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The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (2022) (Single Issues)
The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing (2022-) #2
Have you ever wondered if you’re the best version of you? What if the best version of you was on national television committing shocking acts of atrocity that could only be perpetrated by a mind as bent and broken as...the Joker?! The Clown Prince of Crime is about to find out a shocking new truth...
34 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2022
About the author
Matthew Rosenberg
763 books178 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 6, 2022
So far so good! I'm really curious to see where this is going!
November 7, 2022
This was great, I just wish it had some better drawings of Harley in her Supes pajamas
January 14, 2023
"How many people does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two. But they have to be very small."
And Puddin' is back and riding again! Not in one shape, but in two, and who is who?! 😂 (rhyme is not really my style)
Still waiting that these backup stories make some sense.
And Puddin' is back and riding again! Not in one shape, but in two, and who is who?! 😂 (rhyme is not really my style)
Still waiting that these backup stories make some sense.
November 21, 2022
Genuinely interested in where this is going and loved seeing Harley.
January 23, 2023
I want to know about The Joker. Start talking. Now.
February 26, 2023
that last panel though
November 25, 2022
Strong second part which grants more depth to the "Second Joker" mystery. Reveal of a fan-favorite character. Decent artwork with good colors. 5/5
January 17, 2023
The first issue of The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing set up a new status quo for the villain, having him leave Gotham for a cross country tour where he'd spread his brand of chaos to other cities. However, things back in Gotham became a little more complicated when a man the Joker shot in the head climbed out of his grave and stumbled into a bar where he killed someone in the bathroom, where he pulled the sack off his head to reveal....the Joker.
It as an unexpected development for what seemed a pretty simple new direction for the titular character, and one that makes this second issue very important. What does this all mean, who is this second Joker, who's the original? There are a lot of questions that need answering. And this issue gives us tiny clues, but holds back on really giving us many answers.
The first half of the book follows the wounded Joker in Gotham as he stumbles round the city, looking for somewhere where he can lay his head for a bit to recover. He gets in a couple of scrapes along the way, enough that some people start to talk about how he's still in Gotham, and for rumours of his presence there to start to spread. He eventually finds one of his old gang, and manages to take some time to recover for a bit. Out and about in Gotham, however, Jason Todd in on his trail, trying to track down this new Joker.
After getting some rest and some new clothes, the Gotham Joker heads to Harley's ferry, and gets knocked out and tied to a chair. After a small conversation, Harley lets him go, believing him to be a fake Joker because of the way he's acting. Whilst The Joker considers if he could somehow be a fake, Red Hood smashes through the door and grabs him.
Outside Gotham, the other Joker hears news that the man he shot in the head is still alive.
So, it's still unclear as to what's happening here, of which of these two men, if any, is the real Joker. Both of them present interesting arguments for being the Joker. They both seem to have the Joker's memories. They both seem to believe they are the Joker. But there are some differences in how they act, and even how they look, with the art team going out of their way to make the two men different enough that you can see different qualities of the character in them.
It'll be interesting if the series continues on in this way, in using the two different Jokers to explore different aspects of the character. But what does it all mean? Has the Joker been split, or are these alternate universe versions of the Joker, or is Harley right, and is one of them someone who's been manipulated into thinking they're the Joker through brainwashing? This mystery is still fresh enough that it's enough to carry the series; though I expect that things will have to evolve soon, and that bringing Jason into it is how the series is going to do that.
The back-up feature is once again set in a older time, designed to feel like a book from the Golden Age. In this adventure the Joker is upset that his 'friends', the other villains, don't seem to particularly care about him, or say nice things about him. So, in order to get around this he fakes his death and arranges a funeral for all of the villains to attend and talk about how much they cared about him and loved him.
It's a little ridiculous, but absolutely feels like something from a bygone era. The villains turning up at the suburbs to come and hang out at Jokers house, the villains all in costume wearing their funeral outfits over the top of them, the things they say about the Joker during their eulogies. It all feels silly in the best way. It's not clear why this is part of the book, or why it connects to the main story (if it even does), but there is a moment when the villains believe him to be an impostor, which does make me think of the main story a bit.
Wherever this series is going, it seems to be gearing up to be an intriguing mystery.
It as an unexpected development for what seemed a pretty simple new direction for the titular character, and one that makes this second issue very important. What does this all mean, who is this second Joker, who's the original? There are a lot of questions that need answering. And this issue gives us tiny clues, but holds back on really giving us many answers.
The first half of the book follows the wounded Joker in Gotham as he stumbles round the city, looking for somewhere where he can lay his head for a bit to recover. He gets in a couple of scrapes along the way, enough that some people start to talk about how he's still in Gotham, and for rumours of his presence there to start to spread. He eventually finds one of his old gang, and manages to take some time to recover for a bit. Out and about in Gotham, however, Jason Todd in on his trail, trying to track down this new Joker.
After getting some rest and some new clothes, the Gotham Joker heads to Harley's ferry, and gets knocked out and tied to a chair. After a small conversation, Harley lets him go, believing him to be a fake Joker because of the way he's acting. Whilst The Joker considers if he could somehow be a fake, Red Hood smashes through the door and grabs him.
Outside Gotham, the other Joker hears news that the man he shot in the head is still alive.
So, it's still unclear as to what's happening here, of which of these two men, if any, is the real Joker. Both of them present interesting arguments for being the Joker. They both seem to have the Joker's memories. They both seem to believe they are the Joker. But there are some differences in how they act, and even how they look, with the art team going out of their way to make the two men different enough that you can see different qualities of the character in them.
It'll be interesting if the series continues on in this way, in using the two different Jokers to explore different aspects of the character. But what does it all mean? Has the Joker been split, or are these alternate universe versions of the Joker, or is Harley right, and is one of them someone who's been manipulated into thinking they're the Joker through brainwashing? This mystery is still fresh enough that it's enough to carry the series; though I expect that things will have to evolve soon, and that bringing Jason into it is how the series is going to do that.
The back-up feature is once again set in a older time, designed to feel like a book from the Golden Age. In this adventure the Joker is upset that his 'friends', the other villains, don't seem to particularly care about him, or say nice things about him. So, in order to get around this he fakes his death and arranges a funeral for all of the villains to attend and talk about how much they cared about him and loved him.
It's a little ridiculous, but absolutely feels like something from a bygone era. The villains turning up at the suburbs to come and hang out at Jokers house, the villains all in costume wearing their funeral outfits over the top of them, the things they say about the Joker during their eulogies. It all feels silly in the best way. It's not clear why this is part of the book, or why it connects to the main story (if it even does), but there is a moment when the villains believe him to be an impostor, which does make me think of the main story a bit.
Wherever this series is going, it seems to be gearing up to be an intriguing mystery.
August 27, 2025
I think I'm going to binge this series because it's proper good! Loving the art style and the plot.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews