Though DC ’s Joker and the Question are n’t on the button the most similar type personality - wise , they ’re both shrouded in mystery and live for their own unmarried - minded pursuit of what they perceive to be the truth . While we ’ve learned spate about them during their exploit over the years , there are still depths to their inner workings that’ve yet to be explored . And we ’re about to line up out more .
io9 can exclusively disclose that this pin , DC ’s launching two new series under itsBlack Label imprintfrom author Jeff Lemire and creative person Andrea Sorrentino , Denys Cowan , and Bill Sienkiewicz that are squarely focussed on Joker and the Question .
turkey : Killer Smile follows theClown Prince of Crimeas he has a fatal encounter with a mental wellness professional that radically alters the course of a number of lives , and while that premise sounds familiar , the narration is n’t about Harley Quinn . At first , The Question : The Deaths of Vic Sage comes across like a classic , hardboiled police detective serial publication , but the serial publication opens with an experiential pull : For reasons the doubtfulness does n’t understand , he ’s been living and dying in Hub City , seemingly trapped in a grommet of reincarnation that traverse from the Old West into the 1930s .
The Joker cracking a smile.Image: Andrea Sorrentino (DC Comics)
https://gizmodo.com/dc-comics-multiverse-is-expanding-with-a-new-black-labe-1823609708
When I speak with Lemire recently about what to expect from his young projects and his personal thought about the quality , he opened up about having mixed flavour about the chaotic clown and a deep respect for The Question comics that ’s influenced a lot of his work . These book are n’t just passion projects , Lemire explained , they ’re books meant to take exception readers to imagine a bit mysterious about these character .
io9 : When we think about the characters in Batman ’s eye socket who really set the swarthiness that follows him , the Joker plainly do to mind , and Killer Smile happens to do at a meter when we ’re having conversation about the Joker because there are so many incarnations of the reference bound around in the spotlight right now — Jared Leto , Joaquin Phoenix , the Batman Who Laughs , you get what I ’m talking about .
The cover of Joker: Killer Smile #1.Image: Andrea Sorrentino (DC Comics)
Lemire : Yeah , yeah .
io9 : What is it that make up Killer Smile ’s take on a Joker a narration that needs to be told decent now ?
Jeff Lemire : Over the course of working together on things like Green Arrow and Old Man Logan over at Marvel , Andrea [ Sorrentino ] really developed a great alchemy and shared visual spoken language . We ’re always look for new challenge , and Andrea was the one who suggested that we do a Joker project . I reckon he really tends to gravitate towards darker story with a lot of psychological and spectacular underpinnings , so the Joker ’s right up his alleyway .
The cover of The Question: The Deaths of Vic SageImage: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz (DC Comics)
Like with Batman , who ’s such an icon , I think the Joker ’s so open to interpreting and we ’ve construe just how many dissimilar takes unlike artists and writers and doer have been able to put on these character . What I got draw into was the idea of a more grounded , tangible - world Joker , which is a terrifying concept on its own . He ’s not as cartoonish and over - the - top as you ’re used to seeing him here , but there ’s still an insanity and desire for topsy-turvyness in him that lashes out .
I wanted to narrate an sexual story about how the Joker ’s evilness is something that can waste a normal family or a relationship as much as it devastate gild as a whole . That the idea that really grabbed me , that mother wit of threat that would come from letting something like the Joker into your family . As someone who has a family myself , that kind of chaos and darkness infect my personal space is the chilling thing I can think of , and so I start there .
io9 : It ’s interesting that Killer Smile ’s solicit text explicitly says that this is n’t a story about the Joker and Harley , but this is a story about the Joker seeing one of the citizenry responsible for treating him at Arkham as his adversary . Can you go into who this new grapheme is ?
Lemire : Yeah , he ’s a novel character call Dr. Ben Arnell that Andrea and I create for the series , and he ’s this bright , brainy , young mental wellness professional person who ’s been tasked with try out to make some sensation of the Joker . This is a trope we ’ve seen in other Joker stories , with Harley being the most obvious example , but we require to take this figure and do something completely unexpected with it . Ben ’s the proofreader ’s gateway back into Arkham and to Gotham City and how we get to search these unexampled depth of the Joker ’s mind .
io9 : Arkham change so drastically from one history to the next as dissimilar creative squad use it for their stories , and it occupy on a life of its own . How much , if any , of Killer Smile ’s story is going to research the ways in which Arkham neglect the Joker ?
io9 : The Joker ’s patently a beloved character , but his popularity has guide to the fictional character being pluck apart and dissect from so many perspectives over the yr , that there are clip when you ca n’t aid but wonder what young earth can break with him .
