The best Joker story you'll ever get out of 20 pages. Read Full Review

Want to see true madness? A sane man playing at being insane because he likes it? Then this is for you. Dark and disturbing yes, but also a must read. Read Full Review

I'm addicted to this one-shot already. It really helps showcase how Joker thinks which is not something DC as a whole has made a cohesive standard for. Carpenter and Tan do very well to invite you into the mind of the clown prince of crime. Read Full Review

This is an amazing issue. I am glad having Carpenter on this issue isn't just a cheap stunt. The creative team more than anything bring their A-game and this is one of the best single issues of the year. It is seriously that good. Read Full Review

Philip Tan's art is amazing. Tan manages to visually convey the agent of chaos and terror the Joker is. Joker is scary to witness in this issue and his menace is palpable throughout the story. Read Full Review

I enjoyed this Joker caper quite a bit. The very scary notion that Joker is not crazy, but evil and sane, is made quite clear. The adventure taken in this issue is quite a fun little ride even if it takes a twisted, clunky turn at one point. Give this a shot to read a solid Joker one-shot that makes some interesting points along the way. Read Full Review

No need for Luthor to give the a clown z Prince Of Crime a gift, in The Joker: Year of the Villain. John Carpenter gives the gift to everyone reading! What a horror writer! I hope that DC provides him more opportunities to play in DC's Rogues playground! Read Full Review

As a one shot this works really well for anyone who wants to feel ill at ease. I guess with Halloween around the corner, now is indeed the perfect time for this story (and no doubt a big part of why Mr Carpenter's stab the the Clown Prince was released now). If you like The Joker or a bit of trauma to your comics, this should be right up your (crime) alley. If you are a bit squeamish however I'd suggest avoiding this issue as it's pretty full on in parts. Also animal lovers be forewarned there is a scene you might find traumatic. Read Full Review

Joker takes a henchmen under his wing and gives a glimpse of what it's like to ride side by side with evil. Read Full Review

This could have been a very depressing story " and maybe would have been if the Joker was portrayed as deadly as he usually is " but there's a surprisingly more optimistic ending than is normal for these one-shots. I don't think this story upgraded Joker like it did Riddler, Sinestro, Black Mask, or even Luthor, but it's a tense and creepy one-shot with a strong horror vibe. Read Full Review

The story is one that would make for a very interesting subplot for a Joker encounter in a Batman movie told in comic book form. Despite the art if youre a Joker fan you wont want to miss this one. Read Full Review

Ambitious, but it just falls short. This story had tons of potential and once I realized what the issue was going to be, I got very excited at its possibilities. I was hoping for Jack Nicholson, but I got Jared Leto. Read Full Review

Joker: Year of the Villain (2019-) #1 gives us a look at the Joker through the eyes of one of his henchmen. A great story and fantastic art make this single issue an interesting perspective on the Joker, and something people should read. Read Full Review

I would absolutely love to see more from this team, if the quality is about at the same level as this. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, as it doesn't do anything to blow my mind " but for a first outing, it's a strong standalone that gives you a refreshing one-off story about the Clown Prince of Crime. If they continue to make stories together about this villain, I don't think I'd be feeling fatigued any time soon. Read Full Review

I was not expecting much from this comic. Although I find the Joker interesting, I would have never thought a one-shot about him would be interesting. And, I could not have been more wrong. Read Full Review

Year of the Villain: Joker #1 is a bit mixed for me. I started off hating it but by the end found myself really enjoying it and my opinion completely changed. Where I struggled to start I flew through the end. I almost stopped reading it at one point. But, by the end, glad I didn't. The comic doesn't have the insight I'd hope from Carpenter's writing but it has his humor. Even if you're not interested in the “Year of the Villain,” this is a comic you can pick up and enjoy. Read Full Review

As far as one-shots go, this was a surefire favorite. John Carpenter is"well"he's John-freaking-Carpenter. I don't know what else there is to say. It lives up to the hype and more. Read Full Review

All around, this was a very fun issue that combined great storytelling with fun visuals. Joker may be a little overplayed currently in DC comics (we can thank the movie for that), but this entry makes for a strong argument to exist. Read Full Review

If you're going into this book looking for an offer from Lex then you'll be sorely disappointed because this is just the Joker doing evil things, while trying to have some fun in a City ruled by Bane....... and it's just a continuity mess, full of art that I wasn't a fan of. Yeah, there's some fun to be had with some situations, but overall I just couldn't get into this issue. Read Full Review

Ultimately, the story itself fails to make a case to readers for why it matters as we gain no new insights into Joker, and we don't really see him push the Year of the Villain forward in any way. Read Full Review

If you're looking for a good Joker story this week, you're out of luck at comic book stores and movie theaters alike. Read Full Review

Decently written Joker

I've mostly ignored DC Comics: Year of the Villain event. I wasn't all that plugged into Scott Snyder's Justice League. It seems to spin directly out of that series. Long story short, it was a huge financial investment and I've been burned too often by Marvel's line-wide events to jump back on that train.

The only reason I picked this one-shot up was that John Carpenter's (The Thing, Halloween, Big Trouble Little China) name was attached. I'm also a big fan of The Joker. Despite my reservations about the event, this book was a no-brainer.



