This is, without a doubt, one of the best Batman stories ever. It stands on its own merits, and Sean Murphy masterfully controls his story. He leads the reader and attentive viewer on a fresh take on the Joker, his capacity, and motives. For decades, readers have been enthralled by story-telling decisions made by a generation of masters, and working through deconstructions of those and past visions of these characters. Murphy shakes thirty years’ worth of powerful story-telling free from the burdens of continuity, and delivers that rare thing: a comic book even the people who don’t read comic books can love.