Glad I didn't pay for it.

So I've been on a good streak with graphic novels lately. I've been talking to friends and reading the Amazon top ten lists to pick the ones best to read. I saw some positive notices about the noirish nature of Brian Azzarello's The Joker and thinking it might be like Criminal, I picked it up. Sadly it was not.

The concept, the Joker is released from Arkham Asylum and aims to win back his criminal empire, but it never went much further than the concept. A wanna be named Jonny Frost serves as his right hand man in hopes of becoming a criminal genius himself. He learns that hooking up with a psychopath probably isn't a great idea. There isn't much development beyond that. You also don't learn much about the Joker aside from the fact that he is an angry crime boss who wants vengeance and that he likes random violence.

The art is quite good, so if you are looking for a grimy depiction of Gotham, this is a good choice. I loved the picture of Joker emerging from freedom and of him fishing downstream from refineries. Just don't look for much interest on the story side.