The Joker has returned to Arkham and another psychiatrist believes he can cure The Joker. Before long though, reality begins to bend for him. Minor spoilers for Joker: Killer Smile #1 follow.
When Joker: Killer Smile was first announced, my reaction was “Really? Another Joker story?” Just like Batman, there are so many Joker heavy stories currently circulating, three currently on DC’s Black Label alone, Harleen, Harley – Joker: Criminal Sanity, and now this book. Really the only thing that was the draw to this series was the creative team of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. They’re the team behind the phenomenal reinvention of Green Arrow several years ago, as well as the excellent horror series Gideon Falls. Still, it didn’t seem that this series would turn out all that well. Luckily, I was wrong. This first issue is great.
The way Joker: Killer Smile #1 starts out feels very similar to so many stories involving The Joker that has been told before. A psychiatrist tries to help and/or cure The Joker. Joker messes with the psychiatrist. A psychiatrist goes insane. Rinse, repeat. And that really seemed to be what the series was going to be for a good portion of this issue. It was still certainly creepy because of the portrayal of The Joker, but nothing felt all that interesting. Then, the turn happens, and the issue dives right into psychological horror and it becomes extremely creepy.
Once that turn happens, the issue goes from simply being a decently executed story that has been told before to a psychological horror story that takes a familiar story and twists it. The story twists from realism to surrealism at the seeming drop of a hat leading to a very organic way to portray the beginning of a descent into madness. It’s effectively unsettling, mixing classic horror visuals, gore, and pacing to create something beyond the initial conceit.
A lot of the horror present in this issue though is thanks to Andrea and Sorrentino and Jordie Bellaire’s fantastic art. Sorrentino eschews his usual style, heavy shadows and inks, for most of the issue, which sets a specific tone for the issue. Because of the lack of shadows and inks, Bellaire is able to play around with the colors a lot more, creatively a much brighter looking book. By doing so, this incongruity makes you feel uncomfortable while reading due to the colors feeling inviting, but the tone and story being repelling. The art captures the essence of The Joker perfectly in these parts.
Where Sorrentino returns to his usual style though is when the horror elements appear. This shift between styles helps to make what’s happening more apparent to the reader, but still feel in line with the previous, less shadowy pages. However, with the shadows in play, Sorrentino manages to create effective horror imagery while rarely showing anything. By doing this, Bellaire is also able to color the spots that your eyes should be drawn to in an effective manner that also builds the horror well.