Lemire : Yeah .
io9 : Oftentimes when people are talking about new series , the conversations concenter on how badly people on the creative teams have want to narrate stories with finical character that they ’ve always love . That ’s interesting , but I ’m curious to hear from you — away from you and Andrea ’s wanting to trifle around with the Joker , what potential do you think the theatrical role has to be the centerpiece in fascinating , rivet stories that have n’t been told before ?
Lemire : To be honest , the Joker ’s never been a character that I ’ve exactly had a thick connection with or a longstanding craving to write a chronicle about , but I love tell stories with Andrea that instance the psychological landscape painting of the character ’s we ’re focusing on . And so , when the Joker came out , the melodic theme of research the metaphorical , surreal , and psychological landscape that a Joker story could be in , that was the start point that start me unrestrained . I did n’t want to be too heavy - handed or one - to - one with what happens in our story being a reflection of the real world today , but there are elements of chaos and fear in Killer Smile that I retrieve are run away rampant right now in our society , politically and socially .
https://gizmodo.com/jokers-todd-phillips-says-not-to-expect-anything-from-t-1836184891
io9 : Say more about what it is about the Joker that you think makes mass project onto him .
Lemire : I think a luck of times people take a character like the Joker and , who ’s already dark , and project a plenty of their own wickedness onto him and glamorize his action , which has always gravel me . I require to habituate Ben , who has a light with him that scramble on the Joker and expose Modern thing about him for readers to believe about . The bigger theme of finding the counterpoise between darkness and light in people was more interesting to me than something like trying to retellThe Killing Joke .
io9 : You say that Ben acts as a variety of placeholder for the reader in this history , let ’s say a diehard Joker fan picks up Killer Smile — is this story go to gainsay that person ’s conceptions of the character and their relationship with him ?
Lemire : You know , I call back so . The Joker is n’t inherently a hero or an antihero at all . He ’s the personification of evil , and I ’ve always had a bit of an issue with people who romanticise him even though that ’s obviously the face . Killer Smile ’s a story about just how dark the Joker really is and how inviting him into your life is grievous and yeah , we want people to feel like none of their ideas about who he is really capture the full gravity of what he is .
io9 : Let ’s pivot to The interrogative … why the doubt ?
Lemire : [ laughing ] This go back to what you mentioned originally about writers having characters they ’ve always wanted to work on . For me , it ’s the interrogation . At last year ’s San Diego Comic - Con , Dan DiDio and I were talk about Proto-Indo European in the sky dream projects , and now I said the Question with Denys Cowan because Denys ’ and Denny O’Neil ’s run on The Question was authoritative and so far ahead of its sentence . They had such a singular vocalization they channelize into the character , and it just spoke to me .
When I get to do Green Arrow , I had to reinvent the fictional character a little bit and I start thinking of what kinds of stories I could calculate to as an influence for my run , and I decease back to that inquiry runnel as a touchstone to do a grounded , street - point superhero tale with a darker sharpness .
As much as I loved Denys ’ running , we ’re not exactly trying to continue that story with this serial publication because it is n’t my seat to do that , but I did need to remix and revisit some of the approximation at workplace there in a way that made them find even more relevant in 2019 . There ’s a lot of that same dream to tell a history with a political border and social relevance , but it ’s also a really just a nifty tec story .
io9 : You ’ve got this grounded take on a character , but the premise of the series is rather experiential and foolhardy . How do you go about really balance those two energies in a book like this ?
Lemire : : That ’s what I ’ve always loved about the enquiry : Going all the style back to the Steve Ditko version , you have this man who ’s so machine-accessible to his society , but at its heart , the stories were always existential and about searching for identity . There ’s so much angst in society right now that halt from masses not being capable to see thing from one another ’s view , and so a quality like the motion can almost start up off as a secret code who run on a journey that brings shades of grayness into his world as his story unfolds .
io9 : It was n’t obvious at first which Question your serial would follow , and now I ’m curious , will we see any of Renee Montoya in this series ?
Lemire : This is in spades a Vic Sage tale and always was from the jump . I wanted to go back to what Denny and Denys did , and I always felt like Renee Montoya really belongs to Greg Rucka and he understands her voice so , so well . I love his taradiddle with Renee as the Question and did n’t desire to pace on any toes .
Joker : Killer Smile from Lemire and Sorrentino hit storage October 30 , and The Question : The Deaths of Vic Sage from Lemire , Cowan , and Sienkiewicz will be available on November 20 .
For more , check that you ’re following us on our new Instagram @io9dotcom .
BatmanDC ComicsDC EntertainmentHarley QuinnJeff LemireThe Joker
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