Question about Joker's Last Laugh

[bw38]

Here's the link to the TPB:
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Jokers-Last-Laugh/dp/1401217842/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195875582&sr=1-13

I'm trying to see exactly what this TPB collects or if it's a mini-series. does anyone know? i'm trying to update my list of batman comic books and just wanna make sure i get this right. the description for this book isn't very detailed since it hasn't come out yet.

[marshal99]

Probably the chuck dixon 5 part lackluster mini series crossover.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/44338481762.2.gif

[Captain Jim]

Here's the link to the TPB:
http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Jokers-Last-Laugh/dp/1401217842/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195875582&sr=1-13

I'm trying to see exactly what this TPB collects or if it's a mini-series. does anyone know? i'm trying to update my list of batman comic books and just wanna make sure i get this right. the description for this book isn't very detailed since it hasn't come out yet.

We'll have to wait until it's solicited to see for sure, but hopefully it will collect at least the mini-series, the Secret Files story, and the Robin and Nightwing issues--you really need all of them to fully appreciate the story.

[matthewaos]

Is it good, cause I think I have not heard good words...

[rwe1138]

Is it good, cause I think I have not heard good words...

It has some great moments, but on a whole it's not that good.

[PunisherFan]

Joker's Last Laugh was awful. The ending really pisses ya off. I would recommend not reading it if you haven't.

[matthewaos]

Hm, ok, it seems what I've heard was right, it's not so good...

[DubipR]

Last Laugh, the mini wasn't that bad. Very forced by DC to put in a company crossover, but hey..its DC. Pete Wood's artwork was solid on it, but the story fell short.

What really irked me was that the crossover actually interferred with some really good story arcs just to put one measily issue that was totally non-sequitor.

[Sean Walsh]

The artwork was quite erratic. The main mini had like 3 or 4 different artists. Pete Woods was good, but there wasn't much else I remembered liking. The idea of the story was great, but execution wise, it was a bit lacking.

Still, I might actually pick up this TPB. Cheap. It was a pretty fun read, all things considered.

[OverMaster]

Probably the chuck dixon 5 part lackluster mini series crossover.

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/large/44338481762.2.gif

Something I have wondered for a while. Can anyone name all the Jokerized villains around Mistah J in that cover? I'd really like to know.

[swedishmeatballs]

Son of a gun!

I knew it! I knew it!

[Captain Jim]

I've said this many times in the past, but since the trade is going to come out in several months, maybe it's time to repeat it again. Most people hated this story, but I liked it a lot. So why did everybody hate it?

1. The central story was good, but DC went overboard and tried to turn it into a company-wide event. Most of the other tie-in's were very bad. In fact, some of the people who wrote the tie-in's later admitted that they didn't have the slightest idea what the central storyline was about.

2. To make matters worse, DC had just finished another company-wide event and nobody wanted an additional one this soon.

3. The first part of the central storyline appeared not in JLL #1, but in the Secret Files title (and this was a full-length story). Only a fraction of the people who bought JLL bought the Secret Files. So right off the bat, the majority of the readers missed the first installment of the story.

4. To make matters even worse, Secret Files shipped late and actually appeared *AFTER* JLL #1.

5. Also important to the storyline were the other bat-titles Chuck was writing at the time: Robin, Nightwing & Birds of Prey. But not everyone who bought JLL picked these up.

6. Several months prior to when this series was to appear, Chuck asked DC for a moratorium on Joker stories for the several months prior to this event. Everyone completely ignored this and, if anything, used the character more than ever. IIRC, this was when the Emperor Joker story appeared in the Superman books, with no communication at all with the Batman office. To add insult to injury, LOTDK ran a story featuring the Joker written by Chuck himself just prior to this event (an inventory story left over from Chuck's Detective run, I believe). So rather than be ready for a big Joker story, everybody was sick to death of the character at the time.

7. Chuck had planned to follow-up the impact the events of this story had on Nightwing in upcoming issues of his own book, but instead he moved on to CrossGen right about this time. And everybody else ignored this dangling plot line.

With all this going against the storyline, it's no wonder it got bad press. But I still maintain (as I have all along) that if you read all of Chuck's stories, in proper sequence, and none of the throwaway stories by others, this is a fine story.

[marshal99]

As i remember , it was straight after the crapspectacular OWAW , it was way too soon for another crossover straight after that event. I can't speak for anyone else but i know that i was pretty burned out after that 3 months or so crapfest of Our Wallets At War.
Not to mention , the crossover was needless and unwanted , doesn't really change a thing after the end of it , the story was a mess , the art was a mess , the whole thing just seemed one big mess. If it had just stayed within the compounds of a bat crossover involving all the bat books , it probably wouldn't be that bad but it didn't.

