Superman: Emperor Joker

Laugh out loud funny, touching and scary; this one has it all. If you have any history with DC, you will love it. If you don't, read it near someone you can ask.

My first impression of the book was "this makes no sense whatsoever!!!". Generally, when I have that reaction, I find it difficult to continue...but given that I knew this was "Emperor Joker" I plowed on bravely. And I'm glad I did as the intricate insanity was unfolded. Indeed, this is to a tee what The Joker might do given powers such as Myx's. Some of the torturous deeds he unleashed were almost painful to witness. I dinged the book a star because the actual explanation of how Joker was able to trick Myxy was not explained, however given that Superman accomplished that task, it is not a stretch of the imagination that Joker could outfox the pompous god. As Myxy himself said "Joker might be insane, but that does not mean he isn't smart".

While I understand the positions of some of the previous readers(this is one of the more unusual Superman stories I've read), I really enjoyed this one. The Joker, in all his years, has never seemed more disturbing or evil. It's also interesting to see the Joker's sanity peak through just for a minute in the final chapter. The only problem I see, is that we barely get an explanation as to where Joker got his Godlike powers in the first place. Other than that, this story is great fun. Also, bonus points for the times when Emperor Joker appeared to "step outside" the understood DC Universe and aknowledge the reader to a certain degree. Very Clever.

Superman is the world's greatest criminal, Lois Lane is a bald, billionaire industrialist, and Bizarro is the Metropolis' number one hero...these are just a few of the exceedingly strange plot elements of Emperor Joker, a trade paperback that collects the nine part story arc which ran through all of the various Superman titles. Superman escapes from a maximum-security prison every night but his powers are only a fraction of what they should be. Each night Bizarro hunts down and returns Superman to his cell where he must wait to play out the same drama once again tomorrow. This lunatic version of Metropolis is courtesy of the clown prince of Crime the Joker. The Joker has stolen the reality warping powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk and uses them to reshape Metropolis into a sort of Disney world on a bad acid trip with him as the emperor. The JLA have been turned into caricatures of their true selves as only the Joker could envision them. The Flab is the fastest fat man alive, the Yellow Paper Lantern wreaks havoc on the world with shadow puppets, and Wonder Woman is a housemaid who hates men. And just WHERE is Batman in all of this lunacy? Emperor Joker plays like an Elseworlds or What If type story. It's somewhat hard to envision it in true DC continuity. The storyline allows the Joker to truly go off his rocker with his new powers. Even Mxyzptlk decides to help out Superman because he knows how dangerous a homicidal maniac will be once he gains full control of his newfound abilities. Even the Spectre is stymied. Despite the fact that the book features four different writers and twice that many artists, there is a reasonable amount of cohesion to the story that you might not expect with so many hands in the cookie jar. The Joker's insanity factor is played to the hilt as he literally toys with all of the heroes as opposed to just killing them outright...even if he can kill them and then kill them again the next night! The violence does border on the sadistic, particularly in regards to Joker's treatment of Lex Luthor and Batman. The story doesn't take the easy way out either as both Batman and Superman are left with some very troubling issues to deal with at the end while the rest of the world has mercifully forgotten the whole ordeal. Bizarro is a scream in his role as the good guy, so to speak, and his dialog throughout is hilarious. Emperor Joker was a bit too long and bogged down in a few spots, but the eclectic blend of characters always managed to make things fun after the short lulls. Reviewed by Tim Janson