker takes over a game show and took them as hostages. The story is simple, but it is one of the best one in this book. Simply of how I found this one to be the most intense of them all. How the story found its way to be really engaging and intense it was for me.

- The art is also really excellent here. How messy or dirty the art was really made me loved it more and sort of also show how messed up Joker is. The only downside this story is that the ending felt short to me. I actually wished it was stretched into its own full story, but still it was a good one in the end.

2. Penguin - 7/10

- I think the Penguin's story is alright. The art is good and the story is investing enough. Although, it is a pretty predictable story for sure. But still, it was fine nothing to be said much, but I reallu liked the ending here.

3. Poison Ivy - 6/10
- Her story is probably the weakest one here. Although the art here, I think is the best one in the book. This one felt lacking to me unfortunately. I just wished we could have had more in this one, the story was interesting, but I think the ending was abrupt.

4. Scarescrow - 8/10
- This is basically a teen horror movie complete with all the cliches and everything. But it works for me and even though the art style here is very cartoony, it works really well. I really loved the art here and it blends really well with the horror aspect. I also found it to be a really entertaining story.

5. Two-Face - 8.5/10
- This one is probably my fave for just how messed up Two-Face is in this story. While I found the start to be slow and the art is okay. What sold me here is how simple yet effective it is. It was engaging and the ending for this one is my fave part in this volume, without spoiler, but I totally loved it.

Overall:
Batman: Joker's Asylum is a really fun story with some really great art. Some story may be weaker than the others, but I found most of it to be really good. It was also really nice to see in the stories of just how messed up can this villains be.

8/10

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some but not all of the second salvo of one-shots under the 'Joker's Asylum' lineup. They're like what you would have encountered if EC Comics had crafted a Batman villains themed anthology. The Joker is your host, leading through a captivating story about a member of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, climaxing with a twist ending on par with Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein or Harvey Kurtzman.

I loved the 3 I've read so far. So finding the first collection for an amazingly good price was a no-brainer.

The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow and the Joker himself are the stars of the 5 one-shots that comprised the first series. Penguin's tale of true love ruined by his vicious streak brought about by the slightest bruise to his delicate ego was the best story. Amazing tale by Jason Aaron that I could read again and again. Joe Harris's story involving the psychological monster, the Scarecrow, was a frightening yet fun homage to the teen horror flicks of the 80s and 90s with a cerebral ending. J.T. Krul's look at Poison Ivy was a classic Batman mystery tale. There's just not enough of those type of Batman stories these days if you ask me.

The Two-Face one-shot by David Hine was a morality play about human nature and whether man is inherently good or bad. So can a good man be turned into a villain while the most retched of all is redeemed as a saint? Add in Harvey Dent's very literal interpretations of the id and ego and it's definitely not a story for casual comic book readers. This is college level stuff. Plus the level of unease is at least doubled with the ending that the reader determines thanks to a simple flip of a coin.

My least favorite story was the Joker's tale. Ironic, eh? The Joker rigs a game show in a farce by Arvid Nelson that fell short in my eyes. However, the artwork of the Joker by Alex Sanchez that reflects the many actors who have portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime over the years was exceptional. It's just a bit of a let down when the Joker tries to prove that he's not the biggest, baddest monster in Gotham. This isn't The Walking Dead. I know that the worst monster of them all is man. I don't need the Joker to remind me.

A fantastic read. Why DC will stop of only 2 runs Joker's Asylum one-shots. but put out a dozen sequel volumes of Dark Nights: Metal or DC Undead is beyond me!

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joker's Asylum is a five-issue weekly miniseries of one-shots that is narrated by the Joker and was released during the month of July 2008. These stories might be a tide unreliable, considering the source is the Joker, so the veracity is of these stories is still rather questionable. This trade paperback collects all five issues in the 2008 weekly mini-series.

Batman: Joker's Asylum opens with a story about The Joker. He hijacks an on-air game show, posing as its host, and threatens to kill the contestants if they do not answer absurdly difficult questions. To the surprise of the crowd, the Joker let all the contestants live who answered questions wrong, while his true purpose was revealed that unscrupulous nature from the Producer's box and poses the question to the audience to judge which one of the two are truly evil.

