What really makes this comic stand out, is the artwork and it's way of telling of story with storyboard imaging with no words in the intro of the comic that shows Batman arriving at Arkham Asylum to talk to the Joker.
As the story continues on, it shows to be very dark and violent. More so towards Barbara, Jim Gordon's daughter. The Joker arrives at the Gordon residence unannounced and has a gun at his daughter who answers the door. While smiling that sinister smile that we all know, he pulls the trigger and the bullet hits her waist. Joker takes her father while she's suffering/gasping for air on the ground. Later we learn that the Joker not only shot Barbara, but he also undressed her and took pictures of her.
I really enjoyed how they touched base on the Joker's past; how he, a once sane person, became to be the infamous serial killer. Not only do we see who the Joker was before becoming insane, we also see him and Batman sort of meet for the first time where Batman mistakes him for the villain Red Hood. It isn't until after Joker falls into what seems to be an acid tank, that he is revealed to be a new person: the Joker. I thought it was clever how in the past, the Joker wanted to become a comedian and now since his horrific accident, he's hysterically insane, a lunatic, and is always pulling "pranks" of all kinds; anything for a good laugh. It's ironic that he's achieving his dream of being a comedian by becoming an insane villain that's always laughing with his really dark sense of humor.
The ending of this story will always baffle me. The fact that the police are on their way to get the Joker, and here's Batman and the Joker himself, face to face, laughing hysterically. I still don't know if the Joker slipped something to Batman that made him laugh so hard or if that was actually Batman laughing. He's fought the Joker for so many years that it's not hard to believe that he would snap with laughter from trying to take him down and keep him in Arkham. I think that this story is important because it shows how strong Batman and Joker's twisted "relationship" is with one another. Batman doesn't kill, but if certain circumstances come to that, he will.
Questions:
1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?
Answer: The text of this comic opens up wordless, with Batman arriving at Arkham Asylum to visit the Joker. The text is subtle when Batman is talking to who he thinks is the Joker.
2.What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the story in which you were able to connect.
Answer: What really stood out was Barbara getting shot and the Joker undressing her and taking pictures of her. This is a representation of rape/humiliation of someone when they are out cold/drunk. But in Barbara's case, she was shot and thus will remain paralyzed from he waist down. There are so many consequences/effects this one scene has and tells so much from just one showing. The writers' way of discussing rape and its victims was well executed and a good subject to focus on since we live in a time where so many people, young women especially, are being raped while they are out cold and then humiliated with pictures/videos of the innocent. Barbara, however, becomes useful for Batman; even though she gets permanently stuck in a wheelchair for life, she is still useful with her amount of information for discovering the truth about criminals and where they are and why they did what they did. She doesn't become useless; she doesn't become one of those characters that disappears after something horrific happens to her. She's determined to show the Joker and everyone else what it is that she can really do.
3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
Answer: The only changes that I would make to the story is to get rid of the unnecessary song that Joker sings after he kidnaps Jim Gordon. When I first saw this in the theater, I thought it was unnecessary and a waste of time. As a Batman fan, I understand that it's the Joker, he's always gonna do something crazy and different, but to me, this song just seemed out of place. Instead, I would've had the Joker just show pictures of Barb that he took of her undressed after she was shot to show how "looney" he is, instead of just singing about it like a really weird Disney film.
