Is October a Big Month for the Joker?

[aeka]

So in addition to Scott Snyder writing the Joker beginning with Batman #13, it looks like the Clown Prince of Crime will be making an appearance in Catwoman #13 as well.



Catwoman will be taken over by a new writer, Ann Nocenti starting with Catwoman #0, and she will also be continuing writing the series with #13.

Ann doesn't elaborate on what to expect with #13 specifically in any of the interviews that she gives, but Batman writer Scott Snyder had this to say about the Joker for HIS Batman run:

Joker is my favorite villain of all time. Not just in comics. In everything - film, books, TV. He's the greatest, hands down. So this story is something extremely important and personal to me - something I've been building in my head ever since I started working in Gotham. Basically, this is my big exploration of the Joker, my ARKHAM ASYLUM or THE KILLING JOKE, only bigger in scope. Bottom line: it's the biggest, baddest, most shocking Joker story I could tell. This is Joker completely unleashed. He has been away for a full year planning this revenge, watching, plotting, setting things up. And now he's back. He has his traps set, his knives sharpened... And wait 'til you see him. Greg's sketches literally gave me chills. Point blank: This is Joker like you've never seen him before. He has a mission. He has a secret. And he has a serious axe to grind with Batman. It isn't going to be pretty, but it's going to be a wild ride. Thanks for taking it with us.

Given that his Night of the Owls event extended over to other Batbooks (including Catwoman), I wouldn't put it past him to extend his Big Joker story to the other Batbooks again as well. Judging by the cover for both October issues of Batman and Catwoman, it looks like this will most likely be the case.

Comments

[kenn_el]

I don't really see 'Joker' when I see that cover. Possibly because artists have generally emphasized his white face as being whiter than his teeth. In Nocenti's interviews I've noted a lack of Bat references. I think that's probably good for Selina. I liked her pre-Flashpoint interactions with the Bat Family, but since all that has been wiped away, the further she can get from them the better IMO.

[aeka]

Big red smile lurking in the shadows screams 'Joker' to me. Also, considering that he's *faceless* right now, I'm not very much expecting artists to show us his "face" at the moment. Similarly, the lack of Bat references in Nocenti's interviews could be her avoiding plot spoilers.

[grimmbear]

Joker will have a new face apparently, that's the reason they won't show it on the covers, they want a big reveal.

[cyberghostface]

Maybe the real cover will show how he looks like and this is just to protect it from being spoiled?

[mrstatham]

I hope not. As a cover goes, this is pretty solid in terms of composition, and it'd arguably look more sinister leaving it as is, just like the promotional image for Batman #13 looks better when all we can see are the Joker's eyes and laughing mouth.

Besides, there'll probably be a big ol' cliffhanger moment in Batman #13 where the issue ends with us seeing what Joker's new face looks like.

[darkknightjrk]

Hmm...not sure how I feel about this. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here who enjoyed Winnick's Catwoman, but while Nocenti started out on an interesting note with Green Arrow, it's kinda moved into "meh" territory and just about completely lost me. I hope Nocenti has a stronger, more lively take on Selina.

[mrstatham]

March's art was the bigger problem for me with Catwoman, which came to a head with that utterly ridiculous #0 issue cover. I'm sick and tired of her wearing expressions with her eyes wide as dinnerplates or her mouth cast like a blow-up doll, so I was looking for a change in artist more than anything else.

But Winnick hadn't impressed me either. He seemed to have that very Spinal Tap-esque problem of confusing 'sexy' with 'sexist', to a degree (although so did March), and well... I just think Nocenti will do a better job than him.

[aeka]

Agreed. Even though I'm a bit concerned about Nocenti continuing what Winick already established in the first 12 issues for sake of continuity, at the same time her Batman/Catwoman: Trail of the Gun story gives me faith she can execute better than Winick did.

[darkknightjrk]

Trial of the Gun...that was like an anti-gun public ad thing with her and Ethan Van Sciver, right? I remember that being kind-of terrible.

[aeka]

It wasn't Nocenti's best writing, I admit. But even so, her Selina felt more recognisable as Selina than anything Winick has written so far. Winick's Catwoman reads more like a fanboy fantasy come true rather than a story about the character herself. I called it quits after #7 even though I liked Adriana Melo's art.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, I thought March's interiors were far superior to his covers since, like, issue #3. What I found March succeeded most at was the action sequences--one moment that's stuck in my head was when Selina is tied down to a chair, it falls to the back and she uses it to break free--her feet slamming up to greet her attacker's faces, and her whole motion felt like it was coming right at the viewer. Adriana Melo also did some good fill-ins.

As for Winnick's writing--I thought it was interesting what he was doing with her, though I can get why it could rub people off the wrong way. The only thing that really disappointed me about his run was that he promised that Selina would eventually become the Danny Ocean of the DCU, and what we saw in terms of her stealing shit wasn't really all that clever or gadget-filled. Hopefully Nocenti will do a little more with that.

[mrstatham]

March does have a nice sense of fluidity and motion, but the problems with his interiors are the same ones I have with his covers - it's just that sense of exaggeration and whatever. I will be happy to see the back of him, I'm sorry to say - but I think March was doing far, far better work when he first came to DC, and I think he's far better on a book where the T+A quota can't be so high - like Azrael, or the upcoming Talon book, whose cover is a million times better than inflatable-beachball-impossibly-posed Catwoman in the same month.

[icon_uk]

Her interview here sounds like fun.

While DC's move toward a female writer on the book could be interpretted as the publisher's departure from its controversial "sexy" direction for the book, Nocenti told Newsarama her Catwoman is plenty sexy.

"I actually have a peculiar feminism that does not involve the idea that women shouldn't be sexy," Nocenti said. "Female characters written in comics have always been pretty damned sexy, and used their sexuality. And I don't have any problem with that."

But one thing that will change? Nocenti said her Catwoman will leave Gotham, as the writer makes her more of a "jet-set" heroine. Nocenti is also planning to develop a new love interest for Catwoman, and she'll be exploring the character's near-addiction to thievery.

[darkknightjrk]

I'll give it a shot...but she also said more or less the same thing with Green Arrow.

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

"I actually have a peculiar feminism that does not involve the idea that women shouldn't be sexy,"

Is it just me raising an eyebrow at that one?

[shadowpsykie]

Not really... I mean there are so many different feminism schools there are some that look down on "sexiness" period. Ann is saying that she believes that sexiness does not necessarily take away from a female character.

Case in point. There are people who don't think Emma Frost is a viable character because she is too "sexy"

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

It was 'peculiar' part of the sentence that got me, reminded me of the notion that feminism in general is anti-sex and thinks all women should cover up or whatever.

[midnightvoyager]

meh

[an_idol_mind]

"This is Joker completely unleashed."

Oh good. Another story where Joker gets super murder powers and does atrocious things without receiving any punishment!

[mrstatham]

I would like to see the guy be more imaginative again. I don't think the bland TDK Joker being in recent memory is going to help things, but the guy used to use MORE than blades and guns. Even if they're going to stick to the notion of him being a murderer, can't we have him being more imaginative? I want to see some Joker gas. I want to see laughing fish. I want a Joker that's actually moderately funny and yet still sinister - like BTAS' version.