Oddly-something - Alex

Could you give me any Batman comic(/series) recommendations? Or Joker ones?

(You can pretend I’ve never read any Batman comics)

Man, this got me thinking about (1) the number of extended storylines I still haven't fully read myself and (2) of the ones I have, would I recommend that people read them?? Tough question! Thinking about it in terms of a Batman newbie changes things too... 🤔

Ultimately, my list is mostly one-offs apart from the mainline series, but there's a few multi-issue mainline stories in there. From oldest to newest:

Batman (1940) #1, "The Joker" and "The Joker Returns" — Early comics can feel inaccessible because of their age, but I would still recommend checking out the start of Batman and Joker's relationship for a sense of the longevity and evolution of these characters (You could also read Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics [1937] #27.)

Batman (1940) #251, "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" — Jumping ahead thirty years! After a 4-year absence from comics, Joker returns, and I just love how his dynamic with Batman picks up where they left off like it was yesterday.

Detective Comics (1937) #475, "The Laughing Fish" — The infamous story in which Joker's mad scheme is to… copyright fish.

The Dark Knight Returns #1-4 — TBH, I'm not a fan of TDKR for various reasons. However, it had a huge influence on Batman and you should read it at least once.

Batman (1940) #404-407, "Batman: Year One" — More required reading (but I do enjoy it more than TDKR). Frank Miller's problematique is more acknowledged today, but as I said, modern Batman stems from his work.

The Killing Joke — Controversial-ish recommendation nowadays, considering the much-maligned choice to fridge Barbara Gordon, but I still enjoy the nuance it gives Joker and the meta element of the ending, with Bruce and Joker trapped in their cycle by choices that are informed by the needs of the franchise. Alan Moore may no longer care for it, but I do! (Also, I'd say read it with the original coloring.)

Batman (1940) #426-429, "A Death in the Family" — Another big event in Batman lore: the death of Jason Todd. It's one of those moments that gets flattened in various ways today, so I think it's important to see how everything actually played out. In particular, it's striking to see that Joker is initially nervous about Batman finding out what he did, and just how Bruce struggles with his no-kill principle.

Batman #450-451, "Wildcard!" and "Judgements!" — Joker's big return after Jason's murder, in which we see he's still not all that giddy about it.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68, "Going Sane" — This story takes place earlier in Batman's career, before Robin. When Joker seemingly kills Batman, he tries to start a new life without his instability breaking through. Meanwhile, Bruce recovers from his near-death in a little town in the middle of nowhere and thinks he might actually stay there… but he's plagued by restlessness too.

Joker: Devil's Advocate — Joker winds up on death row, but for a crime he didn't commit! Bruce is set on proving Joker's innocence despite the clown's other sins, and Joker is too captivated by all the media attention to help save his own hide.

Deathstroke (1991) #58, "Bad Blood" — A story in which Joker causes plenty of chaos, but in service of doing something… nice?

Batman: Ego — As Bruce contemplates giving up his crusade, he falls into an argument with… Batman.

Batman (1940) #648-650, "All They Do Is Watch Us Kill" — Part of Under the Red Hood. Jason Todd's reappearance in Gotham City comes to a head when he kidnaps Joker and draws Batman in for a dire confrontation.

Detective Comics (1937) #826, "Slayride" — Paul Dini is one of the writers who consistently remembers Joker has a personality and makes him funny, and this Christmas-time story featuring Tim Drake is a great example.

Batman Confidential #7-12, "Lovers and Madmen" — An alternative origin for Joker. Bruce has been fighting crime for about a year when he encounters a bloody crime scene that he can't make sense of. Meanwhile, the culprit, Jack, is growing bored with his criminal life, until he comes face to face with a vigilante bat.

Batman 80-Page Giant 2010 (Volume 2), "Reality Check" — Is Joker really crazy? Does Joker himself even know?

Batman (2011) #13-17, "Death of the Family" — Not to be confused with "A Death in the Family." Joker tries to convince Batman that all his sidekicks make him weak.

Batman (2011) #23.1, "Time to Monkey Shine" — Joker infamously adopts a gorilla. (It ends badly.)

