Review #21 - "Going Sane" (Legends of the Dark Knight #65 - #65)
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciller: Joe Staton
Inker: Steve Mitchell
Colourist: Digital Chameleon
Ahhh, Going Sane, Going Sane.
I can't quite remember, but I think I discovered this story, all four issues, in the back stock bins of my local, one trillion years ago.
I do remember flipping and coming to the cover of issue two and being all like: JOKER IS KISSING A WOMAN!?
OMG!
I think I got butterflies.
And after that I read Going Sane many, many times. I'm glad they've released it in TPB cos now I don't gotta thumb through those original issues no more. :)
This was one of the first big Joker story arcs I ever owned and for that reason it's gonna be very near and dear to me. But beyond that - this actually really is just a great story. One of the best Joker stories of the modern age, if you ask me. That don't write 'em like that anymore. Or at least, not many do.
This story has action, of course, but largely it is a cerebral tale. Largely it gets very down and intimate with its leads - Batman and Joker. Quite particularly the Joker.
But what's it all about?
Basically, this: it's still early in Batman's career and he's faced Joker a few times now and already considers him his greatest threat, his ultimate foe. Joker, of course, has his pronounced preoccupation with Batman and the story opens with his soliciting Batman's attention - through killing innocent people, of course, while disguised as a regular old circus clown, even pausing long enough to entertain them with a good-old fashioned routine, getting them laughing without the use of his toxin - which I think is an interesting point to note. The Joker can make people laugh. He is, after all, a clown. There's a little interesting speculation on the nature of the clown, how we laugh at the clown because we fear being what he is, right before Joker blows 'em all sky high. The clown bites back?
Following on from this, Joker kidnaps an outspoken councilwoman and lures Batman to him where he sets off a bomb.
Batman is injured badly enough that the Joker thinks he's dead and for awhile is speechless with delight before dumping Batman in a nearby river and going off to celebrate. But as he celebrates, he comes to realise that the meaning is gone from his life. Without a Batman, what is the Joker to do?
And so we come to the title of this story, and its predominant theme: Going Sane.
For this is what the Joker does. He gets onto medication to pigment his skin (only in comics), uses funds from previous crimes to set himself up in a nice apartment in a quiet neighbourhood and becomes - an accountant.
As utterly different a life to everything the Joker was as can be imagined. A life so mild, so restrained, so conservative and in such absolute contrast to the flamboyant hedonism of the Joker that no one would ever think to look twice at gentle, well-mannered Joseph Kerr.
But this is not simply a disguise - the Joker has forgotten his previous life. Even his stolen funds he "remembers" as an inheritance from his parents. He cannot remember where he came from or the precise circumstances that landed him in Gotham, but he doesn't dwell on this much. No, he's content with his quiet existence and if he is occasionally plagued by unpleasant nightmares, well… they pass.
Then he meets a beautiful girl. And it's love at first sight.
The majority of Joker's part of this story deals with his relationship with Rebecca Brown. Although his time as Joseph Kerr lasts only six months, they are head over heels and in a deeply intense relationship that sees him propose to her in short order. Rebecca is characterised as a sweet, gentle and loving woman, quite old-fashioned in much the same way Joseph is. They both have an aversion to 'modern' lifestyle (though that doesn't prohibit them shacking up together ;) ) and enjoy the same sorts of old classic movies and radio programs, preferring quiet nights in enjoying each other's company. It might not be everyone's style, but for them it's idyllic.
Well, mostly…
Because Joseph's nightmares are getting increasingly worse and along with them, so are his "episodes" - moments where he acts out of character, becomes aggressive and angry - even almost violent. Joseph wages a painful internal war with this dark part of himself, knowing he has forgotten something that's buried deep within him, terrified to face it and terrified it will consume his soul.
And what of Batman throughout all this?
Batman's body was washed along the river where it was found by a couple of boys in a town outside of Gotham. A local doctor nurses him back to health and here is the other part of the story - Batman's tentative and ultimately unfulfilled relationship with this woman. There is only the possibility of romance here, not its actualisation.
