Joker’s been a long-standing joke that no superhero like Batman has truly taken seriously until Nick Dragotta showed us his linework for the revised look of this enduring arch-nemesis in Absolute Batman.
Ever since issue #1 debuted in October 2024, and it was the best-selling comic of that year, we are still buzzing about it now, because we cannot get enough of this maniacial monster. In fact, in celebrating the one-year anniversary of this series, DC Comics droppedAbsolute Evil #1which delves into the fact that becauseDarkseid created this crazed multiverse, everything we know about the legacy publication’s villains has been turned upside down.
Not the Joker You Grew Up With
Moreover, this Joker is just fundamentally different than its predecessors. Aside from the fact that he’s essentially Bruce Wayne in this multiverse with immense wealth, power, and a butler — here our twisted villain never laughs or even chuckles. Additionally, the fabric of his being is more akin to a demonic monster than him being human. We learn that on the exterior, he looks ‘normal’ in his business suit; but in reality, this Joker is actually a devious-otherworldly-creature that needs blood transfusions to maintain his human form.
It’s horrific, shocking, and precisely what DC’s longstanding fanbase has yearned for. There’s been so much lamenting about how people have gotten fatigued over regurgitated Batman storylines. But thanks to Scott Synder, the mastermind conceiving of the Absolute Universe, suddenly, it’s never been a more thrilling time to be a comic book reader.
Exploiting Our Collective Fear Of Clowns
But it’s not just the buzz about the storyline but tapping into the deep-rooted psychological fear we have of clowns and exploiting it, to our twisted and delighted torment. Joker’s visage ruins you but you (somehow) crave more. Stephen King did this masterfully with IT, and now Dragotta is employing the same psychological tactics. Per Scientific American, “Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is a widely acknowledged phenomenon…” and it is the origins of this fear that Dragotta has clearly accounted for through this re-imagining. Elements such as “exaggerated facial features; hidden emotional signals which create uncertainty; and the ‘makeup’ reminding us of blood/death/infection/injury, evoke disgust…” are brilliantly utilized here.
The Uncanny Valley Effect
The art is such that we are still in the realm of comic book aesthetics, but it’s right on the cusp of it being eerily real. Straddling this fine-line is what makes this version of Joker so intoxicating to behold. This effect borrows from the ‘Uncanny Valley’ phenomenon. It is where the human likeness is almost too perfect and real, and our response is revulsion and unease. We saw this in ‘The Polar Express’ starring Tom Hanks, and I would argue that the same ‘realism’ is causing us to respond in kind here.
Ultimately, all of these strategies are working, and we cannot get enough of this devious (new and improved) rendition of (Absolute) Joker. He’s more scary and realistic than we’ve ever seen before and still, none of us dare look away.
