Some thoughts about The Joker #1

How has the Joker affected Jim Gordon?

Jim is trying to deal with the fact that he's not Commissioner anymore along with the traumas his greatest enemy has caused on him and a mysterious woman might have the solution for him.

Yes, I hate James Tynion IV's Batman as a whole.

As I mentioned several times before, his run is nothing more than easily digestible ideas that attract a lot of sales but without anything really creative about them, the constant use of the Joker is evidence enough about that and for this reason I was dreading this upcoming series written by the man himself.

That being said, this wasn't half-bad.

Tynion fortunately enough doesn't focus this title on the Clown Prince of Crime but still is centered around Jim Gordon and how much the Joker has hurt his life. This is nicely emphasized early on with the multiple events Jim had to endure over the course of his career including most importantly, the attack on Barbara Gordon (Mind you, this also includes things that don't have anything to do with the Joker like the abrupt death of James Jr., that was all Cecil Castellucci's fault).

This escalates appropriately until a new character presents the opportunity to Jim about how to deal with the Joker once for all which it might seem like a bit out of character for him, especially considering that Jim is firm believer in the law but I'm still willing to give it a pass because of everything that has happened. The references to Batman despite that he's not really present here are well-handled and I like how Tynion doesn't go for the Tom King route of repetition to emphasize a theme.

Guillem March is in charge of the pencils and his work is really detailed by giving the characters lots of expressions and creates a strong dark atmosphere.

There's a second feature written by Tynion and Sam Johns focusing on Punchline which is usually an instant fail but at least Harper Row appears here and she is more tolerable in comparison. Mirka Andolfo's art is very vibrant.

Not a bad beginning, let's see how it progresses.