Graphic tribute to Heath Ledger

Clearly influenced by Heath Ledger's incendiary turn as The Joker in last summer's Batman flick The Dark Knight (out on DVD this week), writer Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) crafts a hard-boiled Joker story that - while not quite in the same league as Alan Moore's The Killing Joke - undoubtedly replicates the unnerving quality of Ledger's incarnation. The story follows the madman's unexpected release from Arkham Asylum and his manoeuvres to reclaim power in Gotham City. Painter Lee Bermejo's vision of Batman's nemesis is an exercise in potent grotesquery, and by adopting the same seething intensity and shocking violence that made Ledger's character so compelling, Joker works brilliantly as a companion piece to the film.