The following one-shots are written in a similar manner where the reader follows the Joker wherever he is during the telling of the stories and he relates some of the interesting stories that he thinks exemplifies his fellow inmates. As the Joker tells these stories, the veracity of these stories are questionable at best, considering the source. The inmates that the Joker tells stories about are The Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Two-Face.

Each one-shot has a different author Arvid Nelson (Joker), Jason Aaron (Penguin), JT Krul (Poison Ivy), Joe Harris (Scarecrow), and David Hine (Two-Face). Each one-shot was written rather well and delve into the each perspective villain rather well. Of course, there were stories that I have enjoyed more than others stories, but each were written rather well.

Likewise each one-shot has a different penciler Alex Sanchez (Joker), Jason Pearson (Penguin), Guillem March (Poison Ivy), Juan Doe (Scarecrow), and Andy Clarke (Two-Face). Artistically, it flowed rather well despite the many different penciling styles. Each penciler was dedicated to each one-shot, so the flow wasn't interrupted that much, because it was rather contained.

All in all, Batman: Joker's Asylum is written and conceived rather well. It is an interesting to read how the Joker thinks of his fellow villains and inmates.

[Dasamur76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leído como parte de la colección de DC Héroes y Villanos, me ha hecho sentir en una montaña rusa. El hecho de que sea un compendio de historias de los villanos de Arkham, con el señor Joker como maestro de ceremonias, prometía muchísimo, y el inicio, tanto en la introducción del propio Joker, como la primera de las historias, la del pingüino, es algo soberbio. Desgraciadamente, el interés de las historias decae poco a poco, y te deja un sabor de boca regular.
La historia de Hiedra parece pensada como un ejercicio de dibujo exacerbado de la figura femenina, que sí, que es un cómic y se tiende a exagerar los detalles, pero es que casi todo el tiempo está ella paseándose cubierta por un par de hojas de morera, y la historia, siendo interesante, queda un poco perdida en los dibujos.
La historia del espantapájaros se me hace insulsa y o mal llevada, o yo no he entendido muy bien el sentido de la misma. Es decir, sí, está claro lo que pasa pero... ¿por qué con esa chica en particular, a qué viene? Es como un capítulo de la serie animada de Batman, que de pronto han visto que se les echaba el tiempo encima y parece contado un tanto apresurado. Y el final no me gusta.
En el caso de Dos Caras, bueno, la historia es interesante. Mucho, de hecho, pero es que parte de una premisa de una casualidad tan, pero tan, delirante, que me paso todo el relato pensando "es que no me fastidies"... y claro, así no te terminas de centrar.
Los añadidos son otro cantar. La parte del ventrílocuo es, junto al pingüino, con mucho lo mejor del volumen, y eso que está puesto como "añadido". Puede que sea porque yo soy fan de Los Muertos Vivientes, y claro, está Charlie Adlard y eso se nota, pero es que el tono y todo lo que rodea al dibujo y a lo que se cuenta se entrelaza a la perfección.
Y por último, el epílogo con Mr. Frío. La verdad, para poner eso, mejor que no hubiesen puesto nada. Algo insulso y sin sustancia, tan sólo un apunte de algo que no se sabe de dónde viene ni adónde va (teniendo en cuenta sólo lo que aparece aquí, quiero decir), y un retazo de ventana para que veamos un resto de humanidad en un villano.
En conclusión, luces y sombras. Pero es que las luces son muy, muy potentes, y le suben las estrellas hasta cuatro...
A ver qué tal el segundo volumen.

[⛧⸸ dennis ⸸⛧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the stories, but this comic book was not what it was advertised to be at all. For "Joker's Asylum" there was barely any Joker in this volume. He only appeared at the beginning and end of each story, occasionally throwing narration here and there into some. This whole comic book feels like the authors of each part got completely different messages as to what the plot was supposed to be.

Do I recommend this? Yes, I do - but don't buy it if you want to read a story that includes more of The Joker's point of view. I thought that's what it was supposed to be, but, sadly, the title and the synopsis are deeply misleading.

This could be way better if it simply had a different title and synopsis exactly.

