The Joker #1

This book is a solid buy, through and through. Read Full Review

Harper and the cult are more interesting than Punchline herself right now, but Andolfo's art is always something special and this is a great look at the psychology of supervillains. Read Full Review

This is a good start to what could be a very good turn for these characters. Being more grimdark noire type of direction for a retired Jim Gordon is a wonderful idea if ou ask me . Same opinion for the way they are building up the world around Punchline. As much as I love Batman Gotham would do well to further establish other characters with the same attention and quality Bruce gets. With how many there are, only seeing them with Bruce really makes the experience black and white. This late in the game nothing in Gotham is that easy. Read Full Review

The Joker offers plenty of promise with the right approach. Provided Tynion came avoid the book becoming too formulaic this could be one of the breakout Batman titles in 2021. Read Full Review

Bringing it all together The Joker #1 delivers a pair of stories that look at the effects of the recent past of Gotham in strikingly different ways. These differences build on their shared concepts in a way that makes both stand apart from each other narratively, even as they support each other thematically. Read Full Review

I was engrossed with Gordon's narration throughout the entire issue, and I am extremely intrigued with where this story will go. Some of the elements presented throughout The Joker #1 will undoubtedly add layers to Gordon's character. Read Full Review

The excellent The Joker #1 draws on the crime and suspense genres in its examination of Gordon as a character, and the impact the Joker has had on both Gordon himself and the people around him not to mention Gotham as a whole. Highly recommended for fans of the crime genre especially. Read Full Review

The Joker #1 surprised me. It's a comic I thought could be good but wasn't sure what we were getting. With a focus on those hunting the villain, we get a story of one last attempt at justice as opposed to something that might deify or wash a reprehensible individual. It's a debut that shows a hell of a lot of potential for what's to come. Hopefully it keeps its focus on the nightmares that haunt us throughout life. Read Full Review

A home run and a definite must-buy for Joker fans. Read Full Review

The Joker #1 has, arguably, one of the most poetic and thoughtful introductory issues of any of the relaunched series in Infinite Frontier. It bears with it depth, meaning, and a sense of importance, which makes it way better than it ever needed to be. Read Full Review

In a short at the end of the issue, Punchline faces trial for crimes committed under Joker's tutelage. While in prison on the days between facing the judge, she makes a name for herself by picking fights with the top dog in her cell block.  Read Full Review

The creative team got this absolutely right. Make a book about The Joker but don't have much of the actual Joker in it. Write about his influence, how he induces fear, how he haunts people, and how he makes people question their own moral code. Loved it. Read Full Review

Really investigate the cover art".can Joker's body really take all the punishment that happens to him? Subsequently, I did not go into the Punchline details as reviews should not provide all the surprises. I cannot wait for Issue #2. Read Full Review

'Joker' #1 is a haunting portrait of a man on the edge. Fans of Jim Gordon will be thrilled to see him finally confronting his demons in this first issue. It's not at all what I expected and I can't wait to see where it goes next. Read Full Review

In ways that it never could if it was 20 pages of the Joker being evil, "The Joker" #1 gives context to Gotham's most deadly and, yes, twisted criminal. Read Full Review

The Joker #1 is more focused on Jim Gordon and Punchline than the title character. That may be a good thing if you believe, as I do, that The Joker should always be a force of nature or a supporting player, but never the focus of a story. The best thing I can say about this book is that it was full of surprises and unpredictable, just as The Joker should be. Read Full Review

Tynion, March, Prianto, and Napolitano all work together to get this gruesome detective story going. And though the issue's plot is mostly setup, it's anchored in character building that makes it an engaging read. Read Full Review

This is an odd book for sure. Originally I wanted to read this for the Punchline books, given how I think that Joker is over used. yet, by focussing on Jim Gordon we actually have a character that we have loved for years, regardless of how he was mistreated by the Batman Who Looks Like Judge Death story. Tynion has certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with this book. Read Full Review

I believe that telling a Joker story by way of Jim Gordon is the best way to make it work, without making it feel like a Batman story too. Read Full Review

The Joker #1 is a strong start to this new series that takes advantage of the current state of Gotham City post-City of Bane and -Joker War. Positioning former GCPD Commissioner Jim Gordon as the protagonist of this series worked extremely well. This allowed Joker to maintain his status as an endgame boss while not overexposing the villain. Instead, we are set to follow Jim Gordon as he sets out on his final case that is set to be stopping Joker once and for all. Fans of the current Batman Family direction need to add The Joker to their pull list Read Full Review

Overall, I enjoyed getting to read Joker #1 for review for the most part. The actual Joker story in the issue was intriguing and well-written and I am looking forward to seeing where certain aspects of the plot will go in future issues. The artwork in this portion of the issue was also stellar. However, the Punchline segment somewhat lets the issue down and is uninteresting and somewhat of a slog to read through. Read Full Review

Don't get me wrong, this book is a solid bit of comic book storytelling, but I cannot stand Punchline and I find the lead story's premise off-putting. If you're a Bat-fan, it'll probably be your jam. Read Full Review

While I love the way this book looks and the direction it's going, I was a little put off by the amount of recap that it throws at you because while I know you need that for new readers, for me it just came off a little too info-dumpy since I knew what they wanted me to know right away. That's me though and I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate the catch-up and even with my complaints on that matter, this is still an intriguing book that I look forward to seeing more of. Read Full Review

