Joker, an original creation not a collection of Batman comics is notable for the way the Joker is drawn: modeled on Heath Ledger's smeary, mouth-scarred look from The Dark Knight. Working with artist Lee Bermejo, the talented Brian Azzarello conjures a bloody Joker, freshly released from Gotham City's insane asylum, reasserting his primacy as the most amoral, vicious man in comics history. B+