[Verba Non Res · Rating 2 out of 5]

Desde su celda en el Asilo Arkham, el Joker narra cinco historias al estilo Cuentos de la cripta. Cada una de ellas está protagonizada por alguno de los villanos de la rogues gallery de Batman, y una por el propio Joker. Batman aparece poco y nada, y cuando lo hace es para arruinar la diversión. Las historias en general están bien, pero buscan el impacto narrativo antes que aportar una caracterización novedosa de estos villanos. Me parece al menos una oportunidad desaprovechada. Otra es el uso más bien secundario que se le da al Joker en tanto narrador. Es tan solo un marco, cuando podría haber sido un dispositivo que condicionara las mismas historias y su verosimilitud.

[Rick Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of this series before I found it while trying to find something to read on Comixology. I looked it up this site and online and fought out that it was an anthology series drawn & written by a different creative team each issue. I've always liked anthologies in normal books because there are usually some gems hidden amongst the rubbish in them. In this series, the Joker begins and ends each story like he's the Crypt Keeper from Tales From the Crypt. Each issue focuses on a different Batman villain in a story of about one of their heinous acts.

Since this isn't a normal book, I'm not going to do my normal review. I'll rate the writing on each story on a scale of 1-5. The 5 will go towards my favorite of the stories and my least favorite will get a 1. The same goes for the art. I will then add however many points each half got together in order to rank each issue as a whole.

The Joker started off the series with a story about himself written by Arvid Nelson and drawn by Alex Sanchez. I liked the story as I read it. I liked the depiction of the Joker in it. This is the version of the Joker I have in my head as far as how he acts. This, however, is damn sure not the way the Joker looks in my head. Horrendous isn't strong enough to describe how bad this art is. This is some of the worst art I've ever seen in a comic and in general. While I enjoyed the story, it ended up being the 4th best story in the book. It gets 2 points. The art is by far the worst in the book and only gets 1 point. The 3 points total is easily the lowest score of the five.

Next, Jason Pearson delivers the art for a story about The Penguin penned by writer Jason Aaron. Pearson's art isn't that bad, but out of the 5 issues, it only beats out the art in the Joker issue. I don't like the over exaggerated nose he gave Penguin. The female characters in the issue look decent, but really cartoonish. I still wouldn't mind reading a comic drawn completely by this artist. 2 points for the art. Jason Aaron's story is easily my favorite in the book. I love how he portrayed Penguin. This story flashes between Penguin's school years and now showing his struggles with women in both time periods. The story gets 5 points and that gives this issue 7 points overall.

Writer JT Krul and artist Guillem March bring us the Poison Ivy story in the 3rd issue. Krul's story is rather weak. The entire story can be summed up by saying Poison Ivy kills some people with plants because those people hurt plants. There is nothing original or even interesting about this story. It is the worst written story in the book. Any middle school child that has ever seen a Poison Ivy episode of a Batman cartoon can write better fan fiction than this. The story only gets 1 point. Guillem March's art is in complete contrast to the story plotted out Krul. March's delivers some truly wonderful comic art in these pages. The beauty of his Poison Ivy can rival the looks of women drawn by artists like Michael Turner. March's Batman looks pretty damn awesome, but it is his Jim Gordon that really stands out from the others. You can almost count the hairs in Gordon's moustache. I also REALLY like his Joker at the beginning and end of the issue. The art gets 5 points bringing the issues total up to 6 points.

A Scarecrow issue is brought to us by writer Joe Harris and artist Juan Doe. Harris' story is about high school girl that has been bullied by a group of girls her whole life. The girl is in psychiatric counselling and her psychiatrist is Scarecrow's alter ego Jonathan Crane. The girl is told by Crane to face her fears and go along with the others plan that has her invited to a slumber party. Scarecrow shows up at the party and wreaks havoc as only he can. This was my 2nd favorite story in the book. It gets 4 points. The art by Doe is also my 2nd favorite in the book. It is cartoonish, but it fits the story. I don't usually like the cartoon-like art in a comic, but this looked good to me for some reason. The girl that is in counselling is the character that stands out the most to me. The art also gets 4 points and gives this issue a total score of 8 points.

