Punchline #1, from DC, emerges from The Joker War and frankly requires that the reader be familiar with its surroundings. You Have Homework.
It’s a beautifully choreographed resumption of play for the character Punchline, courtesy of cocreator, and writer James Tynion IV, along with Sam Johns.
Characters Leslie Thompkins, Harper Row, and Cullen Row get wrapped up big time in the Punchline myth and mythology. Oh, it’s a brambled path of thorns to keep up with Punchline, and the reader gets pulled into her orbit along with the supporting cast. Alexis Kaye, schoolgirl, then becoming a follower of the Joker. How, what, why, and when.
It’s dramatic, it’s extra pages, (long book) and definitely gripping. But you gotta have done your prior reading before this test: nothing is explained, there are no polite introductions. Just pick it up, and go from there, just like the School of Hard Knocks. Can’t knock it until you try it!
I enjoyed the art, by Mirka Andolfo. Dynamic, touching, fresh, exaggerated. Colours by Romulo Fajardo are energetic too, giving energy to this chaotic, insane tale of incessant longing. The wanting to belong, to rebel, to break free. That there really is a bigger picture out there, a hero for all of us, flawed and punctured with pain. A punchline to the lead up to the joke that is life.
DC, Punchline #1, $4.99 for 37 pages of content
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