Lots of nice big blocks of clean colour and shadows and the panelling reminded me very much of Tim Sale's work on Long Halloween and Dark Victory which I'm sure was no accident as these both feel very similar in terms what setting up the characters and the world they live in. Like I said the art is really bright and vibrant. A lot of time is dedicated to looking at the characters motivations for why they want to do what they do but it doesn't dwell on it too much and we get plenty of action as we see their early successes and failures. What a psycho.Īs an origin story it works really well. As usual he makes some questionable decisions around children like throwing Barbara into a live fire exercise without letting her know. The relationships between the characters is really interesting and I always like it when Batman features in these stories as a kind of aloof and mean old dad. The art is deceptively bright and cartoony as the story gets quite dark in places. It makes sense that she’d be more willing to kill the Joker than any other member of her team, but with the resurrection of Jason Todd, it seems that trait was entirety transferred to the Red Hood.This was a lot of fun.

Though she was able to channel her strengths into becoming the crucial Bat-Family member Oracle, part of her longed for her old life. After being shot by the villain in The Killing Joke, Barbara developed paraplegia, rendering the Batgirl unable to walk for years. It’s harsh, but Barbara has every right to be angry at the Joker. Though Dick tries to convince her otherwise, Barbara admits that she can't stop thinking about how much she wants the Joker to die. Barbara is clearly still harboring a lot of resentment towards the clown, and suggests that the Bat-Family could save a lot more people if they simply killed him.

However, during Barbara and Nightwing's date, the two can’t help but talk shop about crime-fighting, and the subject of their conversation inevitably turns to the Joker.

Joker: Last Laugh #1 by Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, and Pete Woods sees Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon on a date to help the latter get her mind off of work. However, years before Red Hood made it his personal mission to kill the Joker, another member of the Bat-Family wanted to make the villain pay with his life.

Batgirl by Scott Beatty