The final story is a Two-Face one by writer David Hine and artist Andy Clarke. Two-Face is visited in Arkham by a guy that is also disfigured in the way Two-Face himself is. The guy is part of a program to rehabilitate the criminals in Arkham Asylum. Two-Face, being who he is, doesn't want to be rehabilitated and wants to, instead, corrupt the guy that is trying to change him. There are 2 possible endings to this story decided by, how else, a flip of a coin. This was the 3rd best story of the 5 and gets 3 points. The art by Clarke is pretty detailed. I liked how he set up the scenes at the beginning with Two-Face and the other guy being mirror opposites of each other. The art gets 3 points too and the overall issue point total is 6.

The Scarecrow issue's 8 points make it the best issue in the anthology. It is followed up by the Penguin story at 7 points. The Two-Face and Poison Ivy stories are tied in 3rd place with 6 points each. Bringing up the rear is the Joker story with only a lowly 3 points. I divided each point total by 2 to get the star rating for each issue. I then averaged up the 5 issues and came out to an even 3 star rating for the book as a whole. That seems about right for an anthology. There was a couple of gems found within. A quick read that is worth it for any fan of Batman's rogues gallery.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of short stories featuring a selection of iconic Batman villains. The stories serve as excellent showcases for a variety of artists and authors, and each feels true to the spirit of their characters. You preference of story will probably reflect your favoritism toward the villains they feature with the exception of the Poison Ivy story which I found to be a little too straightforward for a character that has had a fair amount of depth developed in the years since this collection was published.

[ThatBookGal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love DC villains, with the Joker undoubtably sitting at the top of the food chain! Of the 5 stories in this collection they are a bit hit and miss in both story and artwork. The Jokers was my favourite story overall, it had me laughing a lot, but the artwork in that one was my least favourite, it was so odd. The Scarecrow artwork was classic comic, and I loved that. The Penguin and Two-Faces story lines were also pretty awesome.

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

São 5 histórias individuais com o Coringa conversando com o leitor e contando histórias interessantes envolvendo vilões do universo Batman, cada capítulo é um vilão diferente.

Eu realmente não esperava nada disso aqui, me surpreendeu muito. Alguns traços podem afastar alguns leitores mais exigentes, mas no geral as histórias são muito bem contadas. Meu destaque vai para o capítulo do Penguin e do Two-Face, simplesmente sensacionais.

[David J. McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read... The stories were good, the strongest ones being Two-Face, Poison Ivy and the Joker's himself... Poison Ivy and Two-Face's stories were the best animated as well. While I liked Joker's story, I hated the animation style. Scarecrow's animation was the most dissatisfying for me while Penguin's was okay... The highlight of this book was the Joker as the host... His one-liners were well written... And his way of closing Two-Face's story was creative...

[Csongor Szoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 történet, mind az 5 tetszett, úgyhogy 5 csillag.
Egyébként gyorstalpaló Batman 5 ellenségének a pszichéjébe. Ezek a karakterek pedig rengeteg kérdést vetnek fel az emberekről, erkölcsi dilemmákról és hogy különféle sérülések és traumák milyen különféle embereket hoznak létre.
Végső soron egyik se jó, és Batman végül mindig eljön. Úgyhogy ha nem akarjuk hogy értünk is eljöljön akkor tanuljunk a képregény szereplőinek hibáiból.

[Rizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much from these, but they're actually really good examinations of these villains. Being an anthology, some are better than others of course. But don't let the generic concept fool you, these are fun reads.

[Max Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joker is telling us the tales about the other crazies and it's a mixed bag. Some stories are good, some are mediocre. And if you're buying this as separate issues, don't get tricked by the cover art, it's not as good inside. The best ones are Penguin's and Joker's, I'd say.

[Chalupa Batman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read; anthology series similar to the Tales From the Crypt with the Joker serving as the Crypt Keeper. Each story focuses on a one of Batman's rogue villains & has a little bit of a Horror twist.

[Paige Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art looks like smudged crumbs and Joker is in parachute pants. Like an even more psychedelic Eric Andre show. Darkly funny in a way a little extra creepy, preachy, absurd than usual. ICP meets Beetlejuice maybe.

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dig, if you will, The Joker as a Rod Serling on methamphetamine and you have...the picture. Definitely a journey of interest,

[John Funderburg · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, but I'll round up. This book really surprised me - a great lineup of villain-centric stories from the Batman universe.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kinda different as it’s great story’s that you never herd before told by the joker. It’s good for short entertainment value.