I’ve been looking forward to reading this one all month long. Why, you may ask? Well, it has the Joker’s Daughter in it, a rather odd concept that could potentially be interesting, and it is being written by Ann Nocenti, who has been writing Catwoman. While you may be thinking that this does not sound like a good combination at all, you know what happens when we assume. Well, let’s dive right in and find out: Is it good?
Batman: The Dark Knight #23.4 (DC Comics)
A mysterious young woman tries to survive in the harsh and implausible land of the Nether below Gotham City. As she scrounges for some things to trade and barter with, she happens upon the face of the Joker, last seen back in Batman #17. Realizing it fits her ugly persona, she puts it on and decides to change things in the underground.
Like I said, implausible. Who travels by inner tube underwater?
Oh dear, how I describe this comic? Well, I’ll start with this. It was glorious like I thought it would be. This was a gloriously painful train wreck if I have ever seen one. It has the usual trappings that you come to expect from Ann Nocenti’s work on Catwoman, with her horrifically unrealistic dialogue to the story that makes very little sense and depends on the reader not to question anything. I mean, how the hell does Batman or anyone in Gotham not know a single damn thing about these underground tribes, and better yet, why don’t they acknowledge them? Hell, how have they survived this long since the whole place flooded? Just simply incredible.
…What the fuck are you talking about?
But not only do we have the bad story and dialogue, we have another problem. The origin is bad and makes no sense. It first wants to say the main character is messed up because of her parents and not thinking of her as being beautiful or something like that. Then it later shows the girl playing with knifes, making things out of barbed wire (where the hell does a little girl get barbed wire in a suburban neighborhood?!), and possibly killing animals. So it implies that she was already messed up. Which is it, comic? Parents or already being predetermined to be this cuckoo for Coca Puffs? Either way, none of it makes sense for why she would start acting like this in the comic out of the blue!
Ugly? It’s adorable you asshole. Also, who talks to themselves like this?!
Then there is artwork itself. It is honestly not bad, but there is certainly nothing special about it. It’s bland and average looking, without a single thing standing out about it. Average penciling, coloring, and inking all around. Average artwork is certainly nothing bad in general, but with an awful script and story, it does not remotely help make the experience any more tolerable. The cover was nicely drawn though, I’ll give them that.
Wait, you operated on her without putting her to sleep?! What kind of frickin’ doctor are you?
2.0
- Average artwork.
- Horrendous writing on every single level.
- The origin is bad and makes little sense.
- Joker’s daughter is not interesting or compelling villain at all.
Is It Good?
Good? HA! There’s a laugh. My god, was this something else. I have never seen a book this bad before. I mean, I certainly had words to say about Miss Fury, Avengers, and Catwoman as well; but this just astonishes me. This is awful. Just flat out awful. If you want to read what could possibly be the worst comic of the year, then check this out. You won’t find a better train wreck than this.
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