But further to that, it deals with Batman's own internal battles and what it means to be Batman - what he denies himself in doing that. While convalescing, Batman ponders whether he wants to return to his old life, to go back there when he has found peace in this quiet town and possibly even a happy future. He looks upon Batman as something dark and ugly, that has distorted both him and his aspirations.
Lynn Eagles helps him work through his torment, not just healing his body but sharing with him a story that shows him what Batman has meant to her, demonstrating though not speaking aloud that she knows that is who he is.
This helps Batman to come to terms with himself and resolve to head back to Gotham - determined to find the Joker, even though there has been no word of him certain he is still out there, a threat to the city. The bitter irony being, of course, that so long as Joker thinks Batman is dead the city is safe.
And sure enough, when Joseph gets wind of Batman's return, on the eve of their wedding, he leaves Rebecca to think he has drowned and forgets his life as Joseph completely, becoming once more the Joker.
There is the inevitable show-down; a show-down that permits a final glimpse into a shred of humanity that exists within the Joker and ultimately underscores the bitter tragedy of this story.
I've recapped that in a linear fashion, but the story is not told in that way. It jumps back and forth between flashbacks in a way that is very cinematic and further amplifies the emotional intensity of the story's events.
This story is essentially about the eternal and timeless feud between Batman and Joker and what they represent. I've heard it said this is more a Two Face story than a Joker story, but I disagree. This is very much a Joker story because it deals directly with Joker's relationship with Batman and how that possibly, potentially affects his psyche. In this story, it goes so far as to posit it KEEPS him insane. In this story Batman and Joker's weird, sick, co-dependent obsession with each other is explored in a wonderfully fascinating way and that just isn't Two Face.
This story explores how Joker and Batman represent flipsides of each other in a way that isn't so heavy-handed as, for example, Secrets. It's all about their twisted relationship and how they both feed and compel each other, drive each other to keep going. Joker basically encapsulates all that it is Batman fights against and he cannot turn away from him. Likewise, Batman is everything Joker himself strives not to be and thusly he is obsessed with him. Without each other, they are less. This is particularly so in Joker's case, who feels there is no point to his own existence without Batman - and so, there cannot be one without the other. This is similar to the ultimate point Joker made, but dealt with far more delicately and with far more class, style and substance.
In staying away from the controversial topic of Joker's possible origins and instead giving him a 'real-time' romance with a woman he could truly be happy with, genuine tragedy is finally imbued upon the Joker. I do not rest easy with a tragic backstory that 'explains' why Joker is the way it is; it feels almost like an excuse and misses the point of the character anyway. Giving him something precious he loses after he becomes the Joker is far more sophisticated. Likewise, the particular events of this story, while light on the gore and bloodshed and depravity, deal far more deftly with the Joker and Batman's sordid connection and the lengths they will both go to oppose each other than, for example, The Killing Joke.
In truth, this story is better than TKJ. There, I said it! Its emotional resonance is far superior and the story itself is more interesting, more indepth and more creative.
Another point of interest is that, in his searching for Joker, Batman becomes aware of Rebecca and their relationship. This does not deter him in the slightest in his pursuit of hunting Joker down. And it is a truly intriguing point upon which to ponder - that Batman has this knowledge of what life the Joker lived in his absence - does he tell Joker? Does he ponder its meaning and how that possibly relates to him? Does he just not care, so long as the Joker is brought down?
Being Batman, I'm sure he did his research very thoroughly afterwards and learned all there was to know, but this is not dealt with in this story. In fact, that very crucial little elements seems to have been entirely ignored and considered the very interesting story that could lie within it, this is a true shame. I'd love to see DeMatteis revisit this one day, but alas I think he has long left DC's employ. But truly, there is so much in here for Batman to explore - the nature of the Joker, and his relationship with the Clown, for one. What he took from the Joker in returning, for another. You know Batman would consider that, even though I'm sure he would ultimately decide he did the right thing. It'd raise a few nice little existential questions for him as well, I imagine. Especially considering his return was driven by the Joker - by his need to find him and beat him.
And does Batman ever think about talking to the Joker about this?
