"Joker"

DC this week sent me a review copy of "Joker," a hardcover graphic novel written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo and Mick Gray. It's a dark and disturbing street-level story, with the Joker more reminiscent of Heath Ledger's Joker in "The Dark Knight" than some past portrayals in the comics - a little darker perhaps and less madcap. Some other villains have had a bit of a makeover, too, most notably Killer Croc. And Gotham City has never looked seedier.

Batman makes only a cameo, pretty much. This is the Joker's story - or actually, Jonny Frost's story. Frost is a low-level thug who becomes the Joker's right-hand man, a job that becomes more than he bargained for. We see the Joker through his eyes - although we also learn a lot about the Joker's power and unpredictability by seeing how other bad guys, like the Penguin, fear him.