I can tell Joker #1 is reaching for something, and I applaud it for that. Problem is " as Gordon's bog-standard noir monologue/plot and yet another lazy Joker portrayal make glaringly apparent " it looks incredibly unlikely the story will be able to grasp at anything enjoyable or meaningful. Read Full Review

cincyfan

Mar 13, 2021

I had a feeling this was going to be great and it exceeded my expectations. The writing in the joker story was fantastic I am fully invested in this story and can't wait for the next issue. The punchline story picks up where the tremendous punchline #1 left off and does a great job of continuing the storyline. I absolutely love the punchline character I love how her methods are so conniving and sneaky in a very modern way. She is a manipulative and driven character and I am fascinated by her story so far. This is a brilliant book with two stories that have me very intrigued and excited. Honestly I wish the punchline story was a bit longer but not at the expense of the first story Id love to see her get her own book. James tynion continues t o do a unbelievably great job with the Batman universe and is one of my favorite writers. Finally I had to get the francesco mattina cover wow are is covers amazing more

Patadu94

Jul 19, 2022

I recently came to know about a series dedicated to the greatest villain of all, The Joker, and I was lucky enough to find the first issue. Well, it’s not what I expected but I really loved it. As the name suggested, I thought the issue would focus entirely on The Joker but although he was there, the main character, or the narrator, was Jim Gordon. I guess the story is set after “The Killing Joke” and it’s look like a noir. Gordon, as narrator, tells about his life and what did Joker do to his family. After this first chapter, Gordon is contacted by a mysterious women who wants to engage him in order to find the Joker. Why? Who could be a better hitman than the Commissioner knowing his past? The art is another great poin t. Loved the dark tone, and the color palette. Panels looked great, at some points I thought I was looking at one of Edward Hopper’s painting for the similarities! more

EDiakota

Mar 15, 2021

" Got a promotion and a transfer to hell as my reward." - JIM GORDON

TheKize

Apr 21, 2021

A series about the Joker?? That's a terrible idea! But, the (well known by now) secret is that this is a Jim Gordon book.

Spacey Medicine

Jun 23, 2021

I expected nothing and was pleasantly surprised! This score is not taking into account the Punchline story, which I read but don’t want to talk about!

Onomatopoeia

Mar 09, 2021

I like the concept of having Jim hunt down the Joker instead of Batman. With the exception of Jason, the Joker has really been nothing but an annoyance to Batman, sparking up a bit of chaos only to be defeated with some punches. Jim on the other hand has been victimized time and again, not to mention his family's trauma. The Batman vs Joker trope is more or less a game that ends predictably time and again, but pit the Joker against a citizen with an incentive? To me, that just seems far more interesting. That said, I think we all know how this will end (or won't end). The Joker will get away and hit reset on another grand narrative. Truly hope I'm wrong. *I didn't read the Punchline story because... well... who cares?

REYNARD

Mar 10, 2021

Very well written, with March's pencils elevating the book immensely. The whole Cressida plot to kill the Joker is obviously manufactured; probably another sick ploy to torture Gordon once more. Interesting enough, it appears that joker had nothing to do with the A-Day attack, possibly put into motion by either the Magistrate (Simon Saint) or Scarecrow or a third party. I don't care much for the whole Magistrate plot with Tynion's OC's, but we'll see what happens. I'll probably pick up next issue.

mrDovydas

Apr 03, 2021

The first story was unexpectedly incredible, cannot wait for more of this. The Punchline backup, well, I could not really care less of it, even if was half-decent.

TSMack

May 15, 2025

(Cover Date: May, 2021)

Boudi

Mar 29, 2021

I was strongly against a Joker ongoing, in a world where Batgirl, Red Hood, John Constantine, Question and Green Arrow don't have their own ongoing why would Joker have one, he is the most overused and overrated character in DC. But this was a good surprise. Gordon is the main character and the take on the character is great. Tynion plans to do something different with Jim and I respect that. Guillem March is showing his talents and this might be his best work yet. Mirka Andolfo is also doing fine on the Punchline backup feature. Good colours are in both stories. Bane becoming a symbol is another idea that can really work. If the story is that good then why don't I give it a higher rating? Because of the Punchline story. I like the a rt and am glad to see Harper AKA Bluebird is back. But Punchline is the worst character in modern DC history and their are trying to force her popularity. It's sad to see DC is wasting Mirka Andolfo's talent with such a terrible character. more

Psycamorean

Mar 09, 2021

The main story with Jim Gordon is actually well done, but I could not give a shit about that Punchline backup.

Svarietyy

Mar 09, 2021

I'll be honest, I couldn't care less about Joker or Punchline. However it was nice to see Gordon back after his extended absence from the Bat-books

RKS

Mar 10, 2021

Main story about Jim Gordon is really well done. The books dies as soon as it moved to the Punch Line back up. That's what happens when you don't develop a character organically and insist that readers care about your crappy 1/2 baked character. When they really don't, we know why the character was created and it wasn't story driven...Save your money kids.

C.V.R. The Bard

Mar 09, 2021

Tired as I am of The Joker from the start of Infinite Frontier #0, the minute I picked this up and started reading in Gordon's voice. I thought "what am I doing ?". This isn't Frank Miller. This isn't Year One. I already got enough cop drama with that Kami Garcia trainwreck I've dived to deep in to get out of called: "Criminal Sanity". Fuck this. - Audiomack.com/cvrthebard