I'm surprised that none of the reviewers seemed to recognize that this is a re-telling of one of the first Joker stories ever told. "Batman vs. The Joker" (Batman #1, 1940). In the original story The Joker kills the rich men to enforce a shakedown of other rich men. Here, his sociopathy is more apparent because he's killing for killing's sake. I like what they've done with it.

The bonus Alan Scott/Green Lantern story is truly great!

I just want to point out that the reviewer Mr. McCarty is incorrect when he states that The Man Who Laughs is somehow derivative of Batman Begins. Batman Begins was written and filmed long after The Man Who Laughs was published.

Disregard his review of TMWL because of this fact. TMWL is a wonderfully written and illustrated tale of The Dark Knight and The Joker. Highly recommended and easily in the ranks of The Killing Joke and The Laughing Fish.

the joker is insane! it was cool getting to read the first encounter with batman. not as good as "the killing joke", but still awesome

Compared to Brubaker's output on Sleeper, Criminal, or even The Authority... I don't want to use the wrong adjective... mediocre. Agressively mediocre.

I am a bit surprised at the number of positive reviews that this story receives. Much of this can probably be attributed to Ed Brubaker's name being attached to it. This tale is supposed to be somewhat of an origin story for the Joker, but in this case that is due mainly to its' taking place in the early days of Batman's career than to any fresh new insight into his beginning. The plot is generic and the characterization is no different from anything that we have seen before. I admit that when you are writing about a villain who has made more appearances in comics than most heroes that this can be a difficult task, but as readers it is what we expect. Joker stories obviously sell well or else they would not keep publishing them, so the trick is to not be redundant. It does not succeed here. When all is said and done, this is just another Joker yarn, with nothing original or exceptional added to the mythos in order to elevate it above the rest.

Fantastic book that shows the beginning relationship between Batman and the Joker. I enjoy how it shows just how twisted and insane the Joker is. Overall a great read. Fantastic art too.

the story was outstanding and the art work was great... being a big fan of the batman and the joker.. this story was one i missed 5 years ago, but thanks to Amazon .com i bought a copy of this great story.

This hardcover edition of "The Man Who Laughs" is a great addition to a comic libray - but the 20 dollar tag makes it hard to justify for the 40-somthing page story... Also thrown in is "Made of Wood," a random Brubaker story featuring Green Lantern Alan Scott (another short story :/ ). 'Wood' is passable, but 'Man who Laughs' is a must have...

"The Man who Laughs" storyline retells the first couple appearances of The Joker in Gotham city. Though the story is almost a direct retelling of Batman issue #1 (and other Kane stories) Brubaker finds ways to reinvent the story to make it much more frightening.

A great addition to your comic library, but if you can help taking the time to find the original prestige edition - you'll save yourself about 15 bucks.

Was one of the last stories that Brubaker wrote for DC before he moved over to Marvel, and became the superstar writer on Captain America and Daredevil.

Great Joker/Batman origin story that is fun and has spot on portrayal of the menacing Joker. Not only is this a great read, but it has some very spectacular artwork. The atwork alone is reason enough to purchase this book.

Important to keep in mind that this is a very quick read, as the orginal story came in one Prestige Format Comic (48 pages). However this comic is hard to find and worth sowhere in the $50 range. This is great opportunity to pick up a hard to find story right before the New Batman Movie.

This is indeed a follow up of sorts to Year One but nowhere near as prolific or as well written. The Joker shows up in Gotham and starts terrorizing the citizens over the TV, much like Rosie O'Donnell on The View. Not that you can blame the book but Joker's plan is very close to that of Ra's Ah Ghul in "Batman Begins" so it comes off as a tad stale. The internal monologues of Gordon and Wayne are interesting as is the development of their working relationship.

However, The Man Who Laughs is only the first half of this hardcover; the second half is a Batman/Golden Age Green Lantern story that has nothing to do with the Joker. The book as a whole isn't that big so you really feel short changed at the end of this story. It seems a bit much to ask people to drop $20 on a Joker book that's only half a Joker book. The artwork is top notch though and the "Jokerized" victims are grotesque and well drawn.

A far better follow up to Year One is "The Long Halloween" which is as good, if not better, than Year One. I really wanted to like this book but it was over too quickly, much like the two page final confrontation between Joker and Batman; I ended up returning it.

This is indeed a follow up of sort to Year One but nowhere near as prolific or as well written. The Joker shows up in Gotham and starts terrorizing the citizens over the TV, much like Rosie O'Donnell on The View. The internal monologues of Gordon and Wayne are interesting as is the development of their working relationship.

However, The Man Who Laughs is only the first half of this hardcover; the second half is a Batman/Golden Age Green Lantern story that has nothing to do with the Joker. It seems a bit much to ask people to drop $20 on a Joker book that's only half a Joker book. The artwork is top notch though and the "Jokerized" victims are grotesque.

A far better follow up to Year One is "The Long Halloween" which is as good, if not better, than Year One. I really wanted to like this book but it was over too quickly, much like the two page final confrontation between Joker and Batman.

This is one of the better Joker stories in years. It's a sort of sequel to "Year one" and tells the tale of how The Dark Knight first met the notorious evildoer that in future years would become his arch-nemesis.

Joker is killing several rich persons, which to begin with appears to be for no reason other than getting a sick laugh out of it. But as the story progresses Batman starts to find out the motive behind these bizarre killings as well as figuring out who The Joker was and what made what he is.
The writing is perfect. Ed Brubaker does a terrific job on it. He has also added some nice references to Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke" All the classic elements from a Joker story are here. Making threats on live television, killing people at midnight and using henchmen dressed as clowns. If you enjoyed Batman stories such as "Year one", The Killing Joke" or "The laughing fish" then this one should be right up your alley.
An interesting fact: The title is a reference to a movie with the same name and it is from this film that Bob Kane got the inspiration for The Joker.