Joker's Asylum

I've read some but not all of the second salvo of one-shots under the 'Joker's Asylum' lineup. They're like what you would have encountered if EC Comics had crafted a Batman villains themed anthology. The Joker is your host, leading through a captivating story about a member of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, climaxing with a twist ending on par with Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein or Harvey Kurtzman. 

I loved the 3 I've read so far. So finding the first collection for an amazingly good price was a no-brainer.

The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow and the Joker himself are the stars of the 5 one-shots that comprised the first series. Penguin's tale of true love ruined by his vicious streak brought about by the slightest bruise to his delicate ego was the best story. Amazing tale by Jason Aaron that I could read again and again. Joe Harris's story involving the psychological monster, the Scarecrow, was a frightening yet fun homage to the teen horror flicks of the 80s and 90s with a cerebral ending. J.T. Krul's look at Poison Ivy was a classic Batman mystery tale. There's just not enough of those type of Batman stories these days if you ask me.

The Two-Face one-shot by David Hine was a morality play about human nature and whether man is inherently good or bad. So can a good man be turned into a villain while the most retched of all is redeemed as a saint? Add in Harvey Dent's very literal interpretations of the id and ego and it's definitely not a story for casual comic book readers. This is college level stuff. Plus the level of unease is at least doubled with the ending that the reader determines thanks to a simple flip of a coin. 

My least favorite story was the Joker's tale. Ironic, eh? The Joker rigs a game show in a farce by Arvid Nelson that fell short in my eyes. However, the artwork of the Joker by Alex Sanchez that reflects the many actors who have portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime over the years was exceptional. It's just a bit of a let down when the Joker tries to prove that he's not the biggest, baddest monster in Gotham. This isn't The Walking Dead. I know that the worst monster of them all is man. I don't need the Joker to remind me.

A fantastic read. Why DC will stop of only 2 runs Joker's Asylum one-shots. but put out a dozen sequel volumes of Dark Nights: Metal or DC Undead is beyond me!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 20 stars.

Batman: As The Crow Flies

One of L'il Gotham's Dustin Nguyen's first takes at the Batman Family. 

The Scarecrow makes a play for the Penguin's piece of the pie that is Gotham City. A number of bodies are turning up and it appears to be at the hands of a powerful new drug created by Jonathan Crane. Now Oswald Cobblepot and the Dark Knight are on the hunt for Scarecrow. One will bring the madman to justice. The other will take the fiend to hell! It all depends on who gets to Crane first!

This was a very good story by Judd Winick (Pedro and Me). There's a great twist character in the end. Plus, all of the characters were executed beautifully. But I need to talk about that cover...

It's awful. Check that- it's MOSTLY awful. Matt Wagner's Batman is done in a classic 1930s way that I love. But that has got to be the worst renderings of the Scarecrow I have ever seen this side of a Kelley Jones Batman: Gotham After Midnight. 

A good book with not so great covers. I'm counting the individual issues in this volume as well. Nguyen's sketchbook is awesome and worth a good portion of the cover price of $12.95. Though with this book being 15 years old, you can probably find it used for a very nice price.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.