Gosh, there is so much good story in there. So. Much. Sigh.
Another element of torture and tragedy to this story is that although Joseph clearly adores Rebecca, is a devoted and caring and loving man, this relationship is doomed to become abusive and destructive. We are given ample indication of that. Joseph's 'episodes' do not decrease over the duration of the story, but intensify. At one point he nearly hits Rebecca, and true to the typical abusive relationship model, afterwards he inundates her with flowers and proposes.
The truth is, Joseph is not the man Joker was 'before' he came the Joker. He's the man Joker becomes AFTER he stops being the Joker.
The Joker is not a fantasy, or a false identity he adopted willy nilly. It is who he is and that cannot be completely eliminated or suppressed. Joseph is some buried aspect or potential of the Joker, but the Joker is ultimately who he is.
This is part of the tragedy of this story:
Joseph Kerr is not who the Joker "really" is - he is a creation of the Joker's psyche so that the Joker may go into hiding. But beneath it all he remains the Joker, evidenced when thar suppressed spirit keeps rising to haunt him.
The Joker is not redeemable.
THIS alone is what makes this story great. It does not go for the cheap "back story" ploy. It sits firmly in the present time the story is being told in, and gives us reason and cause to empathise with the Joker NOW, to explore the kind of life he might have if he were to resume a normal existence, and lets us see him haunted by his past. The Joker of this story is not haunted by vague, unreliable memories of his former normal life - he's haunted by vague memories of his life of crime and insanity. It's so much more interesting and sophisticated - especially as it is because of Batman that he cannot continue this peaceful life. If you're going to tell a story about what Batman and Joker mean to each other, THIS is the sort of thing that it's crucial to include. Having Joker and Batman monologue to each other about how strangely they're intertwined is nice when done well, but it's telling. This story shows us.
This is even further underscored by the fact both must make a choice about whether or not to return to the other. To allow the other to come back into their lives. Both of them attempt a life free from the other's influence, yet are tugged inexorably back to each other. In Joker's case, this choice is less voluntary than Batman's and he seems to resist it even more than the Dark Knight does. A sense of unfairness and tragedy underscores the entirety of this entwined relationship.
Additionally, in Joseph's tortured dreams, images of Batman and the Joker become almost as one. They merge into each other, both representing something he is repulsed by and terrified of doesn't know what either of them mean - he hates them both and knows they both hate him as well.
Furthermore, there are similarities between Joseph and the Joker that indicate they are not too entirely separate personas - their tastes, for example, their interests, the sort of media and entertainment they enjoy. Joseph may be far more restrained and the Joker much more ostentatious, but they share personality threads.
Councilwoman Kenner is effectively used to act as a foil against Rebecca at a few points, and in one particularly poignant moment that is simply wonderful.
Again, when I think of this story compared to TKJ, I think about how understated some of it is. For example, Rebecca lives. Another writer may have had Joker kill her in a misguided attempt to drive home his inhumanity and the story's tragedy - but it is so much more effective, and tragic, that she lives - completely unaware of what has become of the love of her life, doomed to long for him forever while he consciously remembers nothing of her.
As a point of interest, in a later story in the JLA title, DeMatteis brings Rebecca in again, this time manifesting as a fragment of humanity buried deep within Joker's soul, living a loving existence with Joker as Joseph. Intended to demonstrate that even within the most warped of minds lies the potential for beauty and love. zhinxy swears that Rebecca's pose and the colour of her clothing is meant to evoke a sense of Harley too, who had not long prior appeared in the mainstream. It's a lovely little moment to see, and I like that continuity is acknowledged here as poor Rebecca has never been mentioned again since - and that's a damn shame. There's even beautiful story potential there for a compare and contrast between her and Harley and what they each brought/bring to the Joker's life - or lives. Plus, she is still alive and out there.
At any rate for all of these reasons and more, Going Sane is truly one of the great classic contemporary Joker stories. It may not have the profile of stories like TKJ or Joker, but it deserves it and it's a real shame.
So - buy the recently released trade paperback, read it, love it and talk about it everywhere you talk Batman!!!
