>>112264405It's an okay story. Pales in comparison to the Lex Luthor one (no pun intended).
I look at it as an alt-universe Joker instead of being "mainstream Joker," so most of my criticisms have nothing to do with "but muh Joker wouldn't do that!" Instead of being this abstract clown prince who commits outrageous crimes, it seems to ground him a little, making him feel like somebody who could really exist. He seems to be an eccentric psychopath with lots of anger at the world, which he hides behind smiling irony and purposeful nonsense.
I like how the story doesn't try to get into the head of the Joker, and instead views him through the eyes of a lowly gangster basking in the Joker's reflected glow, only to realize he was never anything more than disposable to Joker. Seems to be the trajectory of young men who get involved in gangs, at first thinking it will afford them power, respect, and fraternity, only for most of them to end up suffering misfortune.
But like, the story also doesn't seem to have much of a theme beyond that, and doesn't seem to be "about" much. And some of the interactions Joker has with other villains, where he reduces them to terrified children just by saying something DAMAGED, are pretty cringey. Like, I get that he's Batman's main villain, but can writers please find a way to reinforce that without just writng every other villain as cowering before him for, like, no reason?