Joker: Year of a Villain on a surface-level feels uncomfortably similar to Brian Azzarello's Joker Graphic Novel that was released in 2008. In that series, Joker took a liking to one of his henchmen, and over the course of the novel, we see the henchman's gradual descent into madness.

Where the Joker Graphic Novel was grounded in reality and felt like an unofficial sequel to the Nolan movies. This One-Shot feels a lot more comic booky. Joker takes a liking to one of his henchmen here as well. During a robbery, they find a Batman and Robin costume and begin playing the role of hero in Joker's own depraved way.


I don't believe that John and Anthony are directly ripping off Brian's story but the echos cannot be ignored. If the Batman & Robin cosplay aspects of the comic weren't there we'd basically be looking at the same story down to the ending.

The art of Philip Tan is great. The sight of the twisted Joker Batman and Robin is a gem and Gotham also looks great throughout the story. This issue highlights the unpredictable aspects of the character in the art direction as well as the script.


This take on Joker is equal parts creepy and uncomfortably funny. It's also very familiar if you've consumed as much Joker related material as I have lately. By the end of the story our narrator makes the connection that Joker isn't crazy at all, he's just evil. He also makes the connection that he's crazy but he's not evil which is a key distinction between the two men.

This One-Shot highlights why Joker is such an attractive subject for writers. He's an agent of chaos that challenges everyone around him. If you want to see how far you can push a character's buttons, put them next to the Joker. I'm not sure how this one-shot connects to the 'Year of the Villain" event but it is a great self-contained story and would have been better served without the association.


Even if you're suffering from event fatigue like I am I think you can still enjoy Joker: Year of the Villain #1. I'd definitely like to see John Carpenters take on more heroes and villains within the DC Universe. I just hope that next time he steps further out of the box than he does here.


Rating: 8.5/10 more

An enjoyable read that I wished was longer.

Pretty much what I hoped for from John Carpenter's Joker.

Prelude:
We've got big name John Carpenter on this issue, (hopefully it's better than J.J. writing Spider-Man) so let's see how he tackles the Joker.

The Good:
I liked Six. It's always nice to get these perspectives we don't usually get.

I also loved Carpenter's Joker and his voice.

"He's sane."

The Bad:
Not even a Year of the Villain story is it?

Joker also explored this and in my opinion a lot better. Seems to be a bit of movie synergy.

Conclusion:
It's a good story but it doesn't tie into Year of the Villain and the timing is poor.

Great art by Philip Tan.

Finally a good Joker story. Feels like a classic portrayal of the character. Wish we would get more stories like this. However the tie- in with YotV And City of Bane felt quite forced. If you read both, youll know, that these two stories don’t fit with each other anyway.

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• myconius
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Darkseid24 - Oct 10, 2019

Agreed.

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Good comics. Interesting plot and understanding of Joker.

The book has solid art and a decent story that takes a look at issues of mental illness and that sometimes flawed people make mistakes that send them down a path they might not want to go down. The story is a stand alone book that doesn't tie into the Year of the Villain story arc so people have to appreciate it for what it is and not what it isn't. I didn't expect much from the book but it's a pleasant surprise.

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RKS - Oct 10, 2019

I would have liked if it had a little more flow to the book and developed the "Year of the Villain" arc but as I said if viewed as a one shot stand alone it wasn't bad.

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Why made it a YOTV tie-in ? Nice story and décent art

I think this is what those idiots on the internet thought the movie was going to be like. This was fine, I guess. It wasn't bad like I thought it'd be. It just sort of exists.

I'm in a tough position here. On the one hand, I love Carpenter's legendary work - Halloween, The Thing and Christine... well, okay, you got me, I like Christine's soundtrack, but not much more of this movie. On the other hand, however, I saw Joker movie literally yesterday, so I still have this extremely dark, depresing and nihilistic image of descenging into madness, in my mind. This comic, while it tries to portray mental illness with more depth than you usually see in comics, it feels a bit lackluster and shallow, in comparison. Maybe f it was released earlier, before the movie came out, I'd be able to see it in a different light, and judge it for what it actually is, not what it isn't.

Still, though, I found it to be okay, but my jaw didn't drop while reading it, either. In facts, some parts of it felt a bit stretched to me, and probably could have been told more swiftly. As many Year of the Villain books, it exists because the event demands it, not because it's something actually worth picking up. more

This had some ups and downs.

THE GOOD:

-This was okay. I don't have too much else to say.

-Jeremy was actually a really compelling character.

-The portrayal of Joker was really good here. I chuckled at his jokes a couple times, and also got genuinely creeped out a couple times.

-This issue actually got really dark multiple times, which I didn't expect.

THE BAD:

-There were parts of the art I liked, but overall, I just don't think the style clicked with me. This is entirely a personal complaint, by the way.

-The script wasn't great. I found Jeremy's internal dialogue pretty cliche. Joker's dialogue was good though.

-The Enchantress storyline was pretty meh. I wasn't interested in it at all.

-This was pretty forgettable. more

" This town's gone my kind of crazy ! "
- JOKER

Felt like the comic just circled back to the finish without any new information or movement : /