And I challenge you not to weep for the Clown Prince in this tale.
Penciller: Joe Staton
Inker: Steve Mitchell
Colourist: Digital Chameleon
Ahhh, Going Sane, Going Sane.
I can't quite remember, but I think I discovered this story, all four issues, in the back stock bins of my local, one trillion years ago.
I do remember flipping and coming to the cover of issue two and being all like: JOKER IS KISSING A WOMAN!?
OMG!
I think I got butterflies.
And after that I read Going Sane many, many times. I'm glad they've released it in TPB cos now I don't gotta thumb through those original issues no more. :)
This was one of the first big Joker story arcs I ever owned and for that reason it's gonna be very near and dear to me. But beyond that - this actually really is just a great story. One of the best Joker stories of the modern age, if you ask me. That don't write 'em like that anymore. Or at least, not many do.
This story has action, of course, but largely it is a cerebral tale. Largely it gets very down and intimate with its leads - Batman and Joker. Quite particularly the Joker.
But what's it all about?
Basically, this: it's still early in Batman's career and he's faced Joker a few times now and already considers him his greatest threat, his ultimate foe. Joker, of course, has his pronounced preoccupation with Batman and the story opens with his soliciting Batman's attention - through killing innocent people, of course, while disguised as a regular old circus clown, even pausing long enough to entertain them with a good-old fashioned routine, getting them laughing without the use of his toxin - which I think is an interesting point to note. The Joker can make people laugh. He is, after all, a clown. There's a little interesting speculation on the nature of the clown, how we laugh at the clown because we fear being what he is, right before Joker blows 'em all sky high. The clown bites back?
Following on from this, Joker kidnaps an outspoken councilwoman and lures Batman to him where he sets off a bomb.
Batman is injured badly enough that the Joker thinks he's dead and for awhile is speechless with delight before dumping Batman in a nearby river and going off to celebrate. But as he celebrates, he comes to realise that the meaning is gone from his life. Without a Batman, what is the Joker to do?
And so we come to the title of this story, and its predominant theme: Going Sane.
For this is what the Joker does. He gets onto medication to pigment his skin (only in comics), uses funds from previous crimes to set himself up in a nice apartment in a quiet neighbourhood and becomes - an accountant.
As utterly different a life to everything the Joker was as can be imagined. A life so mild, so restrained, so conservative and in such absolute contrast to the flamboyant hedonism of the Joker that no one would ever think to look twice at gentle, well-mannered Joseph Kerr.
But this is not simply a disguise - the Joker has forgotten his previous life. Even his stolen funds he "remembers" as an inheritance from his parents. He cannot remember where he came from or the precise circumstances that landed him in Gotham, but he doesn't dwell on this much. No, he's content with his quiet existence and if he is occasionally plagued by unpleasant nightmares, well… they pass.
Then he meets a beautiful girl. And it's love at first sight.
The majority of Joker's part of this story deals with his relationship with Rebecca Brown. Although his time as Joseph Kerr lasts only six months, they are head over heels and in a deeply intense relationship that sees him propose to her in short order. Rebecca is characterised as a sweet, gentle and loving woman, quite old-fashioned in much the same way Joseph is. They both have an aversion to 'modern' lifestyle (though that doesn't prohibit them shacking up together ;) ) and enjoy the same sorts of old classic movies and radio programs, preferring quiet nights in enjoying each other's company. It might not be everyone's style, but for them it's idyllic.
Well, mostly…
Because Joseph's nightmares are getting increasingly worse and along with them, so are his "episodes" - moments where he acts out of character, becomes aggressive and angry - even almost violent. Joseph wages a painful internal war with this dark part of himself, knowing he has forgotten something that's buried deep within him, terrified to face it and terrified it will consume his soul.
And what of Batman throughout all this?
Batman's body was washed along the river where it was found by a couple of boys in a town outside of Gotham. A local doctor nurses him back to health and here is the other part of the story - Batman's tentative and ultimately unfulfilled relationship with this woman. There is only the possibility of romance here, not its actualisation.
