JOKER: KILLER SMILE - Black Label - Lemire & Sorrentino

[Nicko-Ray]

Anybody read this last week? Got into it last night and loved it. Dig the premise involving Dr. Arnell and so far it's captured the Joker's unsettling and eerie vibe well. In a weird way, the issue leaves you questioning a bunch in an almost unsatisfying way..as weird as that is, but I love the last line.

Spoiler

"Because he wanted to see how it feels" or something like that. The obvious guess would be this series is supposed to shine light on Joker's psyche in a more unique way and I think that line (along with Joker's other repeating dialogue throughout the issue) might allude to what they're going for in terms of his psyche.

Sucks that this is every other month and only three issues!

 

[Babillygunn]

Man, what an unsettling read. I came away nauseated.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

My shop ran out of the reg cover so got the variant which didn't know was the variant haha. My OCD is gonna make me get the variant for all three now..

 

[Mani-Man]

For my taste its a bit too grounded on the base, but otherwise a fantastic read so far.
Once in a while i love when stories put us on the ground level to see those characters from a different angle than we are used to.
And especially with the joker its a cool concept, you can let loose completely and have something...unsettling as hell.
You can really get into all kinds of psychological things with the Joker and put up a lot of questions and ideas that make the reader stop and think about many aspects of the character and his ideas.

Personally i would like to see if you could do this on a "over the top" level, i cant remember ever reading such stories that werent not "grounded", at least i cant remember if i ever read one.
Those who write those type of stories tend to make the characters more "human", i would like to see if that same could work when you go full "comicy".

But anway, i like it.

 

[Babillygunn]

Read the conclusion. That was a pretty weak ending. For the setup this could’ve been so much more

 

[Gee]

Read the conclusion. That was a pretty weak ending. For the setup this could’ve been so much more

You already read issue #3? Doesn't it come out in February?

 

[Babillygunn]

You already read issue #3? Doesn't it come out in February?

Lol. That wasn’t the conclusion? There’s more? That makes it even worse.

 

[Mani-Man]

I also thought that was it...what the hell do they do with another issue?
The ending of issue 2 was already weak enough to have barely any momentum left to go with.

Lets see then, maybe that can be saved...but i doubt it.
Issue 1 was good, i liked the idea...but issue 2 dropped the ball completely.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

I'm in the minority. Loved #2. It explores Joker's point about OUR psyche and what we may or may not have control over. What our true wants are.

Shrug, I loved both issues. Curious to see how it finishes this month.

 

[Gee]

I'm in the minority. Loved #2. It explores Joker's point about OUR psyche and what we may or may not have control over. What our true wants are.

Shrug, I loved both issues. Curious to see how it finishes this month.

I'd say that you and I are in the majority that liked #2...

Joker: Killer Smile Reviews

 

[The Shape]

Really enjoyed this. Lemire and Sorrentino are releasing a follow-up one shot to this called Batman: The Smiles Killer soon.