Batman (2011) #35-40, "Endgame" — After Joker's failure in DOTF, he decides to bring his conflict with Batman to a close.

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #1-7 — The Riddler is dead, but what really happened? A heist story in which the point of view is passed around multiple rogues, but Joker is the ringleader.

Catwoman: Lonely City #1-4 — Alright, this one does revolve around Selina, but the story is deeply tied to her relationship with Bruce and what she comes to understand about him in the end. (And Joker plays a brief but key part!)

Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1-7 — A recent team-up that calls back to everything I've personally enjoyed about Batman and Joker's dynamic.

Batman: City of Madness #1-3 — Beneath Gotham lies Gotham Below, from which a monstrous mirror of Batman escapes in search of a Robin. In his pursuit, Bruce confronts not only alternative versions of his rogues but his personal demons.

the people wanted more youtube worldbuilding ^^

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having poor circulation is great because people will touch your hand and go 'oh! you're so cold!' and for a moment you get to experience what it's like to be a vampire in a romance novel

hello tumblr dot net

- I am Alex (or Ale idrc). Im a guy and my head is filled with mold. I will post all the incoherent thoughts I have on here

- Media I like includes: batman, south park, the boys, moral orel, bojack, evangelion, disco elysium, the talented mr ripley (1999), falsettos, cabaret

- I also really like arthropods and animals in general.

- Sometimes I write and read.

- Sometimes I listen to rock or nu metal or oingo boingo.

Goodnight

Having the ability to crochet is great because I COULD make 15 sweaters and 12 bags and 4 hats but I made A Fucking Ball with Eyes

everytime a fanartist makes Joker a tumblr sexyman twink and not a) disgusting shrivelled up husk of a man or b) evil disney-villain-esque campy guy an angel somewhere dies.

Distressed Rat by @the-scungles-of-crungles

[ID: A painting of a photo from the Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical), of Brent Carver as Molina. He sits on his bed with one hand to his cheek and his knees up. The background is black with a blue halo around his head, and a spiderweb spiralling out from there. On the right is an extension of the background, with a prison bar pattern. End ID.]

Speaking of which!

https://twitter.com/mohammadhussain/status/1340439172687998981?s=21

Quick Thoughts on Rent

It is simply very weird, as put by Lindsay Ellis in her video on Rent, that the machine which the characters are raging against in the midst of the AIDS crisis isn’t the pharmaceutical companies, healthcare system, select politicians, or hell, even the government itself, which failed especially the queer community but also all individuals in need at the time and deserved much raging against. Instead, the characters rage against their landlord. Jonathan Larson made most of the characters petty, artsy, and privileged, and selectively gave some of them AIDS for dramatic effect or to no avail. He also created two characters who (actually) suffer in poverty and are dying of AIDS (literally, one of them dies) and decided to instead center the story on a couple of the aforementioned privileged asshole artists. I find those creative choices quite weird as well.

It is functionally strange that this musical pays such little respect to poverty, queer identity, and illness, despite those being the central themes. A musical that would’ve handled those topics more appropriately obviously wouldn’t have changed the world or stopped the AIDS crisis – entertainment such as Broadway musicals mostly tries to appeal to mainstream audiences to garner more profit (which is why no mainstream show or movie is ever particularly politically radical!) – but that hypothetical musical might’ve raised awareness amongst the massive audience it did get. It might’ve shown a more real kind of suffering coming from poverty, instead of mostly showing characters that chose to live in poverty and complained about it. It could’ve offered a representation of a bisexual character who isn’t incredibly promiscuous and disloyal. Maybe it might’ve even encouraged some audience members to get mad at the horrible institutions that were letting a pandemic fly by for several years, and who knows, those audience members might’ve also joined an AIDS protest or two. Although any change from the actual reality of Rent would’ve been good.

I don’t really hate Rent, but I think that it’s good to recognize that despite the fact that it can be enjoyable, it’s not very good and extremely inappropriate for its time period. If you’re looking for a musical that has queer characters and actually gives a meaningful sociopolitical message, Falsettos talks about similar topics, and Cabaret is great as well!