But further to that, it deals with Batman's own internal battles and what it means to be Batman - what he denies himself in doing that. While convalescing, Batman ponders whether he wants to return to his old life, to go back there when he has found peace in this quiet town and possibly even a happy future. He looks upon Batman as something dark and ugly, that has distorted both him and his aspirations.
Lynn Eagles helps him work through his torment, not just healing his body but sharing with him a story that shows him what Batman has meant to her, demonstrating though not speaking aloud that she knows that is who he is.
This helps Batman to come to terms with himself and resolve to head back to Gotham - determined to find the Joker, even though there has been no word of him certain he is still out there, a threat to the city. The bitter irony being, of course, that so long as Joker thinks Batman is dead the city is safe.
And sure enough, when Joseph gets wind of Batman's return, on the eve of their wedding, he leaves Rebecca to think he has drowned and forgets his life as Joseph completely, becoming once more the Joker.
There is the inevitable show-down; a show-down that permits a final glimpse into a shred of humanity that exists within the Joker and ultimately underscores the bitter tragedy of this story.
I've recapped that in a linear fashion, but the story is not told in that way. It jumps back and forth between flashbacks in a way that is very cinematic and further amplifies the emotional intensity of the story's events.
This story is essentially about the eternal and timeless feud between Batman and Joker and what they represent. I've heard it said this is more a Two Face story than a Joker story, but I disagree. This is very much a Joker story because it deals directly with Joker's relationship with Batman and how that possibly, potentially affects his psyche. In this story, it goes so far as to posit it KEEPS him insane. In this story Batman and Joker's weird, sick, co-dependent obsession with each other is explored in a wonderfully fascinating way and that just isn't Two Face.
This story explores how Joker and Batman represent flipsides of each other in a way that isn't so heavy-handed as, for example, Secrets. It's all about their twisted relationship and how they both feed and compel each other, drive each other to keep going. Joker basically encapsulates all that it is Batman fights against and he cannot turn away from him. Likewise, Batman is everything Joker himself strives not to be and thusly he is obsessed with him. Without each other, they are less. This is particularly so in Joker's case, who feels there is no point to his own existence without Batman - and so, there cannot be one without the other. This is similar to the ultimate point Joker made, but dealt with far more delicately and with far more class, style and substance.
In staying away from the controversial topic of Joker's possible origins and instead giving him a 'real-time' romance with a woman he could truly be happy with, genuine tragedy is finally imbued upon the Joker. I do not rest easy with a tragic backstory that 'explains' why Joker is the way it is; it feels almost like an excuse and misses the point of the character anyway. Giving him something precious he loses after he becomes the Joker is far more sophisticated. Likewise, the particular events of this story, while light on the gore and bloodshed and depravity, deal far more deftly with the Joker and Batman's sordid connection and the lengths they will both go to oppose each other than, for example, The Killing Joke.
In truth, this story is better than TKJ. There, I said it! Its emotional resonance is far superior and the story itself is more interesting, more indepth and more creative.
Another point of interest is that, in his searching for Joker, Batman becomes aware of Rebecca and their relationship. This does not deter him in the slightest in his pursuit of hunting Joker down. And it is a truly intriguing point upon which to ponder - that Batman has this knowledge of what life the Joker lived in his absence - does he tell Joker? Does he ponder its meaning and how that possibly relates to him? Does he just not care, so long as the Joker is brought down?
Being Batman, I'm sure he did his research very thoroughly afterwards and learned all there was to know, but this is not dealt with in this story. In fact, that very crucial little elements seems to have been entirely ignored and considered the very interesting story that could lie within it, this is a true shame. I'd love to see DeMatteis revisit this one day, but alas I think he has long left DC's employ. But truly, there is so much in here for Batman to explore - the nature of the Joker, and his relationship with the Clown, for one. What he took from the Joker in returning, for another. You know Batman would consider that, even though I'm sure he would ultimately decide he did the right thing. It'd raise a few nice little existential questions for him as well, I imagine. Especially considering his return was driven by the Joker - by his need to find him and beat him.
And does Batman ever think about talking to the Joker about this?
Gosh, there is so much good story in there. So. Much. Sigh.
