The Joker Has The Last Laugh In Justice League #13

Issue #13 of Justice League and James Tynion IV returns with another Legion of Doom takeover issue, and it’s my favourite one the three to date as we look in on The Joker and his own take on Luthor’s dealing with the Batman Who Laughs. Joining writer Tynion IV, Guillem March is on art duties. I have been a fan of March’s for some time now and the choice of having this artist on this issue was inspirational once you get a look at his Joker. It’s a creepily grotesque, downright horrific presentation of this artist’s favourite and one I hope we see again one day. March captures his vile, twisted soul perfectly. He’s a rather chilling clown, and often a hard character to pull off.

Here we are given a Joker who is more than a match for the supposedly ‘world’s smartest man’ and takes great glee in revealing his manic machinations and his own response to Luthor’s deal with the Devil. Needless to say, he ain’t happy and if the Joker isn’t happy you just know something very, very bad will go down. And it does. But, not as bad as it could be. That’ll come in The Batman Who Laughs series DC are launching in 2019. The legacy of Dark Nights: Metal continues to loom large over the DCU and this enjoyable book. It’s the fuel that stokes the engine. Meanwhile, in the face of the Joker’s revelations, Luthor is all but dumb. Taking it all in, annoyingly. This is Joker’s issue and he isn’t gong to share the lime light with anyone.
For the script to the art, this is one Hell of an issue. We get to see a Joker who seems more than aware of his own madness, but also aware of his intelligence. It’s certainly a Joker that sounds scarily lucid and logically minded at times, with all of those brains going on torture and terrorism. A sharp, shock back from the previous three issues of the Drowned cross-over, and a timely reminder of the ongoing threat of the Legion of Doom. Just wait until the JL get a look at the new recruits! I think this series has just ramped the volume up to eleven.
Justice League #13 is available now from DC Comics.