Issue three of the DC Black Label title Batman: Three Jokers allows Geoff Johns to get further into the dynamics between Batman and Jason. Bitter, twisted, angry. The angry bird.
Oh yeah, it’s dark, it’s Black Label, and tense. The two Jokers, the other Jokers, the joke is on Batman as usual. It’s not unusual to be hated, for hanging around. And those who hang around Batman are liable to be put through the Joker gauntlet here and there.
The Joker, who in Jason Fabok’s talented renderings looks thin, and older. Like a current day Bob Dylan; the ‘Jokerman’ as Dylan once sang. The Joker; wisened, wise, wicked of eye, slightly dandified. The Joker: glint of genius with a touch of humanity, just enough to make you wonder if there’s anything saving inside. Is there one M&M that’s still okay in the core of that crumpled, decaying box of multicoloured candy?
The flow of the story inside this issue is often silent. Silent but threatening, suffocatingly small panels, cramped living and thinking conditions. A cell inside a block inside a box of grey, damp decay. Brad Anderson colours it inside and outside the lines, crossing the blue line, the red line of anger and speed. The bodies are well defined, the revenge and baser human emotions are colourfully on display.
As a Batman tale, this one is as solid and septic as they come. It’s dark, Batman-enhanced, and this final chapter is fully capable of entertaining at a high level.
DC Black Label, Batman: Three Jokers #3, $6.99 for 50 pages of content. Mature
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