[Captain Jim]

You're right. Our Worlds at War was what immediately preceeded it. That's what I was alluding to in #2 above, but I couldn't remember the name of it. Thanks.

[Nick Soapdish]

I've said this many times in the past, but since the trade is going to come out in several months, maybe it's time to repeat it again. Most people hated this story, but I liked it a lot. So why did everybody hate it?

1. The central story was good, but DC went overboard and tried to turn it into a company-wide event. Most of the other tie-in's were very bad. In fact, some of the people who wrote the tie-in's later admitted that they didn't have the slightest idea what the central storyline was about.

2. To make matters worse, DC had just finished another company-wide event and nobody wanted an additional one this soon.

3. The first part of the central storyline appeared not in JLL #1, but in the Secret Files title (and this was a full-length story). Only a fraction of the people who bought JLL bought the Secret Files. So right off the bat, the majority of the readers missed the first installment of the story.

4. To make matters even worse, Secret Files shipped late and actually appeared *AFTER* JLL #1.

5. Also important to the storyline were the other bat-titles Chuck was writing at the time: Robin, Nightwing & Birds of Prey. But not everyone who bought JLL picked these up.

6. Several months prior to when this series was to appear, Chuck asked DC for a moratorium on Joker stories for the several months prior to this event. Everyone completely ignored this and, if anything, used the character more than ever. IIRC, this was when the Emperor Joker story appeared in the Superman books, with no communication at all with the Batman office. To add insult to injury, LOTDK ran a story featuring the Joker written by Chuck himself just prior to this event (an inventory story left over from Chuck's Detective run, I believe). So rather than be ready for a big Joker story, everybody was sick to death of the character at the time.

7. Chuck had planned to follow-up the impact the events of this story had on Nightwing in upcoming issues of his own book, but instead he moved on to CrossGen right about this time. And everybody else ignored this dangling plot line.

With all this going against the storyline, it's no wonder it got bad press. But I still maintain (as I have all along) that if you read all of Chuck's stories, in proper sequence, and none of the throwaway stories by others, this is a fine story.

That's a lot of it.

Also, the story arc with Shilo and I'm not sure whom else probably should've been confined to the Secret Files, getting replaced with the stuff from Secret Files which should've been in the mini and the parts of Nightwing, BoP and Robin that are crucial to the story (which is unfortunately most of them so maybe it wouldn't work so well.

Also, Pete should've gotten enough lead time to do all of the art instead of a different artist for each chapter.

A personal objection to the story was changing everyone's appearances. I think it would've worked out better if he just had a gas that made everybody nuts, not Jokerized. It strained the believability and a lot of the villains just looked silly as a result (although it did make the change obvious).

[matthewaos]

I've said this many times in the past, but since the trade is going to come out in several months, maybe it's time to repeat it again. Most people hated this story, but I liked it a lot. So why did everybody hate it?

1. The central story was good, but DC went overboard and tried to turn it into a company-wide event. Most of the other tie-in's were very bad. In fact, some of the people who wrote the tie-in's later admitted that they didn't have the slightest idea what the central storyline was about.

2. To make matters worse, DC had just finished another company-wide event and nobody wanted an additional one this soon.

3. The first part of the central storyline appeared not in JLL #1, but in the Secret Files title (and this was a full-length story). Only a fraction of the people who bought JLL bought the Secret Files. So right off the bat, the majority of the readers missed the first installment of the story.

4. To make matters even worse, Secret Files shipped late and actually appeared *AFTER* JLL #1.

5. Also important to the storyline were the other bat-titles Chuck was writing at the time: Robin, Nightwing & Birds of Prey. But not everyone who bought JLL picked these up.

6. Several months prior to when this series was to appear, Chuck asked DC for a moratorium on Joker stories for the several months prior to this event. Everyone completely ignored this and, if anything, used the character more than ever. IIRC, this was when the Emperor Joker story appeared in the Superman books, with no communication at all with the Batman office. To add insult to injury, LOTDK ran a story featuring the Joker written by Chuck himself just prior to this event (an inventory story left over from Chuck's Detective run, I believe). So rather than be ready for a big Joker story, everybody was sick to death of the character at the time.

7. Chuck had planned to follow-up the impact the events of this story had on Nightwing in upcoming issues of his own book, but instead he moved on to CrossGen right about this time. And everybody else ignored this dangling plot line.

With all this going against the storyline, it's no wonder it got bad press. But I still maintain (as I have all along) that if you read all of Chuck's stories, in proper sequence, and none of the throwaway stories by others, this is a fine story.

That said, I think it should be a nice story when you read it as a TPB. I mean it seems that the story is not bad, it's how they handle it.