Fascination with a fictional psychopath...
Saw Dark Knight. Heath Ledger was incredible. Even my dad said so. He played so many things, or rather played a psychopath who made fun of so many things. Made fun of friendship, of family, of love, of beauty, mocked everything. And that voice, that nasal voice that sounded almost real. And the first story he told about the scars, I wanted to pity him, because of course that would fuck someone up, of course that would contribute to making him what he is - the second story was less believable, but he delivered it so well that I didn't care.
So that night when we got home Dad showed me two graphic novels. One: The Dark Knight Returns, which was good and gives Joker a sort of diabolical sexual attraction to Batman. Two, and the one I liked better: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. This one didn't have as much of a basis in canon Gotham, it was very much a "what-would-happen-if", and part of its purpose was to illustrate the interaction between the important Batman villains, and mostly Joker's particular breed of (in)sanity and how that controls the other inmates. Lots of Alice references. But the illustrations were amazing. And Joker was wonderfully written. Not so well in Dark Knight Returns - that didn't have much dialogue at all, and the face isn't nearly as expressive. In Arkham Asylum Dave McKean's illustrations are gorgeous and horrifying at the same time.
So then I did some research on the Joker, was a little disappointed with what I found, or what I didn't find. There's just not much biographical material on him, which I guess is the point for Joker - he has no name, no history, no identity. But I like characters, I like to see all sides of a character, and I'd like to know his story and see his vulnerable side. What happens when Joker doesn't know what to do?
So that night when we got home Dad showed me two graphic novels. One: The Dark Knight Returns, which was good and gives Joker a sort of diabolical sexual attraction to Batman. Two, and the one I liked better: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. This one didn't have as much of a basis in canon Gotham, it was very much a "what-would-happen-if", and part of its purpose was to illustrate the interaction between the important Batman villains, and mostly Joker's particular breed of (in)sanity and how that controls the other inmates. Lots of Alice references. But the illustrations were amazing. And Joker was wonderfully written. Not so well in Dark Knight Returns - that didn't have much dialogue at all, and the face isn't nearly as expressive. In Arkham Asylum Dave McKean's illustrations are gorgeous and horrifying at the same time.
So then I did some research on the Joker, was a little disappointed with what I found, or what I didn't find. There's just not much biographical material on him, which I guess is the point for Joker - he has no name, no history, no identity. But I like characters, I like to see all sides of a character, and I'd like to know his story and see his vulnerable side. What happens when Joker doesn't know what to do?