Going Sane

[cyberghostface]

This was a four-parter from Legends of the Dark Knight that ran from #66 to #68 by J.M. DeMatteis and Joe Staton. It's in my opinion a very interesting take on the Joker's character.

So Joker's up to his old tricks again, only this time he manages to get the upper hand on the Batman.



Boom.













#67...

So naturally Gotham City is concerned that both the Joker and Batman are missing with reports that Joker might have finally killed Bats.





Outside his new apartment, 'Joker' bumps into a young woman.







Rebecca knows from 'Joseph' that he's taking pills for a skin condition and that he's struggled with a mental illness in the past. This doesn't concern her, as she's never been happier with anyone else.

Joseph's dreams, meanwhile, are haunted by horrific manifestations of the Joker and Batman, attempting to claw their way back to the surface. The Joker persona almost surfaces after hearing about him on the news, and he breaks down laughing in the elevator.





As Rebecca hopes that whatever demons were haunting Joseph have gone away for good, Alfred visits the Batcave and discovers that Batman is back.

#67...









"We - keep - coming - back."

A lot of the issue, which I'm not posting, focuses on what happened to Batman when he was washed up ashore and found by the doctor. It's a mirror to the Joker's storyline; she doesn't know who Batman is, and there's sort of a romance there as we see a different life that Bruce could lead away from his role as Batman. But it's revealed that she knew all along and encourages him to go back to Gotham.








Finally, #68...

So Batman hears that the Joker has returned, and this time he has kidnapped a Gotham councilwoman.

We flashback to see 'Joseph' and Rebecca in happier times...










So Joker takes the councilwoman hostage on a 'honeymoon' but is pursued by Batman. Joker tells Batman he's not going to let him take Rebecca away from him.





Batman thinks to himself that for a moment he saw something tender in Joker's eyes, but whatever it was, it's gone.

Joker attempts to blow up the boat and escape via a jetpack, but Batman grabs him and the two fall into the ocean. Batman saves his nemesis from drowning and takes him to the helicopter.

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

i remember this story, but the first thing i thought when i saw the teaser scan was "EWWW EWW EWWWWWWW!"

[silverzeo]

I remember a cover about "The Man who Killed Joker's Wife". Was that this woman or the one in Moore's Killer Joker

[cyberghostface]

It's probably referring to the wife from 'Killing Joke'. It was retconned that she was killed by the mob people that Joker fell in with recently.

[shadowpsykie]

oh where was that?It was retconned that she was killed by the mob people that Joker fell in with recently.

[cyberghostface]

In Batman: Gotham Knights #54. It was in the 'Hush Returns' arc.

[silverzeo]

How did that worked out?

[aaron_bourque]

It's in my opinion a very interesting take on the Joker's character.

Interesting sure. Simplistic, too. It should take more than one act, even killing Batman, for Joker to deal with his issues or even sublimate them to the degree presented here. Damn bleak, would be another way to describe it, implying that the only real outcome between Batman and Joker is the death of one or the other. Easily overlooked and best forgotten is my opinion of this piece. The only thing this story has going for it is the idea that somewhere deep down Joker isn't mass-murdering psycho, which more people should remember.

The Joker isn't smiling just because he's having fun, he's smiling because he's in pain, and if he didn't laugh at it (in himself and others), he'd go even more off the deep end.

[thehefner]

Personally, I don't find it any more or less simplistic than Alan Moore' "Killing Joke" origin story. It's no more likely than a little guy would become the Fucking Joker after "One Bad Day" any more than the Fucking Joker would become another little guy after killing Batman. It's one of those things where I'm willing to suspend disbelief because the story itself is so powerful from an emotional character standpoint.

[aaron_bourque]

The difference is that in this story, it's presented as is, but in Killing Joke, it's possibly the origin story, but even Joker doesn't know.

[starwolf_oakley]

Elements of Killing Joke have been used in Batman stories. One SHADOW OF THE BAT story had the Joker kidnapping people who didn't laugh at him when he was trying to be a stand-up comedian in the KJ flashbacks. Of course, the story doesn't say if the flashbacks are accurate.

[whitesycamore]

It's no more simplistic or unlikely than the very concept of the Joker in the first place.

The Joker is not a realistic character; he's an archetype. It's fun to see that archetype disappear for a story arc, but I don't see that the method of disappearance is any more simplistic than it's original conception.

There's no way to write a psychologically believable Joker story because the Joker is not a psychologically believable character. He's a fun and interesting character though, and it's possible to write fun and interesting stories about him. Imo this was one of them.

[an_idol_mind]

I really like this story. It's one of the rare times that the Joker has come off as a truly tragic character, rather than a guy who needs a bullet in the brain.

[thehefner]

In a better world, this comments thread would be flooded with praise for this story, along with people hailing DeMatteis as one of the greatest writers in comics. I'm just gonna chalk up this anemic response to the possibility that people have already read this from when it was posted before.

Fun fact: DeMatteis story was actually written many years earlier, but it was rejected. Even before that, he was thinking of doing it with Hugo Strange. Even before that, it would going to be a Marvel story with Wonder Man and the Grim Reaper. This is the story which eventually became Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt. So Going Sane is a kind of sister story, taking the core idea to different places.

I adore both stories, and yet, I can't help but wonder what Hugo Strange's story would have been like.

[cyberghostface]

Yeah, DeMatteis is one of my faves as well. This, Kraven's Last Hunt and his stories on Spectacular with Harry were all fantastic.

[aaron_bourque]

I think it would've worked better as a Strange story.

[thehefner]

How so? When I think of this story idea, mysticism doesn't come to mind any more than superpowers.

[aaron_bourque]

Hugo Strange has neither.

[thehefner]

Yes, which is why he'd work very well for this kind of story, because he's not much different from Kraven in that regard. And unlike Kraven, he already had a history with trying to take over Batman's identity for himself. Doing Kraven's Last Hunt with Hugo is a pretty logical progression of the character's history.

[aaron_bourque]

I meant doing "Going Sane" with Strange, imo, makes more sense than with Joker.

[eyz]

I really liked the exploration of the Joker as a character here^^
I completely forgot about this story! I need to get a TPB of this arc ASAP!!

Great post^^
I'm a big fan of DeMatteis!

[blackruzsa]

Painful, absolutely painful.

I like stories like this--the only thing I hate is that we all know it will never end well. Still....

[riddler13]

God, I LOVE this story so much! Thank you for posting it!

[proteus_lives]

Top notch Joker.