Another element of torture and tragedy to this story is that although Joseph clearly adores Rebecca, is a devoted and caring and loving man, this relationship is doomed to become abusive and destructive. We are given ample indication of that. Joseph's 'episodes' do not decrease over the duration of the story, but intensify. At one point he nearly hits Rebecca, and true to the typical abusive relationship model, afterwards he inundates her with flowers and proposes.
The truth is, Joseph is not the man Joker was 'before' he came the Joker. He's the man Joker becomes AFTER he stops being the Joker.
The Joker is not a fantasy, or a false identity he adopted willy nilly. It is who he is and that cannot be completely eliminated or suppressed. Joseph is some buried aspect or potential of the Joker, but the Joker is ultimately who he is.
This is part of the tragedy of this story:
Joseph Kerr is not who the Joker "really" is - he is a creation of the Joker's psyche so that the Joker may go into hiding. But beneath it all he remains the Joker, evidenced when thar suppressed spirit keeps rising to haunt him.
The Joker is not redeemable.
THIS alone is what makes this story great. It does not go for the cheap "back story" ploy. It sits firmly in the present time the story is being told in, and gives us reason and cause to empathise with the Joker NOW, to explore the kind of life he might have if he were to resume a normal existence, and lets us see him haunted by his past. The Joker of this story is not haunted by vague, unreliable memories of his former normal life - he's haunted by vague memories of his life of crime and insanity. It's so much more interesting and sophisticated - especially as it is because of Batman that he cannot continue this peaceful life. If you're going to tell a story about what Batman and Joker mean to each other, THIS is the sort of thing that it's crucial to include. Having Joker and Batman monologue to each other about how strangely they're intertwined is nice when done well, but it's telling. This story shows us.
This is even further underscored by the fact both must make a choice about whether or not to return to the other. To allow the other to come back into their lives. Both of them attempt a life free from the other's influence, yet are tugged inexorably back to each other. In Joker's case, this choice is less voluntary than Batman's and he seems to resist it even more than the Dark Knight does. A sense of unfairness and tragedy underscores the entirety of this entwined relationship.
Additionally, in Joseph's tortured dreams, images of Batman and the Joker become almost as one. They merge into each other, both representing something he is repulsed by and terrified of doesn't know what either of them mean - he hates them both and knows they both hate him as well.
Furthermore, there are similarities between Joseph and the Joker that indicate they are not too entirely separate personas - their tastes, for example, their interests, the sort of media and entertainment they enjoy. Joseph may be far more restrained and the Joker much more ostentatious, but they share personality threads.
Councilwoman Kenner is effectively used to act as a foil against Rebecca at a few points, and in one particularly poignant moment that is simply wonderful.
Again, when I think of this story compared to TKJ, I think about how understated some of it is. For example, Rebecca lives. Another writer may have had Joker kill her in a misguided attempt to drive home his inhumanity and the story's tragedy - but it is so much more effective, and tragic, that she lives - completely unaware of what has become of the love of her life, doomed to long for him forever while he consciously remembers nothing of her.
As a point of interest, in a later story in the JLA title, DeMatteis brings Rebecca in again, this time manifesting as a fragment of humanity buried deep within Joker's soul, living a loving existence with Joker as Joseph. Intended to demonstrate that even within the most warped of minds lies the potential for beauty and love. zhinxy swears that Rebecca's pose and the colour of her clothing is meant to evoke a sense of Harley too, who had not long prior appeared in the mainstream. It's a lovely little moment to see, and I like that continuity is acknowledged here as poor Rebecca has never been mentioned again since - and that's a damn shame. There's even beautiful story potential there for a compare and contrast between her and Harley and what they each brought/bring to the Joker's life - or lives. Plus, she is still alive and out there.
At any rate for all of these reasons and more, Going Sane is truly one of the great classic contemporary Joker stories. It may not have the profile of stories like TKJ or Joker, but it deserves it and it's a real shame.
So - buy the recently released trade paperback, read it, love it and talk about it everywhere you talk Batman!!!
And I challenge you not to weep for the